Rock Art and Lived Climatic Changes in the Prehistory of Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, comparatively few archaeological sites have been excavated to date, and faunal remains are rarely preserved in the harsh desert environment. However, in the rich rock art of Arabia, thousands of prehistoric animal depictions and human figures provide important insight into past environments and human-animal relationships – one of the closest analogues to eye-witness depictions of prehistory that we possess.

We can use this rock art to identify animal species that once lived in Arabia, including water dependent animals such as antelopes and wild cattle. Carrying capacity estimates from wildlife conservation studies allow us to estimate predator and prey populations, providing a glimpse into prehistoric ecosystems. The rock art also frequently shows dog assisted hunting scenes, and likely the earliest archaeological evidence for the use of leashes. The level of detail evident in many of these scenes allows the reconstruction of Pre-Neolithic hunting strategies.

In the rock art we can trace the presence of human populations over thousands of years, though shifting environmental conditions from savanna to desert.

Maria Guagnin is a rock art specialist and director of the Ha’il Archaeology Identification Project, which is based at the University of Sydney. She has undertaken fieldwork across Europe, north Africa and the Near East and has led projects in Scotland, Malta, and Libya. Maria has carried out fieldwork and research in Saudi Arabia since 2014 and is co-director of the Camel Site Archaeological Project and director of the Sahout Rock Art and Archaeology Project.

Maria’s research integrates methodologies from animal conservation studies, climate modelling, archaeozoology, and rock art research to reconstruct Holocene ecosystems and population dynamics. Key focus of this research is the Neolithic period. Maria has published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers on the archaeology of northern Arabia.