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

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).