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DMP XIV: Prehistoric sites in the Wadi Barjuj, Fazzan, Libyan Sahara

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2014

Marta Mirazón Lahr ,
Robert Foley ,
Federica Crivellaro ,
José Maillo Fernandez ,
Alex Wilshaw ,
Ben Copsey ,
Frances Rivera  and
David Mattingly
Marta Mirazón Lahr
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Robert Foley
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Federica Crivellaro
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
José Maillo Fernandez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueologia, UNED, Spain
Alex Wilshaw
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Ben Copsey
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
Frances Rivera
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
David Mattingly
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
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Abstract

This paper reports on the fifth season of fieldwork for the Palaeoanthropology part of the Desert Migrations Project. Previous seasons established an extensive archaeological map based on a wide survey of the rich record along the edges of the Ubari Sand Sea, a small area of the Messak Settafet, the Wadi al-Ajal, the Wadi ash-Shati and the Wadi Barjuj. These surveys, complemented with small excavations, demonstrated a deep prehistory to the Fazzan, with Mode 1 technologies, Acheulean, Mode 3 (classic Levallois, large blade technologies, and Aterian), and Late Stone Age and Neolithic assemblages, some with pottery and grinding stones. The focus of the 2011 season was the Wadi Barjuj. This is an extensive wadi system to the South of the Messak, running along the northern edge of the Murzuq Sand Sea, and draining towards the east. Geomorphologically, it comprises old channel cut and fill gravels, usually finely graded, with areas of ancient lacustrine duricrusts, some of which are elevated significantly above the landscape. Surveys, complementing those of 2008, revealed a particularly rich and extensive Holocene series of sites, with microliths, pottery and grinding stones. These sites indicate a dense early Holocene occupation which seems associated with both hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. In addition, there was a low frequency of MSA lithics (compared to other survey areas), although one extremely rich site (BJJ4) had a very large number of water-worn, highly diagnostic small bifaces, characteristics of some Africa MSA traditions. Acheulean was relatively rare. One restricted locality (BJJ6) provided further evidence for a Mode 1 presence in the region, similar to that reported earlier from the Messak and Wadi ash-Shati (Mirazón Lahr et al. 2009, 2010). The context for the finds suggests that at various points during the Pleistocene the Wadi Barjuj was a low lying, swampy and/or lacustrine region, possibly riverine at times, and attractive to hominin populations because of its relatively rich resource base. This paper describes the localities and finds underpinning these conclusions.

Type
Archaeological Reports
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 42 , 2011 , pp. 117 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2011

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