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Abstract

The paper reports on the fifth (2012) season of fieldwork

of the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project. The primary focus of

the season was the continuation of the excavation of the

prehistoric occupation layers in the Haua Fteah cave. A

small trench (Trench U) was cut into Holocene (Neolithic)

sediments exposed on the south wall of Charles McBur-

ney’s Upper Trench. Below this, the excavation of Trench

M was continued, on the southern side of McBurney’s

Middle Trench. In previous seasons we had excavated

Oranian ‘Epipalaeolithic’ layers dating to c. 18,000–10,000

BP (years before the present). In 2012 the excavation

continued downwards through Dabban ‘Upper Palaeoli-

thic’ occupation layers, one of which was associated with

a post-built structure and likely hearths. There are indi-

cations of an occupational hiatus separating the oldest

Dabban from the youngest Levallois-Mousterian (Middle

Palaeolithic or Middle Stone Age) lithic material. The

Deep Sounding excavated by Charles McBurney in 1955

was cleared of backfill to its base, and its south-facing wall

was recorded in detail and sampled extensively for mate-

rials for dating and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

McBurney believed that he had reached bedrock at the

base of the Deep Sounding, but a small sounding (Trench

S) cut into the sediments below this level found further,

albeit sparse, evidence for human occupation. Whilst the

antiquity of ‘Pre-Aurignacian’ human occupation at the

site still needs to be resolved, it seems likely to reach back

at least to Marine Isotope Stage 5e, the beginning of the

last interglacial (c. 130,000–115,000 BP). Important finds

from the 2012 excavations in terms of the behavioural

complexity of the human groups using the cave include

a possible worked bone point from a Pre-Aurignacian

layer and a granite rubbing stone in a Dabban layer from a

source over 600 km from the cave.

IntroductionBy Graeme Barker, Chris Hunt and Tim Reynolds

At the cross-roads of Africa and Europe, Libya is cen-tral to any understanding of the cultural interactions between the two continents in prehistory. The Cyre-naican Prehistory Project (CPP) is addressing two sets of questions about the character of prehistoric settlement in the Gebel Akhdar (‘Green Mountain’) massif in north-east Libya: (1) when, from where and how did Homo sapiens first colonise North Africa? (2) and when did hunting and gathering lifestyles give way to crop cultivation and animal husbandry, and why? A critical part of the project is the investigation of whether these cultural transformations related to changes in climate and environment and, if so, how. The centrepiece of the project is the re-investigation of the Haua Fteah, a large cave first excavated by Dr Charles McBurney (University of Cambridge) in the 1950s (McBurney 1967). His 13 m-deep trench cut into the sediments infilling the cave revealed an occupation sequence unparalleled in North Africa. He divided this into seven phases: Pre-Auri-gnacian (Middle Palaeolithic, or Middle Stone Age, MSA), c. 80–60,000 BP; Levallois-Mousterian (MSA), c. 60,000–40,000 BP; Dabban (Upper Palaeolithic), c. 40,000–14,000 BP; Eastern Oranian (Epipalaeoli-thic), c. 14,000–10,000 BP; Libyco-Capsian (Meso-lithic), c. 10,000–7000 BP; Neolithic, c. 7000–5000 BP; and Graeco-Roman and Historic, c. 2500 BP to the present. He had to estimate the ages older than c. 40,000 BP, the maximum age range of radiocarbon dating at the time, on stratigraphic grounds and by correlation with the then-emerging oxygen isotope record. The second component of the project is the integration of the analysis of the newly-excavated materials with a comprehensive re-study of the pro-lific archive of materials from the original excavations

The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2012: the fifth season of investigations of

the Haua Fteah cave

By Graeme Barker,1 Paul Bennett,2 Lucy Farr,1 Evan Hill,3 Chris Hunt,3 Giulio Lucarini,4 Jacob Morales,5 Giuseppina Mutri,1 Amy Prendergast,6

Alexander Pryor,1 Ryan Rabett,1 Tim Reynolds,7 Pia Spry-Marques6 and Mohammed Twati8

Libyan Studies 43 (2012)

1 McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK.2 Canterbury Archaeological Trust, Canterbury, UK.3 School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University of Belfast, UK.4 Interuniversity Research Centre of the Ancient Societies of North Africa, the Sahara and the Mediterranean East, University of Siena, Italy.5 CSIC (Spanish National Research Council), Madrid, Spain.6 Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK.7 Faculty of Continuing Education, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.8 Department of Archaeology, Omar Mukhtar University, al-Beida, Libya.

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now stored in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge. The third component of the project is a programme of geoar-chaeological studies across the Gebel Akhdar from the Mediterranean coast to the Saharan pre-desert, to reconstruct the nature of human activity and its environmental contexts contemporary with the vari-ous phases of the Haua Fteah sequence.

After two initial seasons of fieldwork funded by the Society for Libyan Studies and the Leakey Foundation (Barker et al. 2007; 2008), the project undertook two more substantial seasons in 2009 and 2010 with the aid of significant funding from the European Research Council together with continued support from the Society for Libyan Studies (see Acknowledgements) (Barker et al. 2009; 2010). The 1950s backfill filling the main McBurney trench was removed down to c. 7.5 m, a further 2 m was removed below that from part of his 5.5 m-deep Deep Sounding, and excava-tions were initiated to explore in situ archaeological sediments exposed by the southern wall of the Middle Trench (Trench M) and by the southern wall of the Deep Sounding (Trench D). Sedimentology, micro-morphological and facies analysis of the exposed faces of the Middle and Upper Trenches have revealed the patterns of sedimentation that formed these depos-its: mainly wash, mud- and debris-flows, occasionally interspersed by phases of intense human activity. An intensive multi-pronged dating programme – radio-carbon (14C), Uranium-series (U-series), Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL), Electron Spin Reso-nance (ESR) – is building a more detailed and robust chronology of the site than was possible in McBur-ney’s day, despite the considerable challenges pre-sented by the sedimentary processes.

The 2007–2010 excavations demonstrated that the upper 7.5 m of the sediments (the Middle and Upper Trenches) represents a c. 90,000 year-old sequence, suggesting that the total sequence might reach back to c. 150,000 BP, almost twice as old as McBurney estimated. Two human mandibles found by McBurney in the MSA levels, identified as robust Homo sapiens (Hublin 2000), can now be assigned an age of c. 70,000 BP. Six sedimentary ‘facies’ have been recognised from the base of the Middle Trench to the present-day ground surface (Hunt et al. 2010; Inglis 2012) (Fig. 1): F5 (7.5–6.5 m depth) dense red silts; F4 (6.5–5.5 m) silty greyish sediments and breccias; F3 (5.5–3.5 m) reddish clays alternating with siltier lighter fabrics; F2 (3.5–1.75 m) silty greyish sediments and breccias; F1b (1.75–0.75 m) greyish-red silty diamicts; and F1a (0.75–0 m) red diamicts. Although these derive from local sedimentary processes, they can also be correlated with global climatic fluctuations

or Marine Isotope Stages (MIS), confirming the cave’s potential for analysing changes in human activity in terms of regional climate history. Pollen analysis indi-cates low-diversity pine scrub-steppe outside the cave in the colder of these phases and high-diversity maquis and savannah biotopes in the more temper-ate phases in the Pleistocene (D. Simpson, pers. comm.). In its first 1.5 m (cut down from the top of the Middle Trench), Trench M revealed a sequence of Eastern Oranian (hereafter Oranian) and early Libyco- Capsian (hereafter Capsian) layers, the former dated to c. 18,000–15,000 BP and the latter to c. 15,000–10,000 BP. Cut from the base of the Middle Trench, Trench D found evidence for small-scale human pres-ence (stone artefacts and lithic debitage) in its top 1 m, a zone in the Deep Sounding within the Pre-Aurignacian occupation that was regarded by McBur-ney as archaeologically sterile.

Plans to remove the last 4 m of backfill and con-tinue the Trench M and D excavations in spring 2011, along with other projected fieldwork elsewhere in the Gebel Akhdar, had to be shelved because of the fighting in Libya. This paper reports on the results of the resumption of fieldwork by the CPP in April/May 2012. Because of political sensitivities and security concerns in the aftermath of the conflict, the 2012 fieldwork was restricted entirely to the continuation of the Haua Fteah excavations.

