The Haua Fteah, Cyrenaica (Northeast Libya)

Renewed investigations of the cave and its landscape, 2007

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21074251
AutoresG Barker (0000-0002-2678-4283, University of Cambridge, autor de correspondencia), Chris O Hunt (0000-0003-0330-8871, Queen's University Belfast), Chris Hunt (0000-0001-9997-8057), Tim Reynolds (0000-0002-9729-4775, Birkbeck, University of London), Ian Brooks (0000-0002-3793-3635, Gwynedd Archaeological Trust), Hwedi el-Rishi (University of Benghazi)
Año2007
Volumen38
Páginas93-114
Fecha de publicación2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLibyan Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0263-7189 • E-ISSN: 2052-6148
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0263718900004271
OpenAlexW2587708369
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas38
Referencias citadas1

The 1950s excavations by Charles McBurney in the great Haua Fteah cave in northeast Libya revealed a deep (14 m) sequence of human occupation going back at least 100,000 years, with evidence for the presence of both Neanderthals and Modern Humans in the Pleistocene, and for Neolithic farmers in the Holocene. In 2007 a renewed programme of archaeological and geomorphological investigation began with the objective of improving understanding of the cave's occupation sequence and, combined with fieldwork in the landscape, of the history of landscape change and human responses to it. The initial season of fieldwork removed the upper c. 4.5 m of backfill in the McBurney trench; established the robustness of the original faces and their suitability for analytical interventions; recorded detailed running sections spanning from the present day to (at least) the Last Glacial Maximum c. 20,000 years ago; and indicated the potential of the surviving archaeology to reveal not just sequence but also activities or ‘taskscapes’ at the site. The geomorphological fieldwork identified rich sequences of later Quaternary deposits (marine, colluvial, alluvial, aeolian) with the potential to provide significant results regarding the history of climate and environment in the region. Archaeological survey around the cave indicates that the variability of the surface lithic evidence appears to reflect real differences in past human behaviour and use of the landscape and not just post-depositional taphonomic processes. Fifty years after the extraordinary pioneering work of McBurney and his colleagues, the new work demonstrates the continued potential of the Haua Fteah's unique occupation sequence and the multi-period ‘human landscapes’ around it to transform understanding of early human societies in North Africa

Archaeology · Cave · Excavation · Geography · Holocene · Middle Stone Age · Pleistocene · Sedimentary depositional environment · Taphonomy · Archaeological and Historical Studies · Archaeological Research and Protection · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology