Southeast Arabia (2,637 – 910 BCE) Bronze and Early Iron — Incense, Pastures, and Canoe Hubs

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 terraces, Hadhramaut wadis, Socotra.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

• Increasing aridification; terraces and fog-belt stability buffered upland.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Terrace horticulture of millet, dates, tubers; goat/camel pastoralism.

• Resin harvesting expanded.

• Maritime dried-fish economies.

Technology & Material Culture

• Bronze tools; iron appears late.

• Sewn-plank dhows; cisterns.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Incense moved north to Yemen; Socotra resin/aloe exported; Gulf links.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Ritual incense burning; ancestor tombs.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Resilient trinity: terrace, herd, incense, fish.

Transition

By 910 BCE, incense trade tied Southeast Arabia to broader West Asian exchange.