Timmermann, A. & Friedrich, T. Late Pleistocene climate drivers of early human migration. Nature 538, 92–95 (2016).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Beyer, R. M., Krapp, M., Eriksson, A. & Manica, A. Climatic windows for human migration out of Africa in the past 300,000 years. Nat. Commun. 12, 4889 (2021).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Breeze, P. S. et al. Palaeohydrological corridors for hominin dispersals in the Middle East ∼250–70,000 years ago. Quat. Sci. Rev. 144, 155–185 (2016).

Article 
ADS 

Google Scholar
 

Groucutt, H. S. et al. Multiple hominin dispersals into Southwest Asia over the past 400,000 years. Nature 597, 376–380 (2021).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Rose, J. I. et al. A failed human expansion out of Africa 100,000 years ago. Preprint at Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8751643/v1 (2026).

Breeze, P. S. et al. Remote sensing and GIS techniques for reconstructing Arabian palaeohydrology and identifying archaeological sites. Quat. Int. 382, 98–119 (2015).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Rosenberg, T. et al. Humid periods in southern Arabia: windows of opportunity for modern human dispersal. Geology 39, 1115–1118 (2011).

Article 
ADS 

Google Scholar
 

Rosenberg, T. M. et al. Middle and Late Pleistocene humid periods recorded in palaeolake deposits of the Nafud desert, Saudi Arabia. Quat. Sci. Rev. 70, 109–123 (2013).

Article 
ADS 

Google Scholar
 

Nicholson, S. L. et al. Pluvial periods in Southern Arabia over the last 1.1 million-years. Quat. Sci. Rev. 229, 106112 (2020).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Crassard, R. et al. Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic occupations around Mundafan palaeolake, Saudi Arabia: implications for climate change and human dispersals. PLoS ONE 8, e69665 (2013).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Groucutt, H. S. et al. Human occupation of the Arabian empty quarter during MIS 5: evidence from Mundafan Al-Buhayrah, Saudi Arabia. Quat. Sci. Rev. 119, 116–135 (2015).

Article 
ADS 

Google Scholar
 

Kuhn, S. L. The Evolution of Paleolithic Technologies (Routledge, 2020).

Kuhn, S. L. in Neanderthal Lifeways, Subsistence and Technology: One Hundred Fifty Years of Neanderthal Study (eds Conard, N. J. & Richter, J.) 99–110 (Springer, 2011).

Muller, A. & Clarkson, C. Identifying major transitions in the evolution of lithic cutting edge production rates. PLoS ONE 11, e0167244 (2016).

Article 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

McClure, H. Radiocarbon chronology of late Quaternary lakes in the Arabian Desert. Nature 263, 755–756 (1976).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Matter, A., Neubert, E., Preusser, F., Rosenberg, T. & Al-Wagdani, K. Palaeo-environmental implications derived from lake and sabkha deposits of the southern Rub’al-Khali, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Quat. Int. 382, 120–131 (2015).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Armitage, S. J. et al. The southern route “out of Africa”: evidence for an early expansion of modern humans into Arabia. Science 331, 453–456 (2011).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Bretzke, K. et al. Archaeology, chronology, and sedimentological context of the youngest Middle Palaeolithic assemblage from Jebel Faya, United Arab Emirates. Archaeol. Anthropol. Sci. 17, 60 (2025).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Crassard, R., Hilbert, Y. H., Preusser, F., Wulf, G. & Schiettecatte, J. Middle Palaeolithic occupations in central Saudi Arabia during MIS 5 and MIS 7: new insights on the origins of the peopling of Arabia. Archaeol. Anthropol. Sci. 11, 3101–3120 (2019).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Rose, J. I. et al. The Nubian complex of Dhofar, Oman: an African middle stone age industry in southern Arabia. PLoS ONE 6, e28239 (2011).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Usik, V. I., Rose, J. I., Hilbert, Y. H., Van Peer, P. & Marks, A. E. Nubian Complex reduction strategies in Dhofar, southern Oman. Quat. Int. 300, 244–266 (2013).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Groucutt, H. S. et al. Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2, 800–809 (2018).

