Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-31T01:07:15.040Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Geoarchaeological patterns in the pre-desert and desert ecozones of northern Cyrenaica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2014

Sacha Jones
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK
Lucy Farr
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK
Huw Barton
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Nick Drake
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, King's College, University of London, UK
Kevin White
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Archaeology, University of Reading, UK
Graeme Barker
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK

Abstract

Geoarchaeological surveys were conducted in northern Cyrenaica in 2009 as part of the TRANS-NAP project. A major objective of the project is to understand the relationship between regional environmental changes and human occupation patterns in northern Cyrenaica over approximately the past 200,000 years. This paper focuses on the results of surveys of the pre-desert and desert ecological zones in the south of the project's study region. The type, density and distribution of Palaeolithic sites were a particular focus of field research in the area. We report data from 42 archaeological sites in the pre-desert and desert zones, concentrating in particular on sites associated with palaeolakes and fan deposits. Analysis of the data reveals several patterns whereby particular archaeological signatures are associated with particular landforms. There is also a broader pattern across the region where sites assigned to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) period are considerably more common than those characteristic of the Late Stone Age (LSA). It is argued that this geographic area is particularly sensitive to changes in global climate and that past occupation patterns during the Palaeolithic were strongly driven by changes in the region's hydrological regime.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barker, G., Hunt, C. and Reynolds, T. 2007. The Haua Fteah, Cyrenaica (northeast Libya): renewed investigations of the cave and its landscape, 2007. Libyan Studies 38: 93114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, G., Basell, L., Brooks, I., Burn, L., Cartwright, C., Cole, F., Davison, J., Farr, L., Grün, R., Hamilton, R., Hunt, C., Inglis, R., Jacobs, Z., Leitch, V., Morales, J., Morley, I., Morley, M., Pawley, S., Pryor, A., Reynolds, T., el-Rishi, H., Roberts, R., Simpson, D., Twati, M. and van der Veen, M. 2008. The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2008: the second season of investigations of the Haua Fteah cave and its landscape, and further results from the initial (2007) fieldwork. Libyan Studies 39: 175221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, G., Antoniadou, A., Barton, H., Brooks, I., Candy, I., Drake, N., Farr, L., Hunt, C., Ibrahim, A.A., Inglis, R., Jones, S., Morales, J., Morley, I., Mutri, G., Rabett, R., Reynolds, T., Simpson, D., Twati, M. and White, K. 2009. The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2009: the third season of investigations of the Haua Fteah cave and its landscape, and further results from the 2007–2008 fieldwork. Libyan Studies 40: 5594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, G., Antoniadou, A., Armitage, S., Brooks, I., Candy, I., Connell, K., Douka, K., Drake, N., Farr, L., Hill, E., Hunt, C., Inglis, R., Jones, S., Lane, C., Lucarini, G., Meneely, J., Morales, J., Mutri, G., Prendergast, A., Rabett, R., Reade, H., Reynolds, T., Russell, N., Simpson, D., Smith, B., Stimpson, C., Twati, M. and White, K. 2010. The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2010: the fourth season of investigations of the Haua Fteah cave and its landscape, and further results from the 2007–2009 fieldwork. Libyan Studies 41: 6388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bull, W.B. 1977. The alluvial fan environment. Progress in Physical Geography 1: 222270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, N.A., Blench, R.M., Armitage, S.J., Bristow, C.S. and White, K.H. 2011. Ancient watercourses and biogeography of the Sahara explain the peopling of the desert. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of America 108: 458462.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, R.G. and Scott, K. 1986. Re-analysis of faunal assemblages from the Haua Fteah and other Late Quaternary archaeological sites in Cyrenaican Libya. Journal of Archaeological Science 13: 514542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macklin, M.G., Fuller, I.C., Lewin, J., Maas, G.S., Passmore, D.G., Rose, J., Woodward, J.C., Black, S., Hamlin, R.H.B. and Rowan, J.S. 2002. Correlation of fluvial sequences in the Mediterranean basin over the last 200 ka and their relationship to climate change. Quaternary Science Reviews 21: 16331641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBurney, C.B.M. 1967. The Haua Fteah (Cyrenaica) and the Stone Age of the South-East Mediterranean. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
McBurney, C.B.M. and Hey, R.W. 1955. Prehistory and Pleistocene Geology in Cyrenaican Libya. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
McBurney, C.B.M. 1968. Pleistocene and early Post-Pleistocene archaeology of Libya. In Barr, F. T. (ed.), Geology and archaeology of northern Cyrenaica, Libya. The Petroleum Exploration Society of Libya: 1321.Google Scholar
Osborne, A.H., Vance, D., Rohling, E.J., Barton, N., Rogerson, M. and Fello, N. 2008. A humid corridor across the Sahara for the migration of early modern humans out of Africa 120,000 years ago. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of America 105: 1644416447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, W. 1949. The surface flint implements of Cyrenaica. Man 49: 100104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed