Patterns of hominin occupation and cultural diversity across the Gebel Akhdar of Northern Libya over the last ~200 ka

Jones, S. and Antoniadou, A. and Barton, H. and Drake, N. and Farr, L. and Hunt, C. and Inglis, R. and Reynolds, Tim and White, K. and Barker, G. (2016) Patterns of hominin occupation and cultural diversity across the Gebel Akhdar of Northern Libya over the last ~200 ka. In: Jones, S.C. and Stewart, B.A. (eds.) Africa from MIS 6‐2: population dynamics and paleoenvironments. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Dortrecht, Germany: Springer, pp. 77-99. ISBN 9789401775199.

Abstract

Excavations at Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, Libya, have revealed a cultural sequence that may span the last glacial-interglacial-glacial cycle. The TRANS-NAP project has been re-excavating Haua Fteah and conducting geoarchaeological survey of an ecologically diverse landscape that includes the fertile Gebel Akhdar and littoral, pre-desert and desert biomes. A major aim of this project is to characterize cultural and environmental changes across the region and correlate the surface archaeology with that from Haua Fteah. To date, 173 sites have been recorded, ranging from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Late Stone Age (LSA). Their geographic distribution suggests temporal variation in patterns of hominin habitat preference, with significantly more LSA than MSA sites at higher elevations. The surface archaeology also points to substantial spatio-temporal technological variation within the MSA. These patterns may be explained by both palaeoenvironmental change and paleodemographic shifts in the region, resulting in a variety of hominin adaptive responses.

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