Holocene Deposits of Saharan Rock Shelters: The Case of Takarkori and Other Sites from the Tadrart Acacus Mountains (Southwest Libya)

African Archaeological Review

Volumn 30, Issue 3, 2013, Pages 305-338

  Biagetti, Stefano ^a   di Lernia, Savino ^a,b  

^a SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME   (Italy)

^b UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Archaeological sequence; Holocene; Late Acacus; Pastoral Neolithic; Rock shelters; Sahara

Indexed keywords

EID: 84884416725     PISSN: 02630338     EISSN: 15729842     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10437-013-9138-z     Document Type: Article

References (92)

1. Anag, G., Cremaschi, M., di Lernia, S., & Liverani, M. (2002). Environment, archaeology, and oil: The Messak Settafet rescue operation (Libyan Sahara). African Archaeological Review, 19(2), 67-73.
2. Anag, G., Cosentino, L., & di Lernia, S. (Eds.). (2007). Edeyen of Murzuq. Archaeological survey in the Libyan Sahara. Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
3. Anderson, D. G., Maasch, K. A., & Sandweiss, D. H. (Eds.). (2007). Climate change and cultural dynamics. London: Academic Press.
4. Aumassip, G. (1980-1981). Ti-n-Hanakaten (Tassili-n-Ajjers, Algérie): Bilan de 6 campagnes de fouilles. Libyca, 28-29, 115-127.
5. Aumassip, G., & Delibrias, G. (1982-1983). Ages des dépôts néolithiques du gisement de Ti-n-Hanakaten (Tassili-n-Ajjer, Algérie). Libyca, 30-31, 207-211.
6. Barich, B. E. (1974). La serie stratigrafica dell'Uadi Ti-n-Torha (Acacus, Libia). Origini, 8, 7-157.
7. Barich, B. E. (1987a). The wadi Ti-n-Torha facies. In B. E. Barich (Ed.), Archaeology and environment in the Libyan Sahara. The excavations in the Tadrart Acacus, 1978-1983 (Vol. 368, pp. 97-112). Oxford: BAR International Series.
8. Barich, B. E. (1987b). The Uan Muhuggiag rock shelter. In B. E. Barich (Ed.), Archaeology and environment in the Libyan Sahara. The excavations in the Tadrart Acacus, 1978-1983 (Vol. 368, pp. 123-219). Oxford: BAR International Series.
9. Barich, B. E., & Mori, F. (1970). Missione Paletnologica Italiana nel Sahara Libico. Risultati della campagna 1969. Origini, 4, 79-142.
10. Bartolomei, P., & Rizzo, A. (2001). Radiocarbon dates of charcoal samples from the Holocene sequence. In E. A. A. Garcea (Ed.), Uan Tabu in the settlement history of the Libyan Sahara (pp. 63-68). Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
11. Belluomini, G., & Manfra, L. (1987). Radiocarbon dates from the Tadrart Acacus Massif. In B. E. Barich (Ed.), Archaeology and environment in the Libyan Sahara. The excavations in the Tadrart Acacus, 1978-1983 (pp. 327-330). Oxford: BAR International Series, vol. 368.
12. Belluomini, G., Calderoni, G., Manfra, L., Allegri, L., & Improta, S. (1974). Alcune datazioni assolute con il metodo del C14 su reperti dell'Uadi Ti-n-Torha (Acacus, Libia). Origini, 8, 169-180.
13. Biagetti, S., & Chalcraft, J. M. (2012). Imagining aridity: Human-environment interactions in the Acacus Mountains, south-west Libya. In Imagining landscapes: Past, present, and future (Anthropological Studies of Creativity and Perception). Farnham: Asghate.
14. Biagetti, S., & di Lernia, S. (2007). Reflections on the Takarkori rockshelter (Fezzan, Libyan Sahara). In M. Kornfeld, S. Vasil'ev, & L. Miotti (Eds.), On shelter's ledge: Histories, theories and methods of rockshelter research. XV World Congress UISPP, Lisbon (pp. 125-132). Oxford: Archaeopress. Vol. BAR S1655.
15. Biagetti, S., Merighi, F., & di Lernia, S. (2004). Decoding an Early Holocene Saharan stratified site: Ceramic dispersion and site formation processes in the Takarkori rockshelter (Acacus Mountains, Libyan). Journal of African Archaeology, 2(1), 3-21.
16. Biagetti, S., di Lernia, S., & Poggi, G. (2009). Unearthing the hearths. Preliminary results on the Takarkori rockshelter fireplaces (Acacus Mts., Libya). In F. Cavulli, M. I. Prudêncio, & M. I. Dias (Eds.), Proceedings of the XV UISPP conference (Lisbon, 4-9 settembre 2006) (pp. 23-29). Oxford: Archaeopress. Vol. BAR S2045.
17. Biagetti, S., Ait Kaci, A., Mori, L., & di Lernia, S. (2012). Writing the desert. The 'Tifinagh' rock inscriptions of the Tadrart Acacus (southwestern Libya). Azania, 47(2), 153-174.
18. Biagetti, S., Cancellieri, E., Cremaschi, M., Gauthier, C., Gauthier, Y., Le Quellec, J.-L., Zerboni, A., & Gallinaro, M. (2013). The 'Messak Project'. Archaeological research for cultural heritage management in SW Libya. Journal of African Archaeology, 11(1). doi: 10. 3213/2191-5784-10231.
19. Bronk Ramsey, C. (2009). Dealing with outliers and offsets in radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon, 51(3), 1023-1045.
20. Bubenzer, O., & Riemer, H. (2007). Holocene climatic change and human settlement between the central Sahara and the Nile Valley: Archaeological and geomorphological results. Geoarchaeology, 22, 607-620.
21. Camps, G. (1969). Amekni. Neolithique ancien du Hoggar (Memoires du Centre de recherches anthropologiques, préhistoriques et ethnographiques, Vol. 10). Paris: Arts et metiers graphiques.
22. Cherkinsky, A. (2009). Can we get a good radiocarbon age from "bad bone"? Determining the reliability of radiocarbon age from bioapatite. Radiocarbon, 51(2), 647-655.
23. Corridi, C. (1998). Faunal remains from Holocene archaeological sites of the Tadrart Acacus and surroundings. In M. Cremaschi & S. di Lernia (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat-Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (pp. 89-94). Milano: C. N. R.
24. Cremaschi, M. (1998). Late Quaternary geological evidence for environmental changes in south-western Fezzan. In M. Cremaschi & S. di Lernia (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat-Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (pp. 13-48). Milano: C. N. R.
25. Cremaschi, M., & di Lernia, S. (1998). The geoarchaeological survey in the central Tadrart Acacus and surroundings (Libyan Sahara). Environment and cultures. In M. Cremaschi & S. Di Lernia (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat. Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (pp. 243-325). Milano: C. N. R.
26. Cremaschi, M., & di Lernia, S. (1999). Holocene climatic changes and cultural dynamics in the Libyan Sahara. African Archaeological Review, 16(4), 211-238.
27. Cremaschi, M., & di Lernia, S. (2000). Lasmo N-FC 174 concession area. The Messak Settafet rescue operation (Libyan Sahara): Preliminary report. Tripoli and Rome: Department of Antiquities/Cirsa.
28. Cremaschi, M., & di Lernia, S. (2001). Environment and settlements in the mid-Holocene palaeo-oasis of Wadi Tanezzuft (Libyan Sahara). Antiquity, 75, 815-825.
29. Cremaschi, M., & Zerboni, A. (2011). Human communities in a drying landscape. Holocene climate change and cultural response in the central Sahara. In I. P. Martini & W. Chesworth (Eds.), Landscape and Societies (pp. 67-89). Dordrecht: Springer.
30. Cremaschi, M., di Lernia, S., & Trombino, L. (1996). From taming to pastoralism in a drying environment: site formation processes in the shelters of the Tadrart Acacus massif (Libya, Central Sahara). In L. Castelletti & M. Cremaschi (Eds.), Micromorphology of deposits of anthropogenic origin. XIII congress of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences, Coll. VI. (pp. 87-106). Forlì: A. B. A. C. O.
31. Cremaschi, M., Zerboni, A., Spötl, C., & Felletti, F. (2010). The calcareous tufa in the Tadrart Acacus Mt. (SW Fezzan, Libya). An early Holocene palaeoclimate archive in the central Sahara. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 287, 81-94.
32. di Lernia, S. (1996). Changing adaptive strategies: A long-term process in the Central Saharan massifs from Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene. The Tadrart Acacus perspective (Libyan Sahara). In G. Aumassip, J. D. Clark, & F. Mori (Eds.), Colloquia of the XIII international congress of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences. Vol. 15: The prehistory of Africa. (pp. 195-208). Forlì: A. B. A. C. O.
33. di Lernia, S. (1997a). Condizioni culturali e forme di adattamento prima della produzione del cibo: i massicci centrali sahariani nell'antico Olocene (10, 000-7, 500 BP) (Unpublished Ph. D. thesis). Roma: Università degli Studi di Roma 'La Sapienza'.
34. di Lernia, S. (1997b). II sistema insediativo dei gruppi "epipaleolitici" del Tadrart Acacus (Sahara libico). Distribuzione dei siti e organizzazione dell'industria litica. Archeologia Africana, 3, 13-36.