Excavations in the Haua Fteah By Tim Reynolds, Paul Bennett, Lucy Farr, Giulio Lucarini, Alexander Pryor, Ryan Rabett and Pia Spry-Marques

The two primary objectives of the fieldwork were: (1) to finish the removal of the McBurney backfill from the Deep Sounding and begin recording and sampling the earliest deposits known from the site exposed in the Deep Sounding walls, associated with the ‘Pre-Aurignacian’ occupation he encountered at this depth; and (2) to continue the excavation of Trench M as deep as possible down the side of the Middle Trench through the Dabban and underlying Levallois-Mousterian layers to obtain new collec-tions of artefacts for comparison with the McBurney archive material and to sample for environmental and dating purposes. The discovery of in situ deposits beneath those excavated by McBurney at the base of the Deep Sounding added a third objective: to inves-tigate these for signs of continuing human activity and explore how much deeper archaeological deposits continued. This produced Trench S: S for Sounding, as the trench was based at the bottom of the Deep Sounding. (Trench D had already been allocated in

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2010 as the designation for the trench to run down the north-facing section of the Deep Sounding; the latter was not extended during the 2012 season due to lack of time.) A final objective emerged during the field season, to obtain more material for the study of ‘Neolithisation’. This led to the excavation of Trench U (U for Upper as the excavation was sited on the north-facing section of the Upper Trench). Excava-tion using local Libyan workmen aided by our field team successfully reached the base of the McBurney excavations and Trench M was excavated whilst this work took place. The excavations of Trenches U and S were brief, two-day, pieces of work that supple-mented the main excavations. Excavation of Trench U is now complete but further excavation is planned for Trenches M, D and S.

Trench U (PB, GL) Trench U was located towards the south-east corner of the Upper Trench (Fig. 1) in an area of the trench face where concentrated charcoal deposits and ashy layers were visible on the surface. The excavation measured 100 cm in width x 30 cm in height with total depth of

40 cm (Fig. 2). The purpose of the excavation was to collect samples of Neolithic-age sediments additional to the small but very productive (in terms of archaeo-botanical remains, for example) samples from two columns cut into the Upper Trench faces in the 2007 and 2008 seasons (Barker et al. 2007; 2008). Excava-tion was by context, beginning in deposits of Graeco-Roman age and ending at the top of the stony layer at the base of the Upper Trench (context 173). At the top of the 2012 excavation (context 740) are deposits containing pottery including a hand-made coarse ware (5YR 6/2) rim of a large bowl with a broken handle and three non-diagnostic wheel-made Classical sherds (5YR 5/6 to 5YR 6/6) with minor shell tempering. Occa-sional marine shell and bone were found in context 740 and two lithic pieces, including one with continu-ous retouch. Context 741, forming the base of the Graeco-Roman deposits, is marked by abundant ash, some shell, bone and very small pottery sherds.

The uppermost unit of the Neolithic occupa-tion is a thin, fine ashy layer containing marine shell, bone and lithics (context 742). The lithics in this context included one end-scraper, one notched

Figure 1. The north-facing walls of the McBurney Upper and Middle Trenches, showing the locations of Trench U and Trench M. McBurney layers (Roman numerals) and cultural phases on left, CPP sedimentary facies F1-F5 on right (drawing: L. Farr).

<HF1>

<HF2>

<HF3>

<HF4>

<HF5>

<HF6>

<HF9>

<HF10>

<HF11>

<HF12>

<HF8>

<HF7>

0 1 m

F5

F4

F3

F2

F1 (cont.)

F1

OSL sample

Upper Trench

Middle Trench

Deep Sounding

N

234

235

230

254

240

218

248

242

228

503

505

508

676

676

679

677

563

694

523

671

678

675

674

566

672

673

699

570

693

250

408

401

167

172

161

176

177

179

183

180

189

178

181

182

201

437

439

459

498

499

503

504

505

534

507

508

159

156

160

158

162

170

155

154

402

144

135

153

169

156

158157

161

163

168

167166

165164

458

455

513

135

171

457

470

453

535

537

521

523

524

536

563

528

565

536562

528525

561

531

443

236

450466

255

256258 256

173

178

208

238

220

249185 188

Modern

Historic (I-III)

Neolithic (VI-VIII)

Capsian (IX-X)

Oranian (XI-XV)

Dabban (XVI-XXIV)

Levallois-Mousterian (XXV-XXXIV)

Trench M

Trench U

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piece and one denticulate along with over 300 deb-itage elements. Underlying this deposit is a pos-sible occupation surface (context 743) containing rounded, horizontally-bedded stones and abundant marine shell. Much of the shell is fragmentary – pos-sibly caused by trampling. This context yielded 300 lithics, mainly small chips detached by the action of fire. Context 744 contained fewer stones than the overlying context 743 and yielded 80 lithics, mainly knapping debris of chunks, chips and small flakes showing thermoclastic fractures. This context yielded numerous whole marine shells (Osilinus turbinatus and Patella caerulea). There were also occasional whole terrestrial shells (Trochoidea sp.) and many shell fragments. Contexts 745 and 746 are wedge-shaped units (in section) that interleave between contexts 744 and 747 from the west and east respectively. These wedges may be small debris flows composed of roof-fall clasts. Both units contain abundant marine shell including whole Patella caer-ulea and Osilinus turbinatus. Context 747, the main Neolithic occupation layer, is approximately 11 cm thick with a planar upper contact and a slightly bowl-shaped lower contact. The context has abundant whole marine shell (mainly Osilinus turbinatus and Patella caerulea with some Hexaplex sp.), some whole terrestrial shell (Trochoidea and Eobania spp.

and Helix melanostoma) and many shell fragments. The deposit has an overall matrix of ashy silty clay with frequent concentrations of charcoal (fragments up to around 1 cm). Several sheep/goat and other smaller mammal bones were recovered from this unit. Numerous burnt lithic chips and chunks and one particularly fine drill (mèche de foret), which may have been used as a pick for removing Osilinus turbinatus from their shells, were recovered from this unit. Context 747 is an anthropogenic midden deposit with clear evidence of burning. Context 173 below this consists of loosely-packed small angular boulders with no interfilling matrix, although shell material from the overlying unit has seeped into the pore spaces. Excavation ended here as earlier work in 2009 has shown context 173 to predate the Neo-lithic occupation and also be archaeologically-sterile.

Trench M (LF, PSM)Excavations in Trench M (Fig. 3) began with cutting a 30 cm-wide sample column through the eastern edge of the 2010 stratigraphy (c. 55.90–56.50 OD), the principal objective being to obtain sequential char-coal samples for 14C radiocarbon dating in order to clarify the sediment accumulation rates of contexts 10,006–10,009. The dating programme had revealed an unexpected plateau of 14C dates centred around

Figure 2. View of Trench U on the north-facing section of the Upper Trench, looking south, scale: 30 cm (photo: G. Barker).

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14,500 cal BP, and it was considered necessary to establish whether these dates were an accurate reflection of sediment ages or a product of sampling error (the dates had been obtained from charcoal samples collected in different parts of the trench, and subsequent sediment analysis indicated that parts of what we had excavated as contexts 10,006–10,009 were likely to be avalanche sediments, as described below). A new range of context numbers was begun in the 2012 excavations, beginning at 11,001. Con-texts 11,001–11,010 were assigned to stratigraphic units visible in the sampling column equivalent to contexts 10,006–10,011 defined in the 2010 excava-tions (see Barker et al. 2010, fig. 3). A shell bead was retrieved from context 11,002 during the excavation of the sample column.

The upper part of the Trench M stratigraphy is characterised by a low-angle U-shaped cut [11,078] which truncates contexts 240/11,011/11,012/11,013 assigned to Facies F2, likely to have formed in the MIS 2 cold stage (c. 24,000–11,500 BP). ESR and radio-carbon samples collected in the 2010 fieldwork season indicate that the cut dates to around the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), c. 18,000 BP. Our interpretation is

that this is a natural erosional feature, though it is pos-sible that this equates to one of the ‘artificial pits’ that McBurney (1967, 161) noted as complicating the defi-nition of the Dabban–Oranian interface. Following this phase of erosional activity younger sediments (con-texts 11,014, 11,010–11,001) were deposited in the Terminal Pleistocene, beginning with a fine ashy silt unit (11,014, possibly the Biancavilla tephra dated to 18,000 BP), followed by coarse blocky clast-supported gravel (11,010, 11,009). The latter contains lithic arte-facts of Oranian date and is likely to be colluvial in ori-gin. Subsequent contexts (11,008–11,001) are silt-rich and have abundant lithic material, mollusc shells, bone and burnt plant macrofossils and are associated with the Capsian phase of occupation dating to the Termi-nal Pleistocene and Early Holocene.

