Southeast Arabia (4,365 – 2,638 BCE) Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic — Terraces, Copper Trickles, and Resin Harvests

Geographic and Environmental Context

• Eastern Yemen (Hadhramaut, eastern Aden interior, al-Mahra).

• Southern Oman (Dhofar Highlands with the khareef monsoon, al-Wusta gravel plains, Sharqiyah Desert fringes).

• The Empty Quarter (Rubʿ al-Khālī) margins in adjoining Saudi territory.

• The offshore island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea.

• Anchors: Wādī Ḥaḍramawt–Shibam–Tarim, Dhofar escarpments (Ẓafār/Al-Balīd, Mirbat), al-Mahra dunes, al-Wusta plains, Sharqiyah sands, Socotra’s Hagghier Mountains and dragon’s-blood groves.

• Dhofar fog-forests; Hadhramaut wadis; Socotra woodlands.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

• Growing aridity pulses; wadis less reliable; fog-belt remained stable.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Terrace gardening expanded (Dhofar, Yemen highlands fringe).

• Goat/sheep pastoralism widespread.

• Incense harvesting begins in Dhofar.

• Socotra: resin, aloe, dragon’s-blood woodlands exploited intermittently.

Technology & Material Culture

• Coarse painted pottery; copper ornaments; sewn-plank boats.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Incense trail seeds up into Yemen; coastal cabotage Socotra–Oman–Aden.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Shrines near terraces; incense burnt ritually.

• Ancestor tombs in highland wadis.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Terrace + herd + incense created resilience to aridity.

Transition

By 2,638 BCE, Southeast Arabia was entering the incense economy trajectory.