In Oman, quaternary climatic fluctuations alternated between humid and arid periods. Humid periods are a key component in landscape evolution and the history of early human-environment interactions, as they allowed for less-restrictive arid conditions by triggering increasing rainfall and fluvio-lacustrine activity.
For the end of the Pleistocene and the Holocene, little data are available in Northern Oman to examine this topic and to compare it with archaeological site distribution and subsistence strategies, in particular with regard to water resources.
The study of the Wadi Dishshah relies on topographic surveys aerial survey with drone , geomorphological mapping, morphostratigraphic analyses of natural and excavated sections, malacological analyses and age-dating using OSL and radiocarbon methods. Three phases of aggradation have been identified: the first one between 26, cal. BP and 11, cal. BP , a second between 6, cal. BP and 5, cal. BP and a late one around 2, cal. The fluvial records from the Wadi Dishshah and its hydro-climatic significance are compared to the distribution of archaeological sites from the Salakh Arch area to discuss the relations between settlement strategies and surface flows.
This work is the first case study of late Pleistocene — Holocene alluvial formations in this region of Oman. BP et 11 cal. BP et 5 cal. Received 28 March , received in revised form 8 November , accepted 17 November The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Heritage and Culture of the Sultanate of Oman for their support during the fieldwork, and especially Mr. Sultan al-Bakri. Eric Fouache. Our thanks go to the French Mission in Central Oman for their welcoming, logistics and financial support during each fieldwork.
Last, we thank Dr. Louise Purdue and Pr. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Lucas Proctor and Antoine Chabrol for their help in proofreading the English version. During the humid periods of the Pleistocene and the Holocene, rainfalls reactivated hydrosystems including wadi wadi : local name for river and valley Hoffmann et al. However, studying the timeframe of these periods is challenging due to heterogeneity in both the regional and local onset and duration of humid periods and their impacts on the environment.