The sediments broadly attributed to MIS 2 are characterised as matrix-supported gravels, rich in sub-angular limestone roof-spall fragments likely to have derived from physical weathering of the cave roof (e.g. contexts 11,011, 11,015, 11,018, 11,025, 11,036). Interspersed within these units are silt-rich deposits characteristic of aeolian sedimentation (e.g. contexts 11,024, 11,043), and occasional clayey silt

0 1 m

11077

11,078

11,054

11,057

gravel charcoal

silt bioturbation

clay shell

56.19556.195

11,075

11,059

11,063 11,065

11,072

11,007

11,008

11,009

11,010

11,013

11,01511,014

11,001

11,002

11,003

11,004

11,005

11,006

240

11,016

11,019

11,01711,018

11,020

11,022

11,02511,034

11,036

11,024

11,052

11,053

11,033

11,045

11,049

11,047

11,051

11,050

11,055

11,028

11,011

11,012

11,043

11,056

10,005

10,000

10,001 10,002

11,046

2012 sample

column

step

Figure 3. Trench M at the end of the 2012 excavations: (left) drawing of Section 71 (note that the upper 40 cm is stepped back, as the width of the trench was reduced by 50 cm below context 10,005); (right) photograph of Trench M, looking south, scale: 2 m (drawing: L. Farr; photo: G. Barker).

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units sometimes associated with stalagmite formation (e.g. 11,012). Such changes in the depositional nature of the sediments are likely to reflect millennial-scale oscillations in temperature, precipitation and local/regional vegetation cover throughout MIS 2 of the kind well-documented for the North African/Mediter-ranean region (Bar-Matthews et al. 1997; Causse et al. 2003; Gasse 2000; Gasse and Roberts 2004; Macklin et al. 2002; Rossignol-Strick 1993).

Lithic material of Dabban type is consistently present within these MIS 2 units, being especially dense in contexts 11,016, 11,018, and 11,019. In gen-eral, the silt-rich units yielded the greatest frequency of lithic material and animal bone. A posthole associ-ated with these units (cut 11,077, upper fill 11,022, lower fill 11,033) had been cut into the underlying matrix-supported gravel unit 11,020 (Fig. 4). The

upper fill consisted of loose, charcoal-rich, ashy silt likely to derive from a hearth or similar feature located just outside the excavation area. What is likely to be a similar posthole, cut from the same horizon and filled with the same ashy material, can be seen c. 50 cm to the west in the north-fac-ing wall of the Middle Trench (Fig. 4), suggesting that the Dabban occupation at this level may have included a post-built structure in association with a hearth. Char-coal samples for 14C radiocarbon dating have been retrieved from the Trench M posthole fill.

Below this phase of activity was a series of rapidly alternating gravel and silt units containing occasional to moderate amounts of Dabban-type lithics. Of particular interest

is an oval-shaped pink granite rubbing stone retrieved from silt unit 11,045 (Fig. 5). The area surrounding the Haua Fteah is karstic limestone and the nearest known granite sources are located in south-western Libya and Egypt over 600 kilometres from the Haua Fteah. Hence the occurrence of this artefact in the early Dabban levels at the Haua Fteah indicates that people curated valued and exotic materials and that they must have participated in long-distance move-ments of cultural materials linking the Gebel Akhdar with the Sahara and/or practised equivalent seasonal movements themselves (either scenario implying that the Gebel Akhdar is unlikely to have been an isolated refugium for human populations at this time).

The earliest Dabban-type lithics observed during excavation were retrieved from contexts 11,043 and 11,044, which are predominately silt-rich and gravel

Figure 4. (top left) The Dabban-period post-hole 11,077 in Section 71 (Trench M), looking obliquely south; scale: 30 cm (photo: L. Farr); (bottom left) the same posthole on the left, and the likely posthole to its right in the north-facing wall of the Middle Trench (Section 16.1) cut from the same horizon; both post-holes with 10 cm scales at their bases; looking south (photo: G. Barker).

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units with variable amounts of shell, charcoal, animal bone and lithic material. These stratigraphic units are very thin and appear to alternate rapidly, possibly reflect-ing fluctuations in climate occur-ring at the beginning of MIS 2 (c. 20,000 BP) or, more likely, during short stadials within MIS 3. Apart from the granite rubbing stone in context 11,045, the underlying units 11,045, 11,049 and 11,050 did not contain any visible lithic material, indicating a possible hia-tus in occupation or low-density occupation at least in this part of the cave (contexts 11,046–11,050). Contexts 11,047 and 11,049 are the latest examples of substan-tial orange silt units of the kind that dominate lower down in the Middle Trench stratigraphy. They are likely to reflect low-energy inwash events within MIS 3 (Ing-lis 2012). Context 11,050 consists of clast-supported gravels and medium-sized blocky sub-angu-lar to sub-rounded limestone clasts which are vis-ibly weathered and worn on the uppermost surface. Medium-sized fragments of algal stalagmitic material and occasional roofspall fragments also occur. These sediments imply a humid climatic phase followed by a colder, more arid, period that weathered the cave roof, conditions consistent with palaeoclimatic fluc-tuations within MIS 3.

The youngest diagnostic Mousterian-type lithics noted during the excavation of Trench M occur in a predominately silt unit (11,051). Underlying this is an orangey clayey silt (11,052, 11,053), the lower portion of which (11,053) is laminar, dipping east to west, and which appears to have undergone in situ chemical weathering with increased manganese staining in a laminated crust. Increased numbers of patinated

Mousterian-type lithics are associated with context 11,053, together with occasional mineralized bone. The lower boundary of 11,053 is very sharp and well defined, covering the underlying surface of matrix-supported gravel (11,054) and a finer fraction gravel unit below it (11,055). Context 11,054 contained moderately well-sorted clasts of limestone (c. 1–6 cm on the a-axis), irregularly orientated and visibly worn on the upper surface. The presence of patinated Lev-allois-type lithic artefacts associated with the surface of 11,054 suggests that this may once have been an occupation surface for people using the cave at this time. A possible shell bead was recovered from the interface between 11,055 and 11,056.

Underlying these units is a lens of ashy material (11,057) most evident in the western part of Trench M where it infilled a natural, irregularly-shaped,

Figure 5. Rubbing stone of pink granite from Dabban context 11,045 in Trench M. Granite is not found in the Gebel Akhdar, the nearest sources being in south-western Libya and Egypt over 600 km from the Haua Fteah. Scales: 10 cm (photos: G. Barker).

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depression in the underlying unit and reached a thickness of c. 1 cm. It is possible that this unit is the equivalent of the Campanian Ignimbrite (Y5) tephra which has been identified by Christine Lane at approximately this level (but several metres away) in the west-facing section of the Middle Trench (Barker et al. in preparation). The eruption (in the Naples area of Italy) that generated the Campanian Ignim-brite ash has been 40Ar/39Ar dated to 39.28±0.11 ka BP (De Vivo et al. 2001). If chemical analysis con-firms that context 11,057 is indeed Campanian Ignimbrite, it will provide a significant chronological marker in Trench M.

The lowermost units excavated in Trench M in 2012 (11,059–11,075) are dominated by extremely compact orangey clayey silts (11,063/11,065 and 11,075) with distinct upper surfaces and a weath-ered sub-laminar structure. Small cubic and circular

structures are visible on the upper surfaces of both units, possibly casts of evaporite minerals simi-lar to those seen in sebkha (salt marsh) sediments today. These silts and their associated features are very characteristic of humid environments and are suggestive of a warm-stage palaeoclimate. In between these units is a series of thin matrix-supported gravel and yellowish-brown silt units (11,066–11,072) containing fre-quent charcoal and some lithics. In the western part of the trench these overlie extremely compact clast-supported heat-fractured limestone fragments (11,069) lying in a natural depression on the surface of the underlying unit. Although no artefacts were found in 11,069, this context is clearly anthropogenic in its formation, and is presumably a hearth of some kind.

The Deep Sounding (AP, RR)As was the case with the removal of McBurney backfill from the upper trenches in the preceding seasons, its removal from the Deep Sounding in the 2012 season revealed virtually intact section edges with his origi-nal nails and metal tags still in situ, denoting spits and spit numbers assigned during the original 1955 exca-vations (Figs 6 and 7). The fully emptied trench mea-sured 3.80 m by 1.60 m and reached a depth of 5.4 m below the current Middle Trench base at its deepest part, in the process revealing an important revision to the published account of its excavation. The steeply sloping rock encountered by McBurney’s team at the base of the trench (which halted the 1955 excavation) was exposed in the western half of the trench, not the eastern half as published. The 1955 campaign had begun by excavating an area half the size of the final Deep Sounding, towards the centre of the Middle

Figure 6. Looking north to the western part of Section 78, the north wall of the McBurney Deep Sounding (Section 78, Figure 7). The scale is in 0.5 m divisions; the McBurney metal tags marking the spits excavated in 1955 are visible to its left (photo: G. Barker).

