The coastal alluvial fan sequences of Cyrenaica are important archives of environmental change data, but hitherto relatively little has been known about their formative processes and rates. The Wadi Zewana coastal fan near Tolmeita was studied and a range of dating techniques (U-Th, ESR and OSL) applied to selected components of the stratigraphy. The sequence spans the last two global glacial periods separated by an Interglacial. Cemented alluvial fan gravel units yielded U-Th leachate-residue ages of 201 ± 18 ka, 179 ± 15 ka and 138 ± 8 ka respectively. The fan toe units are interdigitated with bioclastic beach rock deposits dated to 150 ± 10.9 ka corresponding to an Interglacial high stand in sea level and marine recession sequence featuring transgressive lag gravels, beach sand and cemented aeolian dunes dated to 121 ± 8 ka. Within the Wadi Zewana catchment a complex cut and fill history is evidenced. Aggradation phases dated to 76 ± 4 ka, 42.1 ± 5.1 ka and 12.5 ± 1.5 ka are broadly coincident with global glacials and stadials, whilst during the Last Interglacial and successive interstadials the drainage system underwent entrenchment, manifested on the coastal plain as telescopic fan segmentation and associated fan head trenching.

Traditional historiography views the Garamantes from the perspective of the Roman empire, as a peripheral people located in a remote desert. Recent field research is focussing on an inner Saharan perspective, locating the Garamantes at the very centre of trans-Saharan caravan networks. The emergence of the Garamantian state is explained in terms of the ‘longue durée’ and of ‘wide horizons’, in connection with the desertification process that precipitated changes in land use, settlement patterns, and technological availability. Toward the mid-first millennium BC the former pastoral exploitation of the environment changed to one based on oases and caravan traffic, with irrigation agriculture (supplied by foggaras) and long-distance trade (based on the dromedary). Summing up, the case of the Garamantes is presented as a clear case of tentative adaptation to climatic change: some features of the adaptation were short-lived, or required further improvement, while other features remained as definitive acquisitions in the exploitation of the arid environment.

This paper outlines the recording and analysis of ceramic material (predominantly amphorae) from a scattered, shallow wreck site at Marsa-el-Brega. Evaluation of the underwater finds suggests the existence of at least two wrecks, one dating to the first century AD, the other to the sixth century AD. In addition, the role of Marsa-el-Brega is analysed with reference to the evidence on land which includes a possible piscina, a settlement and a headland anchorage. An argument for commerce along the Gulf littoral is postulated, with other possibilities for anchorage proposed, and the possibility of transshipment to other destinations is considered.

This article presents a preliminary report on the post-excavation analysis of excavations conducted between 1985 and 1992 by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Garyunis (Benghazi) at the ancient city of Tocra. The construction and design of the buildings excavated are analysed, with particular emphasis on the late antique phases; and descriptions of pottery, other artefacts (including two early Islamic coins) are given. The area appears to have been an artisan district, as evidenced by the finds of a pottery kiln, ovens, vats and other structures associated with manufacturing activities. Mortar and plaster samples were analysed to help phase the structures, and to compare the excavated vats with their counterparts at another site within the city. A limited study of the faunal remains gives some insight into diet at the site in late antiquity.

The study shows clearly that Tocra remained inhabited after the Arab conquest (AD 640s), confirming suggestions of previous excavations at other sites within the city wall.

The fourth season of the Fezzan Project continued the interdisciplinary approaches of previous seasons. Geographical and environmental work focused principally in sampling sediments for scientific dating and with integrating ground observation with remote sensing data. Excavations continued at Old Germa, where the site has now reached Garamantian levels. In a separate development, the tentative identification has been made of an early mosque at the site, in an area adjacent to the G1 excavation trench. Substantial results were gained from work aimed at enhancing the important data recorded by Charles Daniels in his earlier excavations and survey in the Wadi al-Hayat. The enhancement of the Daniels' survey archive was integrated with completion of the wider prospection being undertaken by the new project. This survey included fieldwalking, standing building survey, analysis of the foggara irrigation systems and recording of rock art scenes. Finds work comprised the finalisation of a pottery type series for the Germa area, the study of small finds from the recent survey work, botanical analysis and completion of lithics recording. A programme of radiocarbon dating is now being undertaken to improve the phasing of sites and monuments. The first two volumes of final reports are now in preparation.

This paper reports on the second season of the new fieldwork at Euesperides (Benghazi). Excavations continued in Areas P (a large building with early Hellenistic mosaics) and Q (an area of streets and buildings built against the line of the Archaic period city wall), and were commenced at a site in the Lower City (Area R), where evidence for purple dye production from the Murex trunculus shellfish was found. In addition, a programme of machine-cut evaluation trenching was carried out in an area to the south of the Sidi Abeid mound to determine the limits of the archaeological area; this showed that occupation deposits continued for some distance to the south-east of the zone formerly considered to have encompassed the city. Geophysical prospection was completed in the Lower City, giving a fuller understanding of the city plan and of manufacturing activities. Preliminary quantification of the fine pottery suggests heavy reliance on imported wares (some 90%) to meet demand for tablewares, and carries important implications for the volume of ancient shipping and trade reaching Euesperides.

In the article The Hellenistic and Byzantine Defences of Tocra (Taucheira) by David Smith and James Crow, which appeared in Libyan Studies 29 (1998), photographs by David Smith and Charles Daniels were used, but not explicitly attributed. The attributions are:

Figs 5-8, 10-12, 15-18, 20, 22-24: David Smith.

Figs 4, 9, 14, 21: Charles Daniels.