Re-entering the central Sahara at the onset of the Holocene: A territorial approach to Early Acacus hunter–gatherers (SW Libya)

Cancellieri, Emanuele; Lernia, Savino di

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.08.030

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…kyr BP arid spell. However, more recent studies (Cancellieri and di Lernia 2013;Cancellieri et al 2015) suggested, at least for the Libyan Sahara, the sporadic occupation of small groups of huntergatherers moving from the north. Thus, a more articulated reoccupation of the region, with groups moving into the Central Sahara from different directions, seems more realistic.…”

Section: Central Saharamentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene Supra-Regional Environmental Changes as Trigger for Major Socio-Cultural Processes in Northeastern Africa and the Sahara

Gatto

Zerboni

2015

Afr Archaeol Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This contribution presents the environmental changes that occurred over the last ten millennia in a vast region of North Africa, encompassing the Central Sahara, the Greater Nile Valley and the Horn of Africa. These areas are of particular significance in the continent because of the early socioeconomic transformations that occurred there. An up-to-date review of palaeoclimate research is proposed with the aim to highlight new theoretical approaches, analytical methods and innovative techniques. Results of recent research on high-resolution and well-dated palaeoenvironmental archives for proxy data have been used to understand the climatic variability at different scales of resolution. We trace the regional changes in Holocene palaeohydrology, mostly regulated by monsoonal precipitation, and their effects on the landscape, and highlight the occurrence of short-term climatic events, arid or humid that may have had disruptive consequences on human communities. The contribution also discusses the cultural dynamics that occurred in those regions because the latter were exploited by hunter/ gatherer groups from the onset of the Holocene until historical times. A reconstruction of patterns of human adjustment to climatic variability is here presented, focusing on key processes such as the origin of food production, social complexity and power, and the rise and fall of complex polities and interregional networks.Résumé Cette contribution présente les changements environnementaux survenus au cours des dix derniers millénaires dans une vaste région de l'Afrique du Nord, englobant le Sahara Central, la vallée du Nile, et la Corne de l'Afrique. Ces zones sont Afr Archaeol Rev (2015) 32:301-333 d'une importance particulière, car ce sont là que les processus de développement socio-économiques se sont initialement produits sur le continent. Une revue à jour de la recherche paléoclimatique est proposée dans le but de mettre en évidence de nouvelles approches théoriques, méthodes analytiques et techniques innovantes. Les résultats de recherches récentes sur des archives paléoenvironnementales à haute résolution et bien datées ont été utilisées pour comprendre la variabilité climatique à différentes échelles, traçant les changements régionaux dans la paléohydrologie de l'Holocène, principalement régis par les précipitations de mousson, et leurs effets sur le paysage et soulignant l'apparition de courts événements climatiques, aride ou humide, qui ont pu avoir des conséquences perturbatrices sur les communautés humaines. Cette contribution aborde également les dynamiques culturelles qui ont eu lieu dans ces régions depuis qu'elles ont été exploitées par des groupes de chasseurs/cueilleurs du début de l'Holocène aux périodes historiques. Une reconstruction des schémas d'adaptation humaine aux variations climatiques est présentée ici, en se concentrant sur des processus clés, tels que l'origine de la production alimentaire, la complexité sociale et le pouvoir; ainsi que sur l'essor et la chute de systèmes politiques complexes et de ...

show abstract

Section: Central Saharamentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene Supra-Regional Environmental Changes as Trigger for Major Socio-Cultural Processes in Northeastern Africa and the Sahara

Gatto

Zerboni

2015

Afr Archaeol Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As recently remarked [78], these groups probably occupied the massifs and the surrounding areas on a seasonal basis, with a 'task-specific' occupation strategy. The archaeological data are scarce and mainly from surface sites, but for four contexts from the north and central areas; however, the environmental proxies and the analysis of site distribution and of lithic assemblages led the authors to suggest a north-western origin of the culture.…”

