Intensive exploitation of marine crabs and sea urchins during the middle holocene in the eastern Arabian peninsula offers new perspectives on ancient maritime adaptations

Maritime adaptation is a key component of the Neolithization process in Eastern Arabia. It expressed by development diversified fishing techniques, exploitation hard marine animal materials (e.g., seashells, shark teeth, stingray's barbs, etc.) for both tools and personal adornments production, advanced seafaring, colonization offshore islands. Although diet based mainly on consumption fish mollusks, importance other seafood has been greatly underestimated previous zooarchaeological studies. Large quantities crabs (NISP = 10,619) sea urchins 2454) have retrieved from newly excavated Neolithic sites United Arab Emirates. These data highlight local developments interest specific their intensive over several centuries human occupation. This study focuses methods identifying main edible crab urchin species archaeological Results Delma Island Umm al-Quwain lagoon are discussed.