35. di Lernia, S. (1998). Early Holocene pre-pastoral cultures in the Uan Afuda cave, wadi Kessan, Tadrart Acacus (Libyan Sahara). In M. Cremaschi & S. di Lernia (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat: Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (pp. 123-154). Milano: C. N. R.
36. di Lernia, S. (Ed.). (1999). The Uan Afuda cave: Hunter-gatherers societies of Central Sahara. Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
37. di Lernia, S. (2001). Dismantling dung: Delayed use of food resources among Early Holocene foragers of the Libyan Sahara. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 20, 408-441.
38. di Lernia, S. (2002). Dry climatic events and cultural trajectories: Adjusting Middle Holocene pastoral economy of the Libyan Sahara. In F. Hassan (Ed.), Droughts, food and culture (pp. 225-250). New York: Kluwer/Plenum.
39. di Lernia, S. (2005). Incoming tourism, outgoing culture: Tourism, development and cultural heritage in the Libyan Sahara. The Journal of North African Studies, 10(3-4), 441-457.
40. di Lernia, S. (2006). Cultural landscape and local knowledge: A new vision of Saharan archaeology. Libyan Studies, 37, 5-20.
41. di Lernia, S. (2013). The emergence and spread of herding in Northern Africa: A critical reappraisal. In P. J. Mitchell & P. J. Lane (Eds.), Oxford handbook of African archaeology (pp. 527-540). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
42. di Lernia, S., & Manzi, G. (1992). La sepoltura preistorica presso Uan Muhuggiag (H2) e le nuove ricerche nel Tadrart Acacus (Sahara Libico). Origini, 16, 161-180.
43. di Lernia, S., & Garcea, E. A. A. (1997). Some remarks on Saharan terminology. Pre-pastoral archaeology from the Libyan Sahara and the Middle Nile Valley. Libya Antiqua (n. s.), 3, 4-16.
44. di Lernia, S., & Manzi, G. (1998). Funerary practices and anthropological features at 8, 000-5, 000 BP. Some evidence from central-southern Acacus (Libyan Sahara). In M. Cremaschi & S. di Lernia (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat: Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (pp. 217-242). Milano: C. N. R.
45. di Lernia, S., & Manzi, G. (Eds.). (2002). Sand, stones, and bones: The archaeology of death in the Wadi Tanezzouft Valley (5, 000-2, 000 BP) (Arid Zone Archaeology, Vol. 3). Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
46. di Lernia, S., & Merighi, F. (2006). Transitions in the later prehistory of the Libyan Sahara, seen from the Acacus Mountains. In D. Mattingly, S. McLaren, E. Savage, Y. al Fasatwi, & K. Gadgood (Eds.), The Libyan desert: Natural resources and cultural heritage (Vol. 6, pp. 111-122). London: The Society for Libyan Studies, Society for Libyan Studies Monographs.
47. di Lernia, S., & Tafuri, A. M. (2013). Persistent deathplaces and mobile landmarks: The Holocene mortuary and isotopic record from Wadi Takarkori (SW Libya). Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 32(1), 1-15.
48. di Lernia, S., Manzi, G., & Merighi, F. (2002). Cultural variability and human trajectories in later prehistory of the Wadi Tanezzuft. In S. di Lernia & G. Manzi (Eds.), Sand, stones, and bones: The archaeology of death in the Wadi Tanezzuft Valley (5, 000-2, 000 BP) (pp. 281-302). Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
49. di Lernia, S., Massamba N'Siala, I., & Zerboni, A. (2012). Saharan 'waterscapes'. Traditional knowledge and historical depth of water management in the Akakus Mts. (SW Libya). In L. Mol & T. Sternberg (Eds.), Changing deserts: Integrating people and their environment (pp. 101-128). Cambridge: The White Horse.
50. Dunne, J., Evershed, R., Salque, M., Cramp, L., Bruni, S., Ryan, K., Biagetti, S., & di Lernia, S. (2012). First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the 5th millennium BC. Nature, 486, 390-394.
51. Gallin, A., & Le Quellec, J.-L. (2008). Les ensembles céramiques du Bassin de Murzuq-une contribution de l'archéologie préventive à la connaissance du Messak. Cahiers de l'Amis de l'Art Rupestre Saharien, 12, 70-87.