Section: Cultural and Chronological Framementioning

confidence: 82%

“…Recent developments of research have enabled this general overview to be set out in more detail (e.g., [3,4,60,[76][77][78]. This can be further integrated and improved by a deepened study of rock art evidence.…”

Section: Cultural and Chronological Framementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The diffuse presence of grinding equipment and the introduction of pottery witness a major shift also in material culture [46,82,83]. Those changes could be referred to external contacts, possibly with the eastern or southern areas [78].…”

Section: Cultural and Chronological Framementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, stylistic, chronological and cultural attribution is still problematic. The unsolved problem of the dynamics and timing of repopulation of the central Sahara [78,95], and the presence of rock art at Qurta in the Upper Egyptian Nile Valley, indirectly dated as early as the end of the Pleistocene (probably around 19000-17000 calBP), through OSL analyses of the sediments partially covering the engravings [8], suggest that we should reconsider the available data, and develop the research with analytical and methodological improvements. Round Heads style is represented both by paintings and rarely engravings decorating the walls of rockshelters and caves.…”

Section: Rock Art Styles and Chronologymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Saharan Rock Art: Local Dynamics and Wider Perspectives

Gallinaro

2013

Arts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rock art is the best known evidence of the Saharan fragile heritage. Thousands of engraved and painted artworks dot boulders and cliffs in open-air sites, as well as the rock walls of rockshelters and caves located in the main massifs. Since its pioneering discovery in the late 19th century, rock art captured the imagination of travellers and scholars, representing for a long time the main aim of research in the area. Chronology, meaning and connections between the different recognized artistic provinces are still to be fully understood. The central massifs, and in particular the "cultural province" encompassing Tadrart Acacus and Tassili n'Ajer, played and still play a key role in this scenario. Recent analytical and contextual analyses of rock art contexts seem to open new perspectives. Tadrart Acacus, for the richness and variability of artworks, for the huge archaeological data known, and for its proximity to other important areas with rock art (Tassili n'Ajjer, Algerian Tadrart and Messak massifs) is an ideal context to analyze the artworks in their environmental and social-cultural context, and to define connections between cultural local dynamics and wider regional perspectives.

show abstract

Sahelian pastoralism from the perspective of variants associated with lactase persistence

Priehodová

Austerlitz

Čížková

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: Archeological evidence shows that first nomadic pastoralists came to the African Sahel from northeastern Sahara, where milking is reported by 7.5 ka. A second wave of pastoralists arrived with the expansion of Arabic tribes in 7th-14th century CE. All Sahelian pastoralists depend on milk production but genetic diversity underlying their lactase persistence (LP) is poorly understood. Materials and methods: We investigated SNP variants associated with LP in 1,241 individuals from 29 mostly pastoralist populations in the Sahel. Then, we analyzed six SNPs in the neighboring fragment (419 kb) in the Fulani and Tuareg with the −13910*T mutation, reconstructed haplotypes, and calculated expansion age and growth rate of this variant. Results: Our results reveal a geographic localization of two different LP variants in the Sahel: −13910*T west of Lake Chad (Fulani and Tuareg pastoralists) and −13915*G east of there (mostly Arabic-speaking pastoralists). We show that −13910*T has a more diversified haplotype background among the Fulani than among the Tuareg and that the age estimate for expansion of this variant among the Fulani (8.5 ka) corresponds to introduction of cattle to the area.

show abstract

Re-entering the central Sahara at the onset of the Holocene: A territorial approach to Early Acacus hunter–gatherers (SW Libya)

Cited by 19 publications

References 49 publications

Holocene Supra-Regional Environmental Changes as Trigger for Major Socio-Cultural Processes in Northeastern Africa and the Sahara

Holocene Supra-Regional Environmental Changes as Trigger for Major Socio-Cultural Processes in Northeastern Africa and the Sahara

Saharan Rock Art: Local Dynamics and Wider Perspectives

Sahelian pastoralism from the perspective of variants associated with lactase persistence

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About