Recharge of aquifers in the SW Fezzan dates back to the last millennia of the Late Pleistocene and to the very beginning of the Holocene, with a consistent delay between the mountain area (at the beginning) and the ergs. Since that period and up to the end of the fifth millennium BP, the whole area of the Wadi Tanezzuft and of its basin, including mountain ranges and low lands (ergs and pediments), consisted of a wet savannah, and in the low lands displayed a continuous belt of ponds and lakes. During this period, all the physiographic units of the landscape were exploited by hunters and collectors and later, much more intensively, by pastoral communities. Apart from two minor dry episodes, the whole area dried out around 5000 years BP. The wadi Tanezzuft was substantially reduced in discharge and size, but its main course was still fed with water for about three millennia, and during the third millennium BP it was a green oasis about one hundred kilometres long; and for this reason it was intensively settled by the Late Pastoral communities and later by the Garamantes. The different behaviour of the Tanezzuft valley in comparison with the surrounding areas is to be attributed to the fact that it is the main outlet of the Eastern Tassili hydrographic basin, whose water reserve was recharged during the wet Holocene and reduced, but not exhausted by the onset of aridity at 5000 years BP.

During the first centuries AD the size of the oasis was strongly reduced as a consequence of the final depletion of water reservoirs. However strong wind erosion, which is the present dominant geomorphic process, began in the late medieval period.

Recent surveys conducted by the Italo-Libyan Joint Mission of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in the region of Wadi Tanezzuft (Libyan Sahara) revealed a huge number of sites characterised by the presence of stone tumuli and other megalithic constructions, usually associated with funerary rituals. During the 1999-2000 field seasons, one of these sites—site 96/129—was subjected to systematic excavation, revealing the construction technique of these monuments and showing evidence of human burials. It sheds new light on the funerary practices and anthropological features of the ancient populations of the region. Radiocarbon determinations placed this site at the very end of the Late Pastoral culture, some 3000 uncalibrated years bp. The skeletal material generally shows a good state of preservation and has been the object of a first morphological appraisal. The population of site 96/129 comprised long-limbed and relatively gracile humans, with labour-related afflictions; their dental dimensions consistently follow the trend of dental reduction known for post-Pleistocene human populations. Of great interest are the relationships with the emergence of Garamantian civilisation. Some traits of the funerary practices show the existence of a local heritage, whose roots may be sought in prehistoric times, in particular the position of the corpses and features of grave goods. On the other hand, the presence of multiple burials, the evidence of burnt animal bones, together with small concentrations of ashes in the monuments seem in contrast with the known funerary practices of prehistoric Pastoral sites of the Acacus and surroundings. Such evidence is compared with the regional analysis of megalithic architecture in the Tanezzuft valley, and discloses a tantalising perspective on the cultural trajectories and related biological pulsation in the area.

Since the beginning of archaeological fieldwork in the Fazzan in the 1930s, the focus of research has remained mainly on the Wadi al-Ajal/Wadi al-Hayat and the ‘Garamantes’. While recent work in the Ghat region has identified ‘Garamantian’ sites much further west than previously known, in the Wadi Tanezzuft, very little is known of other parts of the region, notably the southern oases and their towns with their rich medieval and post-medieval heritage.

While preparing materials from the Charles Daniels archive for publication, a brief review of the archaeology of the southern Fazzan identified some 130 sites in the region. While detailed studies are still lacking, there was clearly a significant ‘Garamantian’ presence in many of the southern oases, with several sites in the Wadi an-Nashwa, a significant settlement at Ghuddwa and further cemeteries in the Dujal area and probably at Tsawah. Despite Daniels' reservations, it is clear that a large settlement at Sharaba dated back to the Garamantian period. There is little evidence from the major towns to the east, although Roman imports found at Zuwila suggest that it was at least integrated into ‘Garamantian’ trade networks. Some indications of potentially significant cultural differences between Garamantian remains found in this region and those of the Wadi al-Ajal were also noted.

The potential for medieval and post-medieval archaeology in the region is also very considerable, with the presence of numerous qsur and other settlement sites which await systematic recording. The presence of some groups of foggaras in the region is also of interest and these certainly merit further investigation.

In Autumn 2000, the University of Liverpool continued its researches into the Ramesses II fortress at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham, some 25 km west of Marsa Matruh. During this season, the area around the wadis that run towards Ras Abu Laho, 3 km to the west of Umm el-Rakham, was explored. Particular attention was paid to the spurs and knolls that presented a commanding view of the wadi and surrounding area or the coast, in the hope of finding possible New Kingdom patrol routes in association with the fort.

