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Camels in Saudi oasis during the last two millennia; the examples of Dûmat al-Jandal (Al-Jawf Province) and al-Yamâma (Riyadh province)

Hervé MONCHOT

en Anthropozoologica 49 (2) - Pages 195-206

Published on 26 December 2014

This article is a part of the thematic issue Ancient camelids in the old world - between Arabia and Europe

By its extraordinary adaptability to live in a hyper arid environment, the camel (Camelus dromaderius) is certainly the animal that best characterizes the Arabian Peninsula. If a rich ethnographic literature exists showing the economic importance of this species through the last two millennia, few archaeozoological remains confirm this importance. This article presents preliminary archaeozoological data (skeletal representation, ageing and sexing bone, bone traces) from two archaeological assemblages from Saudi Arabia: Dûmat al-Jandal (Al-Jawf oasis) and al-Yamâma (Al-Kharj oasis).


Keywords:

Zooarchaeology, skeletal profile, sexing and ageing camel bones, classical and medieval times, Saudi Arabia

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