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Trench. The rock had been uncovered at a depth of 47 feet below the cavefill surface, at which point and seemingly with time running out towards the end of that season another trench of similar proportions was opened immediately to the east of it. Spoil from the latter may have gone directly into filling the former as we found small vestiges of what would have been the original west-facing section at the dividing line between the initial and subsequent trenches. The eastern half of the Deep Sounding reached a depth approximately one metre deeper than the western half before rocks began to emerge here too, in the north-east corner. McBurney halted his excavation of the Deep Sounding at this point (spit 181: diary entry for 30th August, 1955), although accessible deposits still existed across half of the available base at the eastern end of the trench. Time pressures were prob-ably the main reason, although the site diary also notes the apparent sterility of the deposits. As dig-ging progressed in the 2012 season, wooden shoring was installed in stages, comprising corner piers and ring beams following the design used in the Middle Trench. Access to the full height of the section walls was permitted via two moveable platforms built into the shoring.

Numerous lithics were recov-ered during the removal of the backfill, in particular from a layer of more concentrated lithic debris at the base of the Deep Sound-ing backfill. These correspond typologically to the Capsian/Ora-nian complexes and most prob-ably represent materials knocked down from the angle between the Upper and Middle trenches dur-ing the backfilling of the entire trench system at the end of the excavations in 1955. Further finds included a particularly well-pre-served shell bead typical for the Capsian period and, within sedi-ments towards the bottom of the backfill, about 50 of the metal tags used as section labels.

Given the size of the section edges now exposed, work to record and sample the Deep Sounding deposits focused solely on the south-facing section (c. 20 m2). Examination of the stratigraphy revealed almost 90 distinct layers (Fig. 7), consisting primarily of red-coloured clayey-silts broken intermittently by more yellowish bands of sediment and incipient flow-stone formations. A substantial deposit of cultural materials (contexts 823, 824, 825 and 828) was identi-fied at c. 3.4 m depth into the Deep Sounding at its western edge, sloping gradually downwards towards the east. These culturally-rich deposits appear to have developed during a warm and temperate phase: a root cast originating from this layer indicates the presence of a small tree in the cave at this time, and an earlier tree root cast lacks a clear upper origin but immediately underlies the cultural layer. The con-texts with visible cultural materials in them appear to have been disturbed, possibly by human activities. (It should be noted that several burrows are visible through the entire sequence represented on Section 78 and whilst many of these may be ancient, mole rats

Figure 7. Section 78, the south-facing section of the Deep Sounding, part of which is photographed as Figure 6 (drawing: R. Rabett and A. Pryor).

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were found actively burrowing at the depth of the top of the Deep Sounding in 2010.) Of the four Deep Sounding sections, only the west-facing section was drawn and published by McBurney (1967, 11). This drawing shows 21 context divisions, although the accompanying text mentions “many more units”. The survival of the original labels in situ (Fig. 6) allows direct comparison between the 1955 spits and the contexts we assigned in 2012. The identification of the divisions between spits will be of great assistance in future work on the Pre-Aurignacian material in the McBurney archive. Comparing the published drawing with our Section 78, for example, it is evident that the cultural deposits McBurney describes for spits 167/8 and 168/9 will relate to those noted in the present study between 823 and 828.

Eleven sediment tubes for OSL dating were taken from this face of the Deep Sounding, along with six sediment blocks for micromorphological analysis. A sample column begun in 2010 through the upper por-tion of the section at the western end (column Z) was also extended down the full length of the face. Bulk samples of sediment were taken for flotation, and sub-samples for pollen, phytolith and starch analysis.

Trench S (RR, AP) After the removal of the backfill from the Deep Sounding a small (0.5 x 0.3 m) sondage was opened at its base in the south-east corner to confirm that we had indeed reached the base. Having established that the deposits were in situ, the sondage was extended slightly as Trench S (0.5 x 0.5 m) and excavated to 0.75 m beneath the McBurney base. It was excavated in 10 cm spits, with three contexts being defined. Context 750, at the top (c. 0–35 cm), comprised a compacted fine dark reddish brown (2.5 YR 3/3) clay silt containing limestone inclusions (2–4 cm range), occasional small flecks of charcoal, and isolated finds of bone and shell. Context 751 denoted a marked change in the sediment texture to a red (2.5 YR 4/6) densely compacted but thin (1–2 cm) clay-rich deposit; extending diagonally across the trench from the south-west to the north-east, it probably represents a waterlain deposit. Context 752 below (c. 37–75 cm), more or less identical in colour and structure to con-text 750, overlay a layer of tightly-interlocking rocks. Excavation was halted at this point, though it is pos-sible that an expansion of the excavation area will allow these rocks to be removed and expose further sediments below. All of the sediment excavated from Trench S, as from the other trenches, was floated for botanical remains and the washed heavy residues then searched for archaeological material. Although the Trench S sediments seemed more or less sterile

during excavation, processing the cleaned residues yielded lithic microdebitage indicating human activ-ity at this time, as well as a surprisingly rich molluscan and micro-vertebrate fauna (see below).

Lithic materialBy Tim Reynolds, Giuseppina Mutri and Giulio Lucarini

Lithic artefacts from the basal sequence of the Haua Fteah (TR)As described above, despite its small size and assumed early date the Trench S material shows a clear human presence pre-dating that recorded by the 1955 excavations. A tertiary flake fragment with steep retouch recovered from context 750 may derive from a retouched pointed tool. There was also a small burnt chert lump in the basal context, 752. A small but consistent presence of microdebitage was recorded throughout the sequence. This included fresh chips as well as more worn pieces and some showed evidence of burning. The most frequently used raw material was the brown chert commonly found throughout the cultural sequence at the site.

Cleaning the sections of the Deep Sounding and excavating blocks for micromorphology from the cleaned faces yielded a small sample of stratified lith-ics of presumably Pre-Aurignacian affiliation from four contexts (in order of increasing depth): 828, 825, 844 and 823. All are of brown chert. A total of four pieces came from context 828, comprising a whole second-ary flake and three flake fragments, two of which were burnt. The only platform in this group was plain and none were retouched. All pieces were small, the larg-est being only 36 mm long. One of the fragments has a clear transverse snap, the others were burnt and this probably accounts for their breakage. As a group they are undiagnostic but derive from simple hard-ham-mer reduction on unprepared cores. Seven pieces were recovered from context 825, a layer that appears to have a significant anthropogenic component. These included retouched elements: a denticulate retouched onto a crushed platformed tertiary flake probably produced by a radial Levallois technique, and a burnt burin spall. The remaining pieces are flakes and flake fragments, apart from a single blade/flake and a shatter fragment. Platforms, where pres-ent, are either plain or crushed with no sign of plat-form preparation. Context 824 yielded three pieces, the most interesting being a microdenticulate made on a tertiary distal bladelet fragment. Such a piece is usually associated with much later industries, its pres-ence emphasising the currently unique position of the Pre-Aurignacian in North Africa. The remaining two

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pieces are a tertiary flake with a crushed platform and a secondary flake fragment. A total of eleven pieces recovered from context 823 included three burins: one with opposed removals off breaks on a medial tertiary blade segment; a simple burin on a crushed platformed secondary flake; and a tertiary flake frag-ment that has been burnt. Seven of the pieces are on flake blanks, one is on a blade/flake and the other on a blade. The remaining piece is a shatter fragment.

Although small and spread over four contexts, the Deep Sounding collection is interesting in that it shows that tool frequency is relatively high, especially for burins; that raw material selection was consistent; and that blank production is dominated by simple direct reduction forms with Levallois techniques present. Reduction products are dominated by flakes, but well-made blade/flakes and blades also occur. The unusual presence of a microdenticulate prompts the case for further examination of the McBurney archive. The collection does not support an image of the Pre-Aurignacian as blade-based, nor does it support the notion of proto-burins as a type fossil. Where they occur, burins are fully developed.

