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Desert Migrations: people, environment and culture in the Libyan Sahara

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

David Mattingly ,
Marta Lahr ,
Simon Armitage ,
Huw Barton ,
John Dore ,
Nick Drake ,
Robert Foley ,
Stefania Merlo ,
Mustapha Salem  and
Jay Stock
...Show all authors
David Mattingly
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Marta Lahr
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Simon Armitage
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Royal Holloway and Bedford College, University of London, UK
Huw Barton
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
John Dore
Affiliation:
Department of Historical Studies, University of Newcastle, UK
Nick Drake
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Kings College, London, UK
Robert Foley
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Stefania Merlo
Affiliation:
University of Botswana, Botswana
Mustapha Salem
Affiliation:
Al-Fatah University, Tripoli, Libya
Jay Stock
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Kevin White
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Reading, UK
Muftah Ahmed
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Franca Cole
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK
Federica Crivellaro
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Mireya Gonzalez Rodriguez
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Maria Guagnin
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, UK
Sebastian Jones
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Vassil Karloukovski
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Lancaster, UK
Victoria Leitch
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK
Lisa Maher
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Farès Moussa
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, UK
Anita Radini
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Ian Reeds
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Toby Savage
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Martin Sterry
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
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Abstract

The Desert Migrations Project is a new interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional collaborative project between the Society for Libyan Studies and the Department of Antiquities. The geographical focus of the study is the Fazzan region of southwest Libya and in thematic terms we aim to address the theme of migration in the broadest sense, encompassing the movement of people, ideas/knowledge and material culture into and out of Fazzan, along with evidence of shifting climatic and ecological boundaries over time. The report describes the principal sub-strands of the project's first season in January 2007, with some account of research questions, methods employed and some preliminary results. Three main sub-projects are reported on. The first concerns the improved understanding of long-term climatic and environmental changes derived from a detailed palaeoenvironmental study of palaeolake sediments. This geo-science work runs alongside and feeds directly into both archaeological sub-projects, the first relating to prehistoric activity and mobility around and between a series of palaeolakes during wetter climatic cycles; the second to the excavation of burials in the Wadi al-Ajal, exploring the changing relationship between material culture, identity and ethnicity across time, from prehistory to the early Islamic period (the span of the main cemetery zones). In addition, some rock art research and a survey of historic period sites was undertaken in the Wadi ash-Shati and Ubari sand sea.

Type
Archaeological Reports
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 38 , 2007 , pp. 115 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2007

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