52. Gallinaro, M., Gauthier, C., Gauthier, G., Le Quellec, J.-L., Abdel Aziz, S., Biagetti S., Boitani, L., Cancellieri, E., Cavorsi, L., Massamba N'Siala, I., Monaco, A., Vanzetti, A., Zerboni, A., & di Lernia, S. (2012). The Messak Project. Cultural and Natural Preservation and Sustainable Tourism (south-western Libya). Antiquity Project Gallery, 086(331). http://www. antiquity. ac. uk/projgall/gallinaro331/.
53. Garcea, E. A. A. (1996). The long sequence at Uan Tabu (Libyan Sahara): Aterian and Holocene deposits. In G. Aumassip, J. D. Clark, & F. Mori (Eds.), Colloquia of the XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (The prehistory of Africa, Vol. 15, pp. 183-193). Forlì: A. B. A. C. O.
54. Garcea, E. A. A. (1998). Aterian and 'Early' and 'Late Acacus' from the Uan Tabu rock shelter, Tadrart Acacus (Libyan Sahara). In M. Cremaschi & S. Di Lernia (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat: Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (pp. 155-181). Milano: C. N. R.
55. Garcea, E. A. A. (2001a). Combustion structures at a Late Acacus feature. In E. A. A. Garcea (Ed.), Uan Tabu in the settlement history of the Libyan Sahara (Vol. 2, pp. 153-160). Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
56. Garcea, E. A. A. (2001b). The Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sequences. In E. A. A. Garcea (Ed.), Uan Tabu in the settlement history of the Libyan Sahara (pp. 1-14). Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
57. Garcea, E. A. A. (Ed.). (2001c). Uan Tabu in the settlement history of Libyan Sahara. Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
58. Garcea, E. A. A., & Sebastiani, R. (1998). Middle and Late Pastoral Neolithic from the Uan Telocat rockshelter, Tadrart Acacus (Libyan Sahara). In S. di Lernia, & M. Cremaschi (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat. Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (pp. 201-216). Firenze: C. N. R.
59. Gautier, A. (1987). The archaeozoological sequence of the Acacus. In B. E. Barich (Ed.), Archaeology and environment in the Libyan Sahara. The excavations in the Tadrart Acacus, 1978-1983 (Vol. 368, pp. 283-312). Oxford: Archaeopress.
60. Gifford-Gonzalez, D. (2005). Pastoralism and its consequences. In A. B. Stahl (Ed.), African archaeology: A critical introduction. London: Blackwell Publishing.
61. Hassan, F. A. (Ed.). (2002). Droughts, food and culture: Ecological change and food security in Africa's later prehistory. New York: Kluwer/Plenum.
62. Hoelzmann, P., Keding, B., Berke, H., Kroepelin, S., & Kruse, H. J. (2001). Environmental change and archaeology: Lake evolution and human occupation in the Eastern Sahara during the Holocene. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 169(3-4), 193-217.
63. Holl, A. (2005). Holocene Saharans: An anthropological perspective. London: Continuum.
64. Hunt, C., Davison, A., Inglis, R., Farr, L., Reynolds, T., & Simpson, D. (2010). Site formation processes in caves: The Holocene sediments of the Haua Fteah, Cyrenaica, Libya. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37(7), 1600-1611.
65. Kröpelin, S. (2002). Damage to natural and cultural heritage by petroleum exploration and desert tourism in the Messak Settafet (Central Sahara, Southwest Libya). Africa Preistorica, 14, 405-423.
66. Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1973). L'homme et la matière. Paris: Albin Michel.
67. Lézine, A.-M. (2009). Climatic history of the African and Arabian deserts. Comptes Rendus Geoscience, 341, 569-574.
68. Linstadter, J., & Kroepelin, S. (2004). Wadi Bakht revisited: Holocene climate change and prehistoric occupation in the Gilf Kebir Region of the eastern Sahara, SW Egypt. Geoarchaeology, 19(8), 753-778.
69. Liverani, M. (Ed.). (2005). Aghram Nadharif. The Barkat Oasis (Sha 'abiya of Ghat, Libyan Sahara) in Garamantian times. Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
70. Liverani, M., Cremaschi, M., & di Lernia, S. (2000). The "archaeological park" of the Tadrart Acacus and Messak Settafet (south-western Libya). Sahara, 12, 121-140.
71. Mattingly, D. J. (Ed.). (2003). The archaeology of Fazzan: Volume 1. Synthesis. London: The Society for Libyan Studies.
72. Mattingly, D. J., Daniels, C. M., Dore, J. N., Edwards, D., & Hawthorne, J. (Eds.). (2007). The archaeology of Fazzan. Volume 2. Site gazetteer, pottery and other survey finds. London: The Society for Libyan Studies.
