The Palaeolithic record of Abu Dhabi Emirate in the light of recent discoveries in the Eastern Region.

Since 2019 the intensification of fieldwork in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi Emirate, around Jebel Hafit and the al-Jaww plain resulted in the discovery of several Palaeolithic surface sites and find spots. The techno-typological spectrum of the collected lithic artefacts ranges from the Acheulian to the Upper/Late Palaeolithic. Geoarchaeological approaches identified the lithic raw material sources and explained local site-formation processes. The new sites fundamentally enhance our knowledge of the Palaeolithic record in Abu Dhabi Emirate, and contribute to the understanding of human dispersal in south-east Arabia. Together with a reassessment of the Middle Palaeolithic industry of Jebel Barakah, the new investigations support a model of recurring occupations throughout a significant part of the Pleistocene, first by archaic hominins and then by anatomically modern humans. The representation of the major Palaeolithic techno-complexes attested in adjacent areas of the Arabian Peninsula -- Acheulian, Middle Palaeolithic Levallois, and Upper/Late Palaeolithic platform core technology -- can now also be attested for the archaeological record of Abu Dhabi Emirate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]