The Middle Stone Age material from Trench M has not yet been studied in detail, but some summary remarks can be offered from initial observations of the lithics in contexts 11,052, 11,053 and 11,061. The bulk of the material recovered is patinated white but appears to be a grey/blue raw material when unpati-nated. Several pieces have been heavily altered by chemical action post-depositionally. The presence of fire is witnessed in frequent burnt pieces. Tool types observed include both side- and end-scrapers, as well as notches, denticulates, burins and associated spalls. Whilst not conclusive, these materials show that the Levallois-Mousterian at the Haua Fteah more frequently has burins as the dominant tool form and retouch reduction rates are relatively rare. Levallois technique does not, in fact, dominate blank produc-tion and a variety of blanks was produced, including a series of fine bladelets. Detailed lithic analysis will be required to test the observations made by the excavators about the likely location and nature of the Mousterian/Dabban transition in Trench M, and the robustness of McBurney’s arguments about the char-acter of the transition.

Dabban and Oranian lithics from Trench M (GM)About 7000 pieces excavated from the Oranian and Dabban levels in Trench M in 2012 were examined in detail according to their technological and typologi-cal characteristics, the latter according to the crite-ria established by Tixier (1963). The material derives

from 43 contexts: 10,011, 11,006, 11,008, 11,009 and 11,011–11,049. Correlating the CPP contexts with the McBurney stratigraphic layers, informed by the analysis of the Trench M lithics excavated in 2010 (Lucarini and Mutri 2010), indicates that these can be ascribed as follows: the Dabban phase (10,011, 11,011, 11,012–11,044); the transition to the Oranian phase (11,008, 11,009); and the Early Oranian phase (11,006, 11,007). Contexts 11,047, 11,048 and 11,049 yielded no lithic finds except for a very small amount of chips, likely from sediment re-working, and appear to represent a genuine c. 20 cm gap between the Lev-allois-Mousterian and Dabban occupations, at least in this part of the cave (see above, Trench M). The mate-rial was analysed separately by context.

The main raw material used in both the Dab-ban and Oranian phases of occupation was the Eocene grey/beige chert which outcrops at numer-ous localities near the cave, though small quanti-ties of the translucent flint common in Capsian and Neolithic contexts were also present in the Dabban assemblage, suggesting some kind of change in the management of lithic resources and/or different tech-nological needs. The intensive screening of washed residues from the Trench M excavation resulted in very large numbers of small chips or microdebitage of flint, often reaching more than 90 per cent of the lithic assemblage recovered from a context. Cores are often absent in the Oranian contexts and occur rarely (0.14% in 11,008 for example) in the transi-tional layers, rising consistently to at least 2% in the latest Dabban contexts (11,011–11,013). Core-trim-ming elements are almost always present, even if in small quantities, indicating a minimum of knapping activities at the site. Tablette and crested blades are more common in the Dabban contexts, core sides in the Oranian contexts. The presence of core residues and microdebitage indicates that the cave was used for a series of activities that required the in situ use and reshaping of finished blanks and tools that could have been made elsewhere.

The Dabban assemblage (Fig. 8) is character-ised by the presence of wide bladelets and a much higher frequency of blades compared with the Oran-ian assemblage. Dabban retouched tools were pref-erentially made on blades even when bladelets and flakes were available. End-scrapers are regarded as the clearest typological marker of the Dabban, dis-tinguishing it from the Oranian above, but another important techno-typological element regarded as typical of the Dabban is chamfering (McBurney 1967). No chamfered blades or cores have been found, but there were unretouched chamfered spalls in con-texts 11,044, 11,043, 11,022 and 11,013, representing

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0.92%, 0.62%, 1.19%, and 0.16% of the respective assemblages. Early Oranian technology was based on bladelet production, as in the full Oranian, but it also still had a significant blade component. All of the bladelets in the Early Oranian layers have an average width of around 12 mm, the maximum for a piece to be classified as a bladelet rather than a blade. Blades diminish in frequency after the Early Oranian context 11,007. The retouched tools in the Oranian layers consist of a wide range of backed tools mostly made on bladelets. The typology shows a predominance of simple rectilinear backed bladelets and reversed backed bladelets. Ouchtata bladelets and denticu-late backed bladelets are also well represented, and other types of backed tools (e.g. La Mouillah point, piquant trièdre, and composite tools on backed ele-ments) are present in low quantities. The microburin technique is also attested by the presence of simple microburins and Krukowski microburins.

The Oranian/Capsian transition in Trench M (GL)The lithic assemblage from contexts 11,001 to 11,005 in Trench M, corresponding to the transition from the Oranian to the Libyco-Capsian (hereafter the Capsian) and to the Early Capsian, is made up about 6730 artefacts. The main raw material used consisted of small Eocene chert nodules, light brown and grey in colour (7.5YR 6/4). Artefacts of translucent chert, pinkish and yellowish in colour, which are common

in the Late Capsian occupation of the cave, are entirely missing from these contexts.

The core class is represented by a single specimen, a mul-tiple platform core from context 11,005. It has an irregular shape and was exploited along half of its edge for the production of flakes. Of the three platform surfaces only one is still recognizable: it is

of a large flake scar type and does not show any trace of preparation.

The assemblage is dominated absolutely by debitage, frequencies of which range from 97.13% (11,004) to 98.96% (11,005). The very high ratio (90.01–95.85%) of working debris among this deb-itage could in part be the result of workshop activ-ity related to the finished manufacture of retouched tools. The almost total absence of cores and scarce presence of primary flakes and blades fit this inter-pretation. The frequency of burnt debris and pieces showing fractures caused by fire could also explain the very high number of chips and chunks.

The next highest class in number is flakes, which range from 3.11% (context 11,003) to 5.63% (con-text 11,004). They are mainly of single platform type, followed by opposed and 90° platform types. Flakes from multiple platform cores are scarce. Blades and bladelets are not numerous, ranging from 0.78% (11,003) to 4.21% (11,004). They are mainly from sin-gle and opposed platform cores. Bladelets (>25 mm in length and >12 mm in width) are more numerous than blades in all the contexts so far analysed. Blade-lets and blades were mainly exploited as blanks for the numerous backed elements, which are the best represented class among the retouched tools. Core-trimming elements, mainly crested blades, core sides and core tablets, are quite rare; their incidence grows with depth, from 0.12% in context 11,001 to 0.3% in context 11,003. Their low frequency, together with

1

2

34

5 6

7

80 2 cm

Figure 8. Dabban lithic artefacts from Trench M: 1. chamfered spall (context 11,045); 2. blade (11,026); 3. endscraper, distal fragment (11,008); 4. endscraper (11,014); 5. rectilinear backed blade (11,016); 6. chamfered spall (11,013); 7. sidescraper (11,013); 8. double endscraper (11,013) (drawings: G. Mutri).

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the few primary blanks and the almost total absence of cores, indicates that primary knapping activity probably occurred elsewhere in the landscape.

Retouched tools (Fig. 9) range from 0.89% (con-text 11,005) to 2.87% (context 11,004). They have been analysed according to Tixier’s typology (1963) for the Maghreb Epipalaeolithic. The most numer-ous types are backed elements mainly manufactured on bladelets and blades which together comprise between 19.45% (11,002) and 50% (11,003, 11,005) of the total of retouched tools. Backed flakes occurred only in contexts 11,002 and 11,004. The most fre-quent type is the rectilinear backed bladelet. Arched backed bladelets, arched backed bladelets passing to segment, and partial backed bladelets/blades are also present in small numbers. Geometric tools are very rare in the early Capsian contexts, the only type found being scalene bladelets (11,001, 11,002, 11,003). This form is totally absent in the Late Capsian contexts ana-lysed during the 2010 field season and seems to char-acterise only the Early Capsian occupation of the cave and the Capsian/Oranian transi-tion. Scalene bladelets, together with several truncations on flakes, are present in the undated WMCS 57 site in the Libyan Marmarica east of the Gebel Akhdar (Hulin et al. 2010) and geometric tools also occurred in the Hagfet al-Gama cave to the west of the Haua Fteah, in Neolithic contexts (Barker et al. 2008, 194). The rarity of geomet-rics in the Capsian and Neolithic assemblages at the Haua Fteah is in marked contrast to their frequency

in contemporary assemblages in the Maghreb (Rah-mani 2003; Roubet 1979).

The reversed backed bladelet is particularly com-mon in Early Capsian contexts at the site, ranging from 16.7% (11,005) to 30.58% (11,002), with four also in 11,001. This tool shows an inverse, abrupt or semi-abrupt, slightly invasive retouch character-ised by detachments becoming smaller and marginal towards the distal end. Like the scalene bladelet, the reversed backed bladelet was a shared element of Late Oranian and Early Capsian lithic technologies.

Microburin technique is well attested. Context 11,002 in particular yielded five microburins (three simple, two of the Krukowski type) comprising 13.89% ratio of the retouched tools. The three sim-ple microburins are worth noting especially because of their unusually large dimensions, quite uncom-mon for this kind of artefact. Other retouched types occurring in low numbers include truncations (both on blades/bladelets and on backed elements), burins, endscrapers, drills and bladelets showing Ouchtata

1 2

3

4

5

6

7 8

0 2 cm

9 10

Figure 9. Capsian lithic arte-facts from Trench M (nos. 1–8) and Neolithic lithic artefacts from Trench U (nos 9, 10): 1. multiple platform core (11,005); 2. drill on core (11,004); 3. partial backed blade (11,004); 4. notch on backed/truncated blade (11,002); 5. microburin (11,002); 6. truncation on backed blade (11,004); 7. arched backed blade (11,002); 8. truncation on reversed bladelet (11,002); 9. endscraper (742); 10. notch (742) (drawings: G. Lucarini).

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retouch and notches. The latter type appears to be completely absent in the full Oranian contexts but increases during the Late Capsian.

Neolithic and Graeco-Roman lithics in Trench U (GL)The small excavation of Trench U (Fig. 2) produced around 1200 lithic artefacts, mostly from the Neo-lithic layers (contexts 740–747) with a few from con-text 740, of Graeco-Roman age. Light brown and grey chert is the main raw material, but there are also a few artefacts in context 743 made on the yellowish translucent flint common in the Late Capsian. The assemblage consists almost entirely of debitage, chips and chunks reaching the highest frequencies in all the contexts so far analysed. Given the nature of the archaeological context, an anthropogenic midden deposit with clear evidence of burning and rich in ash and charcoals, it is evident that the very high presence of burnt debris, often showing heavy thermoclastic fractures, must be due to the action of fire. Beside chips and chunks, only a few flakes were found, their

frequency varying from 0.39% (747) to 2.33% (746). No blades, bladelets or core-trimming elements were found but the excavation yielded six retouched tools: a piece with continuous retouch manufactured on a flake from context 740; an endscraper, a notch and a denticulate from context 742 (Fig. 9.9–10); and a den-ticulate and a mèche de foret (drill) from context 747. The latter has a bilateral continuous abrupt retouch all over the edges. Considering the high numbers of seashells in context 747, it may well be that this tool was designed for use as a pick for removing Osilinus turbinatus from their shells.

MolluscsBy Evan Hill, Chris Hunt, Jacob Morales and Amy Prendergast

Preliminary observations on the excavated molluscan assemblages (EH, CH)The basal shell assemblage, from Trench S, is highly atypical of the Haua Fteah in being exceptionally varied (Table 1). There is also evidence of size sorting, small

ContextSpit

Sample number

7501

6000

7502

6001

7504

6002

751

6003

7521

6004

7522

6005

7523

6006

7524

6007

Trochoidea cretica +++ +++ ++ - +++ ++ ++ +

Rumina decollata ++ +++ + ++ ++ +++ ++

Helix melanostoma + b + b - - - - - -

Eobania sp. + - - + + -

Daudebardia sp. + + - - - - -

Granopupa sp. + - + - -

Cecilioides acicula - - - ++

Ferrusacidae sp. - - - -

Clausiliidae sp. - - -

Chondrula sp. - -

Limacidae sp. -

Hellicella sp. - + -

cf. Acanthinula sp. - - - - - -

cf. Trochoidea sp. - - -

cf. Pupillidae sp. (1) - -

cf. Pupillidae sp. (2) - - - - -

cf. Pupillidae sp. (3) - -

Osilinus turbinatus - b

Table 1. Analysis of shells from Trench S (data compiled by E. Hill and C. Hunt).

Key- <5 individuals +++ >20 individuals+ 5–10 individuals b burnt shell present++ 10–20 individuals

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species that are highly uncommon elsewhere being relatively common in this trench. The most common species is Trochoidea cretica, with Rumina decollata also well represented. Helix melanostoma is found in all contexts and Eobania sp. in most. All these spe-cies, common throughout the Haua Fteah sequence, are generally associated with scrubland habitats. Evi-dence of sheltered habitats with leaf litter is provided by Granopupa sp., cf. Acanthinula, Limacidae and Chondrula sp. These are mostly present at the base and the top of the sequence. Three taxa cf. Pupillidae are also present. It is likely that these are associated with scrubland and marshland habitats. The Trench S assemblage appears to reflect an episode when vege-tation in the vicinity of the cave became sparser and then denser again. The presence of marine shell may be taken as evidence of human/hominin presence, particularly the burnt fragments of Osilinus turbina-tus. Burnt Helix in samples 6000 and 6001 could also indicate a human/hominin presence in the cave at this time, although they could also reflect natural fires. The Hexaplex fragment in 6007 is probably too large

to have been introduced by wind and thus may also reflect human/hominin presence. The presence of the burrowing taxa Daudebardia sp., Cecilioides acicula and Ferrusacidae is noteworthy since they are hardly present in the higher levels of the cave. It is likely that they reflect a pattern of considerable biological pedogenic activity in the sediments, activity that could potentially lead to mixed-age sediment populations in OSL samples from these layers.

The Trench M material has not been studied in detail yet, but preliminary observations during the excavation suggest that marine molluscs quickly dis-appear below the Oranian and land snails virtually disappear from the Dabban/Mousterian layers. Shell beads, which are present in the Oranian and Capsian, are thus far absent during the Dabban, but two very worn specimens were found in the washed residues from what are likely to be Mousterian layers. Small aquatic molluscs are sparse in some silt layers in the lower part of the Trench M sequence, suggesting that semi-permanent shallow bodies of water occasionally formed within the cave.

ContextSample number

7415980

7425981

7435983

7445985

7455987

7465988

7475989

Osilinus turbinatus +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++

Patella caerulea ++ ++ +++ ++ ++ ++ +++

Hexaplex trunculus - - - - + + +

Nassarius sp. -

Cerithium sp. - -

Erosaria sp. -

Turritella sp. -

Buccinum sp. -

Latirus gibbulus -

Fasciolaria sp. - ? - ?

Sea urchin shell +

Burnt marine taxa +++ +++ + + ++ + +++

Helix melanostoma + + + + + - +++

Trochoidea cretica + + + + + - ++

Eobania sp. - - - + - - +

Rumina decollata - - - +

Daudebardia sp. -

Burnt land taxa + + + - - - +

Table 2. Analysis of shells from Trench U (data compiled by E. Hill and C. Hunt).

Key- 1–10 fragments +++ 200–500 fragments+ 10–50 fragments +++ 500+ fragments++ 50–200 fragments ? uncertain identification

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The preliminary analysis of the shell from Trench U (Table 2) indicates a clear decrease in the diversity of the shell assemblages towards the top of the sequence, especially amongst the marine spe-cies. The marine species Osilinus turbinatus and Patella caerulea, ubiquitous throughout the Trench U sequence, were probably the main food species during the Neolithic. Hexaplex trunculus is also consistently present and may have been a food source. This species is not present during the Epipalaeolithic (Capsian). Unlike Osilinus and Patella, which can be gathered at the shoreline, gathering this species requires diving or trapping. The land snails are consistent with those found throughout the Haua Fteah sequence; Helix, Trochoidea, Eobania and potentially Rumina reflect gathering for food. The Daudebardia sp. is a burrow-ing slug that could have been colonising carrion and it is possible that Rumina was doing the same thing. The species indicate a wide range of habitats around the Haua Fteah. Burnt shell of all the major species is prevalent throughout the Trench U sequence but is particularly marked in contexts 747, 742 and 741. This contrasts with the Capsian, when very few food species appear to have been burnt, and may reflect changes in food-processing techniques.

Sampling present-day land snail distributions (AP, EH, JM)A survey of land snail distributions was undertaken in tandem with a vegetation survey along a north–south transect from the coast near Ras al-Hillal across the Gebel Akhdar into the pre-desert region (Table 3). The survey builds upon a preliminary survey of the terrestrial molluscs around the Haua Fteah undertaken in the 2010 field season (Barker et al. 2010). The Gebel Akhdar forms a condensed climatic gradient with sharp differences in tempera-ture and rainfall over a short distance. At sea level, rainfall is around 300 mm/yr rising to around 600 mm/yr on the upper escarpments. Rainfall drops sharply on the southern slopes before falling to arid levels in the pre-desert. The land snail survey was undertaken over four days in dry weather in May 2012. We focused on the most commonly found genera in the Haua Fteah sequence: Trochoidea sp., Helix melanostoma and Eobania sp.

The collection of modern land snails is required for two separate studies associated with the CPP/TRANS-NAP project. The δ18O and δ13C stable isotope ratios of H. melanostoma, Eobania sp. and Trochoi-dea sp. from the Haua Fteah archaeological sequence are being studied by AP in order to reconstruct pal-aeoclimate. In mid latitudes such as Cyrenaica, the δ18O ratio of snail carbonate generally reflects rainfall

amount (although the ratio may also be affected by temperature and relative humidity), whilst δ13C reflects the diet of the land snail, so can be used to reconstruct vegetation patterns and water stress. δ18O and δ13C are being measured in the snail bodies and shells and compared with available modern climate data to ascer-tain the present-day controlling factor(s) in the snail carbonate as an aid to the interpretation of the palaeo-climate record from the Haua Fteah. The second proj-ect, by EH, is investigating the utility of using shells, especially H. melanostoma, from the Haua Fteah for radiocarbon dating, and in order to do this the degree of carbon ‘offset’ (the difference between the current carbon isotopic composition of the snail shells and of the local environment) needs to be established in modern land snails from the locality by radiocarbon-dating them. Vegetation samples collected at the sam-ple sites will also help to refine modern atmospheric radiocarbon values for the region.

Trochoidea sp. was the most abundant live spe-cies collected during the survey. Examples were found aestivated on limestone rocks and in the sedi-ments and on the branches underlying Pistacia len-tiscus, Juniperus oxycedrus and Ceratonia siliqua shrubs on the middle terraces of the Gebel Akhdar escarpment. On the upper terrace they were accu-mulated at the bases of Sarcopterium spinosum and Lamiaceae sp. shrubs, often aestivated to the lower branches or to each other. Aestivated Trochoidea sp. continued to be found along the southern slopes of the Gebel Akhdar and into the semi-desert, although in fewer numbers.

Eobania sp. were found aestivated at the base of bushes but were usually not attached to rocks or other snail shells. They tended to be found as single specimens. Several aestivated specimens were found isolated in the landscape and had probably rolled from underneath bushes. Some live Eobania were found on the southern slopes of the Gebel Akhdar but only shells were found in the pre-desert.

Aestivated specimens of Helix melanostoma were regularly found under Pistacia lentiscus and Ceratonia siliqua carob around the Haua Fteah, and under Pistacia lentiscus, Juniperus oxycedrus and Ceratonia siliqua on the middle terraces. On the upper terrace of the Gebel Akhdar, aestivated H. melanostoma were found in the soils underly-ing Sarcopterium spinosum and Lamiaceae sp. shrubs. The greatest abundances of H. melanos-toma occurred at the top of the Gebel Akhdar. They were found in clusters of several snails buried in cooler soil towards the centre of bushes, sheltered from the harsh afternoon sun. Several juvenile H. melanostoma were found on the lower northern

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Sample site

Latitude, Longitude

Height above sea level (m)

General location

Predominant vegetation

Mollusc species (live/aestivated)

Mollusc species (shells)

AP12-1 5 Shore Lamiaceae sp. Helix melanostoma, Eobania vermiculata, Trochoidea sp.

Helix melanostoma, Eobania vermiculata, Trochoidea sp.

ML12-1 32°52.748, 22°10.617

100 Base of Gebel escarpment

Pistacia lentiscus, Juniperus oxycedrus

none Helix melanostoma, Eobania sp., Trochoidea sp.

ML12-2 32°51.676 22°10.648

348 Gebel escarp-ment, mid


Helix melanostoma Trochoidea sp.

ML12-3 32°51.297, 22°10.051




ML12-4 32°51.206, 22°09.824


Pistacia lentiscus, Ceratonia siliqua

none Helix melanostoma, Trochoidea sp.

ML12-5 32°50.915, 22°09.589

514 Gebel escarp-ment, upper

Pistacia lentiscus Helix melanostoma Helix melanostoma, Eobania sp., Trochoidea sp.

ML12-6 32°50.779, 22°09.619



Helix melanostoma, Eobania sp.

Helix melanostoma, Eobania sp., Trochoidea sp.

RH12-1 32°49.579, 21°51.730


Ceratonia siliqua Helix melanostoma, Trochoidea sp.

Helix melanostoma, Trochoidea sp.

RH12-2 32°49.579, 21°51.730


Ceratonia siliqua Helix melanostoma, Trochoidea sp.


BG12-1 32°45.665, 21°42.922

605 Gebel, top Pistacia lentiscus, Juniperus oxycedrus


CG12-1 32°45.906, 21°45.020


Trochoidea sp. Helix melanostoma

LL12-1 32°46.872, 22°09.335


Trochoidea sp. Helix melanostoma, Eobania sp., Trochoidea sp.

ML12-7 32°50.779, 22°09.619



MA12-1 32°49.016, 21°59.569



ML12-8 32°47.028, 22°08.115


none Helix melanostoma, Trochoidea sp.

ML12-9 32°40.038, 21°51.789

798 Gebel, top Sarcopterium spinosum, Lamiaceae sp.



ML12-10 32°39.647, 21°51.308

853 Gebel, top Sarcopterium spinosum, Lamiaceae sp.



ML12-11 32°31.574, 21°47.025

710 Gebel, south slope

Asteraceae sp. Trochoidea sp. Helix melanostoma, Eobania sp., Trochoidea sp.

ML12-12 32°29.004, 21°46.152

628 Gebel, south slope

Asteraceae sp. Pistacia lentiscus, Juniperus oxycedrus

Trochoidea sp., Eobania sp.


ML12-13 32°19.553, 21°48.373

624 Pre-desert Asteraceae sp. none Helix melanostoma, Trochoidea sp.

ML12-14 32°11.415, 21°53.582

243 Pre-desert Asteraceae sp. none Helix melanostoma, Eobania sp.

Table 3. Distributions of modern land snails recorded on a transect from the Cyrenaican coast across the Gebel Akhdar to the Saharan pre-desert, documented over four days in May 2012.

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slopes of the Gebel Akhdar, although generally live snails were less abundant on steeper slopes with shallow, well-drained soils. H. melanostoma were often found under the same bushes as Trochoidea and Eobania spp. but whilst Trochoidea sp. were aestivated to branches, Eobania were unattached and Helix were in shallow soils. At site RH12, active snails were observed and collected early in the morning after heavy rainfall. Active H. melanostoma were found foraging in the leaf litter under Cera-tonia siliqua trees and Trochoidea sp. were found foraging on grassy slopes.

Another Helix species, Helix aspersa, was found in areas close to human habitation. When H. aspersa was present, H. melanostoma was found in far smaller numbers as H. aspersa out-competes H. melanostoma within the same habitat. H. aspersa is thought to be an introduction during or since the Roman period. Similarly, the southern European species Eobania vermiculata was found adjacent to the classical-period port at Apollonia (modern Susah), and this is also likely to have been a modern introduction.

It is likely that the H. melanostoma, Eobania and Trochoidea spp. shells found in abundance in many of the Haua Fteah layers are food refuse. The survey of modern distributions indicates that these species could easily be collected during and immedi-ately after rainfall events and if people knew where to look, these land snails could have been a year-round source of protein as aestivated specimens could have been collected from under shrubs and stored for later consumption.

. Preliminary observations on the vertebrate fauna and possible worked boneBy Ryan Rabett

The fauna from Trench S included numerous cranial and post-cranial remains of rodentia including infre-quent mole rat (Spalax sp. cf. S. leucodon) teeth, as well as small reptiles, snake, chelonian shell – likely Testudo sp. – and fish and crab remains. Of particular interest are numerous vole (Arvicolinae) cheek teeth, several of which field identification suggests are likely to belong to the common pine vole (Microtus subterraneus). If confirmed, this find is of particular interest as M. subterraneus is not currently found in Libya. The species favours moderately humid conditions and forest-edge habi-tats and exists over a range that is currently confined to north-central Europe and northern Turkey (Aul-agnier et al. 2009). Its occurrence in the Haua Fteah

at this time would fit with the predominately Euro-pean appearance of the molluscan assemblage from Trench S and may be indicative of a distinctly more temperate climate and environmental situation in this part of North Africa during this remote period, which is likely to be early MIS 5 (dated to c. 130,000–74,000 BP) or perhaps even late MIS 6 (dated to c. 190,000–130,000 BP).

