Middle Stone Age human occupation and dispersals in the Messak plateau (SW Libya, central Sahara)

AbstractThe middle reaches of the Nile River play a key role in the current models about the diffusion of modern Humans out of Africa, nevertheless the Early and the Middle Stone Age (Early Palaeolithic and Middle Palaeolithic) in central Sudan are poorly known. On-going investigation at al-Jamrab (White Nile region) highlights the archaeological potential of the central Sudan and illustrates the importance of an integrated approach combining archaeological excavation and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for understanding cultural site formation and post-depositional dynamics. The stratigraphic sequence at al-Jamrab includes a thick cultural layer rich in Early and Middle Stone Age artefacts, preserved in a deeply weathered palaeosol developed on fluvial sediments. The cultural layer includes a two-fold human occupation covering the Middle Stone Age, with Acheulean and Sangoan bifacial artefacts, although an Early Stone Age/Middle Stone Age transitional phase cannot be excluded. The artefact-bearing unit is attributed to the Upper Pleistocene based on preliminary OSL dating, the local palaeoenvironmental context, and strong pedogenetic weathering. Considering the paucity of archaeological data for the Pleistocene of Sudan and the importance of this region in the study of human dispersal out of Africa, this preliminary work on a new site and its associated stratigraphic context provides insights into the early peopling of Sudan and adds one more tessera to the Eastern Africa picture.

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The West African Stone Age

10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.55 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Philip Allsworth-Jones

Keyword(s):

Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽

Modern Human ◽

Middle Stone Age ◽

Stone Age ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Late Stone Age ◽

Terminus Post Quem ◽

African Populations ◽

Climatic Record ◽

Reliable Classification

In terms of artefacts present, West Africa is not short of evidence relating to human occupation during the Quaternary. The problem hitherto has been one of context and dating; there has been some progress in this regard but poor preservation conditions still restrict the presence of organic remains prior to the beginning of the Late Stone Age (LSA). Nonetheless, an excellent climatic record for the last 520 kya has been established on the basis of cores obtained from Lake Bosumtwi. Stratified Acheulean sites have been excavated at Sansandé and Ravin Blanc on the Falémé River in eastern Senegal. The succeeding Sangoan is an entity for which a consistent and reliable classification remains to be achieved. Despite this, excavations at Anyama in the Ivory Coast have produced a sizeable quantity of material, with a terminus post quem thermoluminescence (TL) date of 254 ± 51 kya. Our knowledge of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) has been transformed by the work carried out at Ounjougou in Mali. More than twenty-five distinct archaeological occurrences have been detected, extending from about 75 to 25 kya. The MSA elsewhere is abundant, and at Adrar Bous is in place beneath the Aterian, but much of it lacks a good stratigraphic context. The following dry period, the Ogolian, must have had a dramatic effect on human settlement, and the majority of LSA sites postdate this episode. There is no apparent link between them and the MSA. Nonetheless, the LSA at Shum Lake in Cameroon does have 14C dates in the range 32,700–12,800 BP. The most significant LSA site is Iwo Eleru, notable for the presence of modern human remains with “archaic” characteristics. A parallel situation has been detected at Ishango in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo both indicating a hitherto unsuspected “deep substructure” in Late Pleistocene African populations.

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U-Th dated late Pleistocene tufas linked to human occupation in the semi-arid southern Kalahari

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8644 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jessica von der Meden ◽

Jayne Wilkins ◽

Benjamin Schoville ◽

Kyle Brown ◽

Robyn Pickering

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Summer Rainfall ◽

Middle Stone Age ◽

Annual Rainfall ◽

Human Populations ◽

Stone Age ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Cape Coast ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Semi Arid

Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter (GHN) in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa is situated within the Summer Rainfall Zone, in the semi-arid (~300-400mm mean annual rainfall) southeastern edge of the Kalahari Basin. This location is significant as the dominant narrative for the evolution of modern humans has focused on Middle Stone Age archaeological sites along the southern cape coast of South Africa, with coastal resources and favourable climate conditions argued as key factors in driving the evolution of Homo sapiens. Semi-arid regions in the interior of South Africa, such as the southern Kalahari Basin, are often considered to have been too dry to sustain significant human occupation and activity, and have thus been overlooked. However, GHN does indeed preserve rich stratified Middle and Later Stone Age deposits, as well as abundant large relict tufa deposits that cover the surrounding hillside. These tufas, which are ambient temperature, freshwater calcium carbonate deposits, are indicative of past periods of flowing surface waters and shallow pools on the hillside. Laser ablation trace element mapping was used to pre-screen the tufa samples to target layers with high 238U and little to no 232Th concentration for U-Th dating. The resultant ages show that the tufa system at Ga-Mohana was active during five distinct intervals over the last 110 ka, three of which closely coincide with the timing of human occupation at the site, itself dated via OSL. The coincidence of tufa formation and human occupation suggests that the tufa-forming waters were a critical resource to human populations living in the area. This hitherto undiscovered source of fresh water, more than 600 km inland and as far back as 110 ka, stands to challenge the notion of an empty and arid interior.

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The Middle Stone Age of the Central Sahara: Biogeographical opportunities and technological strategies in later human evolution

Quaternary International ◽

10.1016/j.quaint.2012.12.017 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 300 ◽

pp. 153-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Robert A. Foley ◽

José Manuel Maíllo-Fernández ◽

Marta Mirazón Lahr

Keyword(s):

Human Evolution ◽

Middle Stone Age ◽

Stone Age ◽

Central Sahara ◽

Technological Strategies

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Multiproxy record of late Quaternary climate change and Middle Stone Age human occupation at Wonderkrater, South Africa

Quaternary Science Reviews ◽

10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.017 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 99 ◽

pp. 42-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Lucinda R. Backwell ◽

Terence S. McCarthy ◽

Lyn Wadley ◽

Zoë Henderson ◽

Christine M. Steininger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

South Africa ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Middle Stone Age ◽

Stone Age ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Quaternary Climate

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

Libyan Studies ◽

10.1017/s0263718900004763 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 11-19 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Sacha Jones ◽

Lucy Farr ◽

Huw Barton ◽

Nick Drake ◽

Kevin White ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Changes ◽

Global Climate ◽

Field Research ◽

Hydrological Regime ◽

Geographic Area ◽

Middle Stone Age ◽

Stone Age ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Study Region ◽

Ecological Zones

AbstractGeoarchaeological 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.

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Geoarchaeology in India in the 21st century: an outsider’s perspective

Geological Society London Special Publications ◽

10.1144/sp515-2020-202 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. SP515-2020-202

Author(s):

Robin Dennell

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

South Asia ◽

21St Century ◽

South India ◽

Middle Stone Age ◽

Stone Age ◽

Rain Forests ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Genus Homo ◽

The Impact

AbstractProgress over the last 20 years in establishing reliable benchmarks in the Palaeolithic of India has been uneven but major successes have been the dating of the earliest Acheulean assemblages in India; the dating of the onset of the Middle Stone Age; the dating of the earliest microlithic assemblages in India; and the dating of the antiquity of human occupation of rain forests in South India and Sri Lanka. Also important is our greater understanding of the Younger Toba Tuff and the impact of the Toba mega-eruption 74 ka-ago on hominin populations in India. Major uncertainties persist over when the genus Homo first entered South Asia; when our own species, H. sapiens first entered South Asia; the age of the earliest blade assemblages in India; and the antiquity of its rock art.

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Vegetation and environmental changes at the Middle Stone Age site of Wonderkrater, Limpopo, South Africa

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2017.42 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 88 (2) ◽

pp. 313-326 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elysandre Puech ◽

Dunia H. Urrego ◽

María Fernanda Sánchez Goñi ◽

Lucinda Backwell ◽

Francesco d’Erricoc

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Water Table ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Middle Stone Age ◽

Stone Age ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Lithic Assemblages ◽

Stage 4 ◽

Age Estimates

AbstractWonderkrater, a Middle Stone Age site in the interior of South Africa, is a spring and peat mound featuring both paleoclimatic and archaeological records. The site preserves three small MSA lithic assemblages with age estimates of 30 ka, >45 ka and 138.01±7.7 ka. Here we present results of the pollen analysis of a core retrieved from the middle of the peat mound, which covers, with hiatuses, the timespan between ca. 70±10 ka and 30 ka. Pollen percentages of terrestrial, local aquatic, and semi-aquatic plants reveal changes in the regional climate and in the water table of the spring. Results identify regional wet conditions at ca. 70±10 ka, followed by a dry and a wet period between 60 ka and 30 ka. Superimposed on these three phases, recurring changes in the size and depth of the water table are observed between >45 ka and 30 ka. Wet conditions at 70 ka and 30 ka are tentatively correlated here with Marine Isotope Stage 4 and Heinrich Stadial 3, respectively. A warm and dry savanna landscape was present during human occupation older than 45 ka, and a wet phase was contemporaneous with the final occupation, dated at ~30 ka.

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