data imply that the Eastern Mediterranean Sea was the major source of the rainfall in northern**********Interglacial and glacial desert refugia and the Middle Paleolithic of the Azraq Oasis, JordanCarlos E. Cordova a,*, April Nowell b, Michael Bisson c, Christopher J.H. Ames c,James Pokines d, Melanie Chang e, Maysoon al-Nahar fA geoarchaeological study of sediments in the Azraq Oasis, in the Eastern Desert of Jordan, provides information on the fluctuations of the geomorphic and hydrologic systems in this region in relation to the local Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic occupations. The study shows that local geomorphic and hydrological environments fluctuated between marsh, lake and playa (dry lake bed with eolian activity and/or carbonate accumulation). In some instances, local wet conditions correlate with those registered in other regional paleoclimatic records, as is the case of the period comprising MIS 5a and probably early MIS 4. In other cases, however, local wet conditions represented by marsh deposits with hominin occupations are asynchronous with regional wet conditions. This suggests that the Azraq oases may have acted as desert refugia at times of regional adverse climatic conditions. The fact that Azraq represents a potential desert refugia has important consequences for understanding major issues in the Middle Paleolithic of Southwest Asia, namely (1) the arrival, survival, and extinction of populations of both Neanderthals and early modern humans. The location of Azraq at a crossroads between the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and other regions of the Middle East, is also an important geographic aspect of desert refugia during the critical period of hominin dynamics in the Middle Paleolithic.6. ConclusionsWet and dry phases in regional paleoclimatic records across theLevant and the Syro-Arabian Desert show north-to-south timing differences, marked on the one hand by the influence of Atlantice Mediterranean cyclogenesis in the north, and the summer monsoon influence in the south. These latitudinal timing differences have recently been pointed out as a catalyst for modern human migrations from Africa to the Levant and to other parts of Southwest Asia (Vaks et al., 2006, 2007, 2010; Frumkin et al., 2011). However, at the same latitude, records vary in timing, suggesting that while some regions remained dry, others stayed locally wet, hence suggesting the existence of desert refugia for hominin populations. Under wet conditions, lakes occupied the former basins, making the possibility of higher mobility and long distance migration. In this respect, the Azraq Oases seem to have played animportant role in hominin population dynamics in the northern Arabian Desert because of its location at crossroads along thoroughfares of paleolakes and springs connecting the Levant and Arabian Peninsula via the Wadi Sirhan DepressioneGreater anNafud corridor facilitating the diffusion of hominin populations and technologies. Ongoing research has provided the basis for studying the AzraqOases as desert refugia in the Jordanian Desert. But thus far, geoarchaeological record in the Greater Azraq Oases Area shows that an important regional wet period occurred between MIS 5c to early MIS 4 attracting hominin populations making Middle Palaeolithic tools. During this time many other basins in the region contained lakes, facilitating movement of populations across the vast SyroArabian Desert.