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A tentative tale of Stone Age human dynamics in Pleistocene south-western Libya (central Sahara)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2021

Emanuele Cancellieri Open the ORCID record for Emanuele Cancellieri [Opens in a new window]
Emanuele Cancellieri*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università di Roma; Istituto Italiano di PaleontologiaUmana
*
Corresponding author: Emanuele Cancellieri, Email: ema.cancellieri@gmail.com
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Abstract

The area encompassing the Acacus and Messak mountains in South Western Libya, similarly to the other central Saharan massifs, is characterized by a deeply eroded landscape where Quaternary geo-archaeological archives are rare, especially Pleistocene ones, making it difficult to understand and contextualize past human dynamics within a solid chrono-paleoenvironmental framework. Except for the few caves and open-air contexts where Pleistocene sedimentary sequences are preserved, the vast majority of archaeological evidence from the region is represented by lithic artefacts found on the surface of deflated open-air sites. Nonetheless, artefacts still stand as the main references used to build a rough framework for population dynamics through time. Although the evidence is not as solid as we would like, it allows us to at least reconsider connecting the human presence solely to ‘green’ phases, as a number of population dynamics related to arid landscapes have inferably occurred in the late Middle Pleistocene and in the Late Pleistocene. Coping with changing or difficult ecological settings could have been a driver at different times for behavioral adjustment, large scale displacement, increased interactions between populations and diffusion of technological innovations.

حكاية مؤقتة لديناميكية الإنسان الحجري خلال العصر الجليدي بجنوب غرب ليبيا (وسط الصحراء الكبرى)

ايمانويل كانسيليري

تتميز المنطقة التي تشمل جبال أكاكوس ومساك بجنوب غرب ليبيا، وعلى غرار الجبال الصخرية الوسطى الأخرى بالصحراء الكبرى، بمناظر طبيعية متآكلة بشدة حيث تندر المحفوظات الجيولوجية الأثرية للحقبة الرباعية منها ، مما يجعل من الصعب فهم ووضع سياق لديناميكيات الإنسان في الماضي داخل إطار زمني بيئي قديم . و باستثناء الكهوف القليلة والسياقات (Pleistocene) ، خاصة العصر الجليدي (Quaternary) تتمثل الغالبية العظمى من الأدلة الأثرية من المنطقة في المصنوعات الحجرية الموجودة على سطح ، (Pleistocene) الموجودة في الهواء الطلق حيث يتم الحفاظ على التسلسلات الرسوبية من العصر الجليدي مواقع الهواء الطلق التي تعرضت لتعرية الرياح . ومع ذلك، لا تزال المصنوعات اليدوية بمثابة المراجع الرئيسية المستخدمة لبناء إطار خشن لديناميكيات السكان عبر الزمن . على الرغم من أن الأدلة ليست قوية كما نحتاج، إلا أنها تسمح على الأقل بإعادة النظر في ربط الوجود البشري بالمراحل "الخضراء" فقط، حيث ظهرت عدد من الديناميكيات السكانية المتعلقة بالمشهد الطبيعي الجاف في أواخر العصر الجليدي الأوسط وفي العصر الجليدي الأخير . يمكن أن يكون التعامل مع الظروف البيئية المتغيرة أو الصعبة دافعاً في أوقات مختلفة لتعديل السلوك، والترحال على نطاق واسع، وزيادة التفاعلات بين السكان ونشر الابتكارات التكنولوجية .

Type
Part 1: Research Papers
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 52 , November 2021 , pp. 36 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Libyan Studies 2021

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