Stone points hint at poison use in Arabia 125,000 years ago

What did the lakeshore preserve?

Researchers recovered more than 5,000 stone artifacts alongside fossil animal remains. The stone-tool distribution closely matched clusters of animal bones, suggesting that the lakeshore served as a focal point for hunting and processing game. Together, the finds show how early Homo sapiens adapted to and flourished in Arabia.

The animal fossils indicate that the area once supported hippopotamuses, buffalo, camels, gazelles and oryx. Professor Frans van Buchem of KAUST, a co-lead author, said: “The lakeshore preserves evidence of a very different Arabia where freshwater, grasslands and trees supported people and abundant wildlife.”

Microscopic plant remains included fibers, wood fragments and preserved palm tissue. Evidence of cutting, scraping and fiber processing suggests that these communities exploited plants for food, tools and binding materials.

Clarkson said: “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.” Together, those remains provide a rare view of daily life at one 125,000-year-old lakeshore.

When could people settle Arabia?

The site stood beside a freshwater lake in the Mundafan basin, now one of the driest regions on Earth. It preserves a rare snapshot of life from a humid period known as Marine Isotope Stage 5e. During that interval, freshwater, grasslands and trees supported people and abundant wildlife.

The findings add to 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 previous 8 million years, giving this site's occupation a longer environmental context.

Professor Michael Petraglia of ARCHE said: “During wetter phases, Green Arabia provided the water and other resources that people needed to settle and develop complex ways of life.” He added: “This site helps us understand what people did in those environments, from making hunting weapons to processing plants and animals.”

What changes in Arabia's human history?

The results challenge the idea that Arabia was merely a transit corridor during human dispersals. They also show how people could settle beside a resource-rich lake and develop composite weapons, plant-processing methods and hunting tools that may have carried plant poisons.

Dr. Faisal al-Jibrin of the Saudi Heritage Commission said: “Sites such as 'Uruq Aljelibah reveal the depth of Saudi Arabia's human history.” He added: “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.”

What remains uncertain, and where was it published?

The study directly links some points to hafted hunting weapons through impact damage, tissue, resin and fibers. Poison-assisted hunting remains plausible, but the chemical evidence alone does not make it a demonstrated hunting method.

The publication record is Chris Clarkson and colleagues, “Poisoned hunting weapons, megafauna and plant use at a 125,000-year-old Arabian paleolakeshore,” Science (2026). The DOI is 10.1126/science.aef9342, and the article is listed at www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aef9342.