One of the most striking finds from the top-most context 809 of the 2012 sample column in the Deep Sounding was a small (10.27 m-long) pointed fragment of bone (Fig. 10). The piece carries a trans-verse break to the base that was almost certainly inflicted in antiquity – the edges are moderately rounded under magnification. The entire surface of the fragment is peppered with tiny patches of manga-nese oxide, probably indicative of moist conditions within the depositional environment. On one side of the piece there is an area of what might be tooth enamel (partly shown at the top of the left image in Figure 10). The surface is otherwise covered with multiple overlapping linear traces, extending three-quarters of the distance to the tip, which itself is intact and smooth. All lie at right-angles to usual longitudinal surface cracking that appears on weath-ered bone and do not display the characteristically dendritic pattern seen on root-etched bone. These traces could, potentially, represent a degraded and cracked dentine surface, as these appear to underlie the enamel. The chance that some at least of them may be the result of deliberate abrasive modification cannot, however, be discounted.

The reverse surface is very smooth, with no evi-dence of enamel survival. Magnification shows that it carries a series of obliquely-oriented linear traces primarily located towards the middle of the piece, with a second more limited series towards the tip. The morphology of these lines, their limited distri-bution and the presence of finer associated traces suggest that they could be ‘shoulder marks’ caused by contact with micro-protuberances adjacent to the working edge of a lithic artefact (see Shipman and Rose 1983), though their limited number means that it is difficult to categorise them immediately as manufacturing marks. However, the fact that the laterals are uniformly and finely convergent and do not display any evidence of a natural fracture sur-face found on unworked slivers of osseous material may be evidence of human action. In sum, there is currently no categorical evidence that this piece is a deliberately-shaped point, but there is reason to consider it as a credible possibility. If it does turn out to be the case, it would be a significant and quite rare find as its provenance within the Pre-Aurignacian

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levels would demonstrate the use of osseous points well before 80,000 BP along the Mediterranean mar-gin of northern Africa in complement to similarly early appearances along the coast in southern Africa (Henshilwood and Sealy 1997; Henshilwood et al. 2001). Further study of the piece is clearly required.

The faunal remains recovered from Trench M during the 2012 season have yet to be studied, but preliminary identifications made in the field of a small component of the mammalian material confirm the continuing presence of Ammotragus lervia (Barbary sheep), Testudo sp. (tortoise) and Alcelaphus sp. (hartebeest) within the Trench M sequence. Brief comment can be made with refer-ence to the latter of these. The bone sample stud-ied from the 2009 and 2010 work in Trench M (a total sample size of 13,328 fragments) produced ten pieces that could be positively identified to this ani-mal when compared against bones from Alcelaphus (=Bubalis) caama (University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, Acc. No. H.20821). All but one of those fragments came from Oranian levels, but included evidence from both the thoracic and pelvic limbs as well as cranial bone (the remaining fragment was an un-fused lateral condyle of a proximal tibia, from a Capsian context). These occurrences tentatively suggested that whole carcasses were being brought back to the cave, even if primary butchery was tak-ing place elsewhere. Kingdon (1982) reports the hartebeest to be an obligate and catholic grazer that favours coarse grasslands with ecotone situations, including access to woods or scrubland. The three fragments from the 2012 sample attributed so far to Alcephalus sp. are all tooth fragments, from a maxil-lary right third or fourth premolar, a newly erupted molar and a first or second molar. One of these, from

context 11,001, is likely attributable to the Capsian, the other two are from Dabban contexts 11,013 and 11,016. McBurney (1967) and Klein and Scott (1986) note that hartebeest decreased in frequency below the Oranian occupation, so the occurrence of two fragments of this species in the very small sample of bones that we have collected so far from Dabban contexts is noteworthy.

Discussion and conclusionBy Graeme Barker, Chris Hunt and Tim Reynold

The 2012 season of excavation has seen substantial progress in the renewed excavations in the Haua Fteah. The removal of the last of the McBurney back-fill from his Deep Sounding has revealed that he did not reach the base of the archaeological sequence. Our test excavation in these basal sediments (Trench S) has yielded important new evidence: while most if not all of the micro-vertebrate and vertebrate fauna so far identified from this trench almost certainly represent part of the naturally-occurring fauna that would have been found in and around the cave, the molluscan evidence provides reasonable hints of human foraging activity in this landscape and along the coast. The discovery of a small number of struck and retouched flakes and bladelets, together with micro-debitage, provides further more definitive evi-dence of that presence. We can say with confidence that hominins were already present in the landscape around the Haua Fteah probably during the last inter-glacial – a matter of considerable significance for our picture of early modern human occupation in north-east Africa and regarding the degree of inter-regional contact with populations living further to the west in Morocco and to the east in the Levant (Garcea 2010).

Figure 10. (central image) Osseous point <6100> from Pre-Aurignacian context 809 in the Deep Sound-ing, with (left image) abraded surface and (right image) possible residual tool traces (photos: R. Rabett).

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Another important discovery, in the sample column cut into the south-facing wall of the Deep Sounding, is what appears to be a worked bone point. This lies within sediments characterised by pre-Auri-gnacian lithic technology and pre-dating 90,000 years (our earliest OSL date, from the base of the Middle Trench). Similar artefacts are associated with anatom-ically modern humans in southern Africa during and after the last interglacial. This find will need careful evaluation and dating before its significance can be fully appreciated.

Higher in the sequence, our excavations in Trench M have suggested a possible occupational hiatus between layers with classic Mousterian and Dabban lithic material, at least in this part of the cave. Study of the stratigraphically-resolved lithic, bone and shell assemblages from the layers noted as likely to be Dabban or Mousterian during the excavation, combined with radiometric dating, should enhance our evaluation of questions raised by McBurney and subsequent researchers regarding the date and character of the Mousterian/Dabban transition and its industrial, cultural, and demo-graphic implications.

The finding of post-holes within the Dabban raises the intriguing possibility that people were constructing structures at the Haua Fteah before the Last Glacial Maximum. It is already apparent that the Dabban shows differences in material culture in comparison with the Oranian and Capsian phases. For example, shell beads are common in the Oran-ian and Capsian but thus far absent from the Dabban (though interestingly are again present in the Mous-terian). There are also hints at changes in subsistence strategies: both marine molluscs and land snails were an important source of food for the Neolithic, Cap-sian and (to a lesser extent) Oranian people using the cave, Dabban people occasionally collected land snails but not marine molluscs, and food molluscs of either type are very rare in the Mousterian layers so far investigated.

Our further work on the Capsian/Oranian tran-sition has provided highly stratigraphically-resolved lithic assemblages. It is apparent that there are systematic changes in the lithics within both the Capsian and the Oranian, and that there are also recognisable differences in the source-areas of the material. The renewed work in the Neolithic and

higher horizons in Trench U has also provided a sequence of relatively large samples of lithics, bone, shell and charred plant material, to supplement our original sample-columns through this interval. This should provide an important comparison with the Epipalaeolithic layers below and thus help to resolve the little-understood processes of ‘Neolithisation’ in this part of North Africa.

As work is completed on the mollusc and animal bone assemblages and the flotation residues from all these levels, on lithic microwear, and on any organic residues attached to stone tools, it is to be hoped that we shall be able to establish to what extent significant dietary changes and other aspects of behaviour did or did not accompany the changes in lithic technologies and styles. This story in turn will need to be compared with the emerging palaeoclimatic and environmental sequence from the numerous proxies being stud-ied by the project (sediments, shell isotopes, animal bone isotopes, pollen, charcoal, microfauna etc.) to evaluate the extent to which climate and environ-mental change (including human-induced landscape change) were or were not important drivers of behav-ioural change during the Haua Fteah’s long occupa-tional history.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge in particular the permission

of the Department of Antiquities of Libya to undertake the

project; the financial support of the European Research

Council (Advanced Investigator Grant 230421: TRANS-NAP:

Cultural Transformations and Environmental Transitions in

North African Prehistory) and the Society for Libyan Stud-

ies for the fieldwork; and the invaluable logistical support

provided by the staff of the Department of Antiquities in

Tripoli, Shahat and Susah. The personal support of the

President of the Department of Antiquities Dr Salah Aghab

and the Controller of Antiquities for Cyrene Nasser Abdel-

jaleel and Inspector of Antiquities for Susah Ibreike Quinhe

has been vital to the success of the project. The 2012 team

consisted of: Graeme Barker, Jeremy Bennett, Paul Ben-

nett, Lucy Farr, Evan Hill, Chris Hunt, Hayley Jedrzejewski,

Massoud al-Hasi, Giulio Lucarini, Amin Massoud, Jacob

Morales, Giuseppina Mutri, Amy Prendergast, Alex Pryor,

Ryan Rabett, Tim Reynolds, Pia Spry-Marques, Mohammed

Twati, Alex Vokes, Akram al-Warfali, Amran al-Zweyi, and

Mtaz al-Zweyi. The field season took place between 19 April

and 20 May 2012.

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135

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