73. Mercuri, A. M. (2008). Human influence, plant landscape evolution and climate inferences from the archaeobotanical records of the Wadi Teshuinat area (Libyan Sahara). Journal of Arid Environments, 72(10), 1950-1967.
74. Mercuri, A. M., Trevisan Grandi, G., Mariotti Lippi, M., & Cremaschi, M. (1998). New pollen data from the Uan Muhuggiag rockshelter (Libyan Sahara, VII-IV millennia BP). In S. di Lernia & M. Cremaschi (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat: Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara), (pp. 107-124). Milano: C. N. R.
75. Mercuri, A. M., Sadori, L., & Uzquiamo Ollero, P. (2011). Mediterranean and north-African cultural adaptations to mid-Holocene environmental and climatic changes. The Holocene, 21, 189-206.
76. Mori, F. (1965). Tadrart Acacus. Arte rupestre e culture del Sahara preistorico. Torino: Einaudi.
77. Mori, F. (1998). The great civilisations of the ancient Sahara. Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider.
78. Mori, F., & Ascenzi, A. (1959). La mummia infantile di Uan Muhuggiag. Osservazioni antropologiche. Rivista Antropologia, 46, 125-148.
79. Olmi, L., Mercuri, A. M., Gilbert, M. T. P., Biagetti, S., Fordyce, S., Cappellini, E., et al. (2011). Morphological and genetic analyses of early-mid Holocene wild cereals from the Takarkori rockshelter (central Sahara, Libya): First results and prospects. In A. G. Fahmy, S. Kahlheber, & A. C. D'Andrea (Eds.), Windows on the African past: Contemporary approaches to African archaeobotany (Vol. 3, pp. 175-184). Frankfurt: Africa Magna Verlag, Reports in African Archaeology.
80. Pasa, A., & Pasa Durante, M. V. (1962). Analisi paleoclimatiche nel deposito di Uan Muhuggiag, nel massiccio dell'Acacus (Fezzan meridionale). Memorie Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, 10, 251-255.
81. Pazdur, M. F. (1993). Evaluation of radiocarbon dates of organic samples from Uan Muhuggiag and Ti-n-Torha, southwestern Libya. In L. Krzyzaniak, M. Kobusiewicz, & J. Alexander (Eds.), Environmental change and human culture in the Nile Basin and northern Africa until the second millennium B. C.(pp. 43-48). Poznan: Archaeological Museum.
82. Roset, J. P. (1978). Poteries néolithiques du Ténéré. Cahier ORSTOM, Série Sciences Humaines, 15(4), 379-406.
83. Roset, J. P. (1982). Tagalagal: Un site à céramiques au Xe millénaire avant notre ère dans l'Aïr (Niger). Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 126(3), 565-570.
84. Roset, J. P. (1983). Les plus vieilles céramiques du Niger. In La préhistoire de l'Afrique de l'ouest (pp. 7-20). St. Maure: Sepia.
85. Roset, J. P. (1987). Néolithisation, néolithique et post-néolithique au Niger nordoriental. International Journal of the French Quaternary Association, 32, 203-214.
86. Schild, R., Padzur, M. F., Wendorf, F., & Krolik, H. (1996). Conventional radiocarbon chronology in the Sahara. Beware of fossil fuel. Sahara 8, 67-70.
87. Sereno, P. C., Garcea, E. A. A., Jousse, H., Stojanowski, C. M., Saliège, J. F., Maga, A., et al. (2008). Lakeside cemeteries in the Sahara: 5000 years of Holocene population and environmental change. PloS One, 3(8), e2995.
88. Smith, A. B. (2005). African herders: Emergence of pastoral traditions. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.
89. Tafuri, M. A., Bentley, R. A., Manzi, G., & di Lernia, S. (2006). Mobility and kinship in the prehistoric Sahara: Strontium isotope analysis of Holocene human skeletons from the Acacus Mts. (southwestern Libya). Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 25(3), 390-402.
90. Trevisan Grandi, G., Mariotti Lippi, M., & Mercuri, A. M. (1998). Pollen in dung layers from rockshelters and caves of Wadi Teshuinat (Libyan Sahara). In S. di Lernia & M. Cremaschi (Eds.), Wadi Teshuinat. Palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (pp. 95-106). Milano: C. N. R.
91. Wasylikowa, K. (1992). Holocene flora of the Tadrart Acacus area, SW Libya, based on plant macrofossils from Uan Muhuggiag and Ti-n-Torha Two Caves archaeological sites. Origini, 16, 125-159.
92. Zerboni, A. (2011). An early Holocene transitory arid phase in the central Sahara at the time of the 8. 2 ky BP climate anomaly. Il Quaternario, 24, 225-227.