Article 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Bretzke, K. et al. Multiple phases of human occupation in Southeast Arabia between 210,000 and 120,000 years ago. Sci. Rep. 12, 1600 (2022).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Merrick, H. V. & Brown, F. H. Obsidian sources and patterns of source utilization in Kenya and northern Tanzania: some initial findings. Afr. Archaeol. Rev. 2, 129–152 (1984).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Spinapolice, E. E. Raw material economy in Salento (Apulia, Italy): new perspectives on Neanderthal mobility patterns. J. Archaeol. Sci. 39, 680–689 (2012).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Nash, D. J., Coulson, S., Staurset, S., Smith, M. P. & Ullyott, J. S. Provenancing silcrete in the Cape coastal zone: implications for Middle Stone Age research in South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 65, 682–688 (2013).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Brooks, A. S. et al. Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age. Science 360, 90–94 (2018).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Herrero-Alonso, D. et al. Neanderthal mobility over very long distances: the case of El Castillo cave (northern Spain) and the ‘Vasconian’ Mousterian. J. Hum. Evol. 205, 103715 (2025).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Edgell, H. S. Arabian Deserts: Nature, Origin, and Evolution (Springer, 2006).

Stewart, S. Structural geology of the Rub’Al-Khali Basin, Saudi Arabia. Tectonics 35, 2417–2438 (2016).

Article 
ADS 

Google Scholar
 

Kazak, E. S., Al Gaoud, A., Ahmed, S. M., Souid, F. & Nabi, A. Origin of Umm Al Heesh lake in the Rub’Al Khali desert, Saudi Arabia. Sci. Rep. 15, 34850 (2025).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Clark-Wilson, R. et al. Assessing the intensity of Late Quaternary humid phases in the Nefud Desert, northern Arabia. J. Quat. Sci. 41, 207–218 (2026).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Zaki, A. S. et al. Monsoonal imprint on late Quaternary landscapes of the Rub’al Khali Desert. Commun. Earth Environ. 6, 255 (2025).

Article 
ADS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Petraglia, M. D., Groucutt, H. S., Guagnin, M., Breeze, P. S. & Boivin, N. Human responses to climate and ecosystem change in ancient Arabia. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 8263–8270 (2020).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Scerri, E. et al. Neolithic pastoralism in marginal environments during the Holocene wet phase, northern Saudi Arabia. Antiquity 92, 1180–1194 (2018).

Maiorano, M. P. et al. Living and moving in Maitan. Proc. Semin. Arab. Stud. 50, 83–100 (2020).


Google Scholar
 

Petraglia, M. D. et al. Hominin dispersal into the Nefud desert and Middle Palaeolithic settlement along the Jubbah palaeolake, northern Arabia. PLoS ONE 7, e49840 (2012).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Groucutt, H. S. et al. Middle Palaeolithic raw material procurement and early stage reduction at Jubbah, Saudi Arabia. Archaeol. Res. Asia 9, 44–62 (2017).


Google Scholar
 

Chlachula, D. et al. Evidence of Middle Palaeolithic human occupation in south-central Oman. Antiquity 99, e9 (2025).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Eren, M. I. et al. Examining the distribution of Middle Paleolithic Nubian cores relative to chert quality in southern (Nejd, Dhofar) and south-central (Duqm, Al Wusta) Oman. Geoarchaeology 40, e22019 (2025).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Cancellieri, E., Cremaschi, M., Zerboni, A. & Di Lernia, S. in Africa from MIS 6-2: Population Dynamics and Paleoenvironments (eds Jones, S. C. & Stewart, B. A.) 123–145 (Springer, 2016).

Yang, Z. et al. Terminal Pleistocene human occupation of the Qomolangma region: new evidence from the Su-re site. Land 13, 1064 (2024).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Leplongeon, A., Bailly, M. & Graff, G. Raw-material exploitation in the earlier and middle Stone Age in the Eastern Desert of Egypt: evidence from Wadi Abu Subeira. Antiquity 98, e13 (2024).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Van Peer, P., Vermeersch, P. M. & Paulissen, E. Chert Quarrying, Lithic Technology and a Modern Human Burial at the Palaeolithic Site of Taramsa 1, Upper Egypt Vol. 5 (Leuven Univ. Press, 2010).

Will, M. et al. Specialised and persistent raw material procurement by humans in the Middle Pleistocene. Nat. Commun. 17, 2702 (2026).

Article 
ADS 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Miller, G. L. et al. Hunter-gatherer gatherings: stone-tool microwear from the Welling Site (33-Co-2), Ohio, USA supports Clovis use of outcrop-related base camps during the Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas. World Archaeol. 51, 47–75 (2019).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Foley, R. A. & Lahr, M. M. Lithic landscapes: early human impact from stone tool production on the central Saharan environment. PLoS ONE 10, e0116482 (2015).

Article 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Rose, J. I. et al. Lithic miniaturization and technological innovation on the Southern Dispersal Route out of Africa. J. Paleolit. Archaeol. 8, 40 (2025).

Article 
ADS 

Google Scholar
 

Field, J. S., Petraglia, M. D. & Lahr, M. M. The southern dispersal hypothesis and the South Asian archaeological record: examination of dispersal routes through GIS analysis. J. Anthropol. Archaeol. 26, 88–108 (2007).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Jennings, R. P. et al. The greening of Arabia: multiple opportunities for human occupation of the Arabian Peninsula during the Late Pleistocene inferred from an ensemble of climate model simulations. Quat. Int. 382, 181–199 (2015).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Féblot-Augustins, J. Mobility strategies in the late Middle Palaeolithic of central Europe and western Europe: elements of stability and variability. J. Anthropol. Archaeol. 12, 211–265 (1993).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Brantingham, P. J. A neutral model of stone raw material procurement. Am. Antiq. 68, 487–509 (2003).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Brantingham, P. J. Measuring forager mobility. Curr. Anthropol. 47, 435–459 (2006).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Meltzer, D. J. in The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World (ed. Jablonski, N. G.) 27–58 (California Academy of Sciences, 2002).

Meltzer, D. J. in The Colonization of Unfamiliar Landscapes (eds Rockman, M. & Steele, J.) 246–262 (Routledge, 2003).

Anthony, D. W. Migration in archeology: the baby and the bathwater. Am. Anthropol. 92, 895–914 (1990).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Kelly, R. L. in The Colonization of Unfamiliar Landscapes (eds Rockman, M. & Steele, J.) 68–68 (Routledge, 2003).

Hitchcock, R. K., Whallon, R. & Lovis, W. A. (eds) Information and its Role in Hunter-Gatherer Bands (Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, 2011).

Rockman, M. in The Colonization of Unfamiliar Landscapes (eds Rockman, M. & Steele, J.) 27–43 (Routledge, 2003).

Meltzer, D. J. in The Settlement of the American Continents: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Human Biogeography (eds Barton, C. M. et al.) 123–137 (Univ. Arizona Press, 2004).

Zeller, E. & Timmermann, A. The evolving three-dimensional landscape of human adaptation. Sci. Adv. 10, eadq3613 (2024).

Article 
ADS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Pollastro, R. M., Karshbaum, A. S. & Viger, R. J. Maps Showing Geology, Oil and Gas Fields and Geologic Provinces of the Arabian Peninsula Open-File Report 97-470-B https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr97470B (US Geological Survey, 1999).

Bramkamp, R. A., Ramirez, L. F., Brown, G. F., Pocock, A. E. & Sander, N. J. Geologic Map of the Arabian Peninsula Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-270-A (US Geological Survey, 1963).

Lehner, B. & Grill, G. Global river hydrography and network routing: baseline data and new approaches to study the world’s large river systems. Hydrol. Process. 27, 2171–2186 (2013).

Article 
ADS 

Google Scholar
 

Downing, J. A. et al. Global abundance and size distribution of streams and rivers. Inland Waters 2, 229–236 (2012).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Ho, Y. & Hengl, T. Global Ensemble Digital Terrain Model 30 m (GEDTM30). Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.18887460 (2026).

Dellmour, R. et al. Data and code for “Stone and water governed early human settlement of the desert” (Version 3.0). Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21758429 (2026).