New Palaeolithic sites around Al-Badʾ, north-western Saudi Arabia

The northwestern part of Saudi Arabia, being still widely unexplored, is a crucial area to document and understand dispersals and peopling of the Arabian Peninsula by the genus Homo on its way to other parts of Eurasia. We present here the preliminary results of a short survey conducted in 2019 in the vicinity of the modern town of Al-Badʾ, northwestern Saudi Arabia. The lithics from three surface sites, which are located at the foot and slopes of a small jebel of the Al-Rughāmah Mountains present technologically characteristic traits that match other various Middle Palaeolithic industries found across the Arabian Peninsula. The presence of hand-axes and other heavy-weathered artefacts may also indicate an earlier occupation of the region, possibly during the Lower Palaeolithic. The short description of these three newly discovered sites contributes to the growing dataset of Palaeolithic presence in Arabia.