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This paper reports on the results of zooarchaeological analysis of fauna from two stratified rockshelters at Ele Bor, 200 km east of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Ele Bor Site A, with radiocarbon determinations from 7000 to 1000 B P, yielded around 4000 identifiable bone specimens. The other site, Ele Bor M, yielded only a hundred bone specimens and will be discussed less extensively in this paper. Fauna from the EBA, although heavily modified by various taphonomic agents, testify to the strong continuity of a broad-based foraging pattern into the first millennium AD, the long stability of human use of a broad range of wild vertebrate species and to a stone-working tradition, augmented but not substantially modified by the introduction of ceramics and grinding equipment during the sixth to third millennium BC.

In this paper, we discuss human occupation during the Early and Middle Holocene in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, based mainly on the data provided by excavated deposits from the Sodmein Cave, which produced an important Holocene stratigraphic sequence. This sequence is dated by a large number of conventional and AMS 14C dates. It appears that the area was empty of human occupation during the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the earliest Holocene. With improved climatic conditions, humans arrived in the area, as hunter-gatherers using no ceramics, from around 7.1 to 6.4 Ka cal BC. Humans were absent from the cave during the Holocene 8.2 Ka event (ca. 6.3 Ka cal BC). From 6.2 to 5.0 Ka cal BC, herders visited the site on a regular basis importing caprines. The bone evidence for domesticated small stock is very limited at Sodmein but is nevertheless extremely important, as it contains the oldest known specimens for Africa to date. After 5.0 Ka cal BC, the area was almost entirely deserted. Afr Archaeol Rev DOI 10.1007/s10437-015-9195-6 ispartof: African Archaeological Review vol:32 issue:3 pages:465-503 status: published

The excavation at Takarkori rock shelter is part of a long-term study of Holocene cultural dynamics in southwest Libya begun in the early 1990s. With a rich Holocene occupation, the area is one of the key spots for reconstruction of human occupation of the last 10,000 years. In this region, similar to the case in the rest of the Sahara, most of the data come from surface investigations at open-air sites, while excavated caves and rock shelters provide just a few. Although less exposed than open-air sites, Holocene archaeological deposits in Saharan caves and rock shelters are characterized by a fairly dynamic nature. Loose sediments, coupled with variability of human occupations and magnitude of natural agents, determine multiple alterations to the archaeological deposits in sheltered sites. In this paper, we present the nature and meaning of the archaeological deposits at Takarkori rock shelter, where a relatively large area has been recently excavated, showing a stratigraphic sequence extending from c. 9,000 to 4,200 BP, unevenly represented by several occupation pulses. In order to sharpen understanding of the development of human occupation at this site, specific procedures for the study and recording of the archaeological deposit have been developed, along with a program of extensive radiocarbon dating. Data from the Takarkori sequence ultimately will be integrated with available published stratigraphies from the Acacus Mountains, with the aim of reviewing the results from past excavations.

Whether cattle domestication occurred independently on the African continent is among the most controversial questions in the Holocene archaeology of northern Africa. One long-established scenario, based upon early archaeological evidence, suggested that Africa’s earliest cattle derived from several introductions from Southwest Asia through the Nile Valley, or via the Horn of Africa. Based upon archaeofaunal remains retrieved in the late twentieth century, other archaeologists argued that an independent domestication of the African aurochs gave rise to Africa’s earliest domestic cattle. Up to now, the genetic data have also been controversial. This paper reviews the archaeological evidence and the scope of debate, and then focuses on the recent contributions of genetic research to clarifying these issues.

Archaeological evidence indicates a complex history of settlement of the southern Lake Chad Basin from the mid-Holocene onward, in parallel with the gradual desiccation of the Sahara and reduction of lake and river systems in the region. These archaeological data can be compared with a growing body of data from historical linguistics and genetics, and the southern Lake Chad Basin is one of few areas in Africa where such comparisons can be undertaken. This paper will serve as a preliminary consideration of some of the issues generated by an initial comparison of archaeological, genetic and linguistic evidence for the peopling of the Lake Chad Basin. It focuses on the contexts of initial encounters between ancestral Nilo-Saharan and Chadic populations south of Lake Megachad and subsequent population expansions and diversifications around the Mandara Mountains.

This paper reports on results from survey and preliminary test excavations at MSA and LSA sites along the Songwe River in the Lake Rukwa Rift Valley of southwestern Tanzania. At IdIu22, a continuous, extensive archaeological deposit was revealed which may have both Pleistocene and Holocene components. The lithic material here shows a gradual transformation from a flake based LSA assemblage to one employing microburin techniques. Cet article discute la recherche prehistorique aux environs de la riviere Songwe, dans le vallee rift de Lac Rukwa en la sud-ouest de Tanzanie. Au gisement IdIu22, un sequence de l'âge de la pierre finale (LSA) a ete decouverte avec possible niveaux du Pleistocene et Holocene. Les assemblages lithiques changent graduellement des un LSA avec outils sur les eclats, vers un LSA employant la technique microburin.

This paper outlines the environmental history of the Tigrean Plateau (northern Ethiopia) during the Holocene, based on the available geomorphological, palynological, archaeological, and historical evidence. At present, it seems that (1) the plateau experienced a more humid climate with a denser vegetation cover during the Early Holocene; (2) Soil erosion due to clearing vegetation began in the Middle Holocene; (3) agricultural activity was intensified in the Late Holocene, as a consequence of the rise of a state; (4) demographic pressure increased from the early first millennium BC to the mid–first millennium AD, causing soil erosion; (5) environmental degradation and demographic decline occurred in the late first millennium AD; (6) the vegetation cover was regenerated in the early second millennium AD; and (7) progressive vegetation clearance started again in the second half