A new study has found people living in Arabia 125,000 years ago used complex technologies including composite hunting weapons, plant-fibre processing and possibly poison-assisted hunting, while making use of a freshwater lake rich in resources.
The research, co-led by Griffith University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) , and the Saudi Heritage Commission, Ministry of Culture , brings together an international team including researchers from Griffith's Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE) .
The analysis, accepted for publication in Science, examines the well-preserved prehistoric lakeshore site of 'Uruq Aljelibah in Saudi Arabia's Rub' al-Khali, or Empty Quarter.
It challenges the idea that Arabia was merely a transit corridor during human dispersals, showing how people could settle and develop complex technologies there.
Lead researcher Professor Christopher Clarkson , of ARCHE, said the site lay beside a freshwater lake in the Mundafan basin, in what is now one of the driest regions on Earth.
The site preserves a rare snapshot of life during a humid period known as Marine Isotope Stage 5e.
Researchers recovered more than 5,000 stone artefacts alongside fossil animal remains, providing insight into how early Homo sapiens adapted to and flourished in Arabia.
"The lakeshore preserves evidence of a very different Arabia where freshwater, grasslands and trees supported people and abundant wildlife," Professor Frans van Buchem , of KAUST, and co-lead author said.
"One of the most significant discoveries is evidence that some stone points were used as hafted hunting weapons," Professor Clarkson said.
"This suggests people were manufacturing composite weapons made from multiple materials rather than simply using handheld stone tools."
Several stone points showed impact damage consistent with hunting large animals, while microscopic analysis revealed traces of animal tissue near the tips and plant resin and fibres at the base.
Several points also contained chemical biomarkers linked to Acokanthera schimperi, the arrow-poison tree, which is known historically for its toxic cardiac glycosides.
Researchers identified other potentially toxic plant compounds on weapon points suggesting that poison may have been used in hunting.
"The residues give us clues to parts of these weapons that rarely survive," Associate Professor Carney Matheson , of Griffith University, said.
"Animal tissue near the tips and resin and fibres at the bases help us reconstruct how the points were mounted and used.
"The chemical traces also raise the possibility that some weapons carried plant poisons."
The distribution of stone tools closely matched clusters of animal bones, suggesting the lakeshore was a focal point for hunting and processing game.
Fossil evidence indicates the area once supported hippopotamuses, buffalo, camels, gazelles and oryx.
Researchers also found microscopic traces of plant materials including fibres, wood fragments and preserved palm tissue.
Evidence of cutting, scraping and fibre processing suggests these communities exploited a wide range of plant resources for food, tools and binding materials.
The findings add to growing evidence that Arabia repeatedly supported human occupation during wetter climatic phases.
A separate study published in Nature in 2025 documented recurrent humid periods in Arabia over the past eight million years, offering a longer environmental context for these discoveries.
"During wetter phases, Green Arabia provided the water and other resources that people needed to settle and develop complex ways of life," Professor Michael Petraglia , of ARCHE, said.
"This site helps us understand what people did in those environments from making hunting weapons to processing plants and animals."
"Sites such as 'Uruq Aljelibah reveal the depth of Saudi Arabia's human history," Dr Faisal al-Jibrin , of the Saudi Heritage Commission, said.
"Working with international colleagues allows us to investigate this heritage in detail and understand its place in the wider story of human settlement beyond Africa."
"Archaeological sites this old rarely preserve such a complete snapshot of daily life with hunting weapons, butchered animals, plant processing and tool-making areas all in one place," Professor Clarkson said.
The study 'Poisoned hunting weapons, megafauna and plant use at a 125,000-year-old Arabian paleolakeshore' has been accepted for publication in Science.