This paper presents more evidence of local ceramic manufacture activity in the region. Two local fabrics, Marmaric fabrics 1 and 2, are identified and their shapes and distribution are discussed. They are dated to the New Kingdom, more or less contemporary with the fortress at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham, since they occur with Nile valley fabrics. It is suggested that they were either made by the local Libyan population, or by the occupants of the fortress for their own use.

The decorative corpus of another local fabric, Shell Tempered ware, is also briefly sketched, and its post-New Kingdom date reconfirmed.

Blinkenberg's treatment of the participation of certain Lindians in the founding of Kyrene, a fact mentioned only in the list of dedications to Athana Lindia, is, at the very least, inadequate, since he gives no reasons for rejecting the report. Blinkenberg seems to have been misled by Herodotos, whose account lacks precision, as historians familiar with this passage have long recognised. Chamoux at least attempted to buttress the received view with arguments. The present paper sides with the Lindians against the naysayers regarding a Lindian role in the foundation of Kyrene and reaches the conclusion that these Lindians numbered among the perioikoi there.

This brief report presents the reunification of a hand in the British Museum to a marble statue of Dionysos now in Edinburgh and originally discovered in the sanctuary of Apollo at Cyrene by Robert Murdoch Smith and Edwin Porcher in August 1861.

This short note describes a marble statuette of the Discobolus recently discovered north of Wardana ez-Zeitouna in Cyrenaica, evidently a reduced size copy of the famous statue by Myron. The present location of the statuette is unknown.

This article concerns the discovery of traces of an arch in the middle of the main decumanus that extends between the east and west gates of Tocra. This discovery is of special interest because the site of the arch provides us with new information about the layout of the city during the Roman period. An inscription dated to the first quarter of the fourth century AD was found nearby and is believed to be related to the arch.

This note presents five aerial photographs of Sabratha, and one of Garian, which formerly belonged to C. N. Johns and were recently discovered amongst the papers of John Lloyd. The aerial photographs of Sabratha shed some new light on the town's size and development.

Thomas Ashby was a very well-known British archaeologist of the beginning of last century. He travelled a lot and left to the British School at Rome, of which he was the first student, many albums of photographs. Some of them have been recently published. This article deals with the trip to Libya by sea made in May 1910. He took photographs of Derna, Benghazi and Tripoli with general views of them. Of course, the panorama is now changed, but it is interesting to note some features which are nowadays lost, like the Turkish castle at Benghazi, or the arch of Marcus Aurelius at Tripoli still obstructed by later buildings, or the ‘modern’ technology of the radio masts at Derna.

The Fezzan Project completed its five-year fieldwork cycle in 2001. The geographical research team located numerous additional palaeolake sites within the Edeyen Ubari, using a combination of Remote Sensing technology and field visits. Additional samples were taken for analysis and dating from many lake edge locations, relating to both the large Pleistocene lake and to the numerous smaller Holocene lakes that have been identified by the team. The excavations at Old Germa were taken down through Garamantian occupation levels to the natural subsoil below the earliest cultural horizon. The earliest activity, represented by a few mudbrick walls and hearths built directly on the natural soil, is believed to date to c. 400-300 BC. Traces of several phases of Garamantian buildings were uncovered, along with numerous rubbish pits, which yielded a rich assemblage of finds, including, for the first time, examples of Garamantian figurines, small 3-D sculptures of humans and animals. Work on the various classes of finds (pottery, small finds, lithics and other stone artefacts, metallurgical evidence, etc.) complemented the excavation work. In addition, a small amount of further survey work was carried out on sites in the Wadi al-Ajal, along with a contour survey of Old Germa and standing building survey at a number of other sites.

This article reports on the third season of the current project at Euesperides (Benghazi). A programme of geological augering has begun to investigate the presumed location of the ancient harbour and the process by which the harbour and neighbouring lagoon silted up during antiquity. Continued excavation in Area P has revealed two phases of buildings, with a plain pebble floor of the fourth century BC and mixed pebble and irregular tesserae floors of the late fourth/early third century BC. In Area Q work has identified buildings either side of a street, and two phases of city defences; outside the defences excavation has confirmed the continuation of a linear quarry ditch. In Area R the occupation sequence has been elucidated and it seems that the two main phases of purple dye manufacturing activity, using Murex trunculus shellfish, follow the abandonment of a courtyard house. Comprehensive study and quantification of coarsewares and transport amphorae has begun alongside continued study of the finewares, and confirms a wide range of trading contacts. The excavations have also produced evidence for the minting of silver coinage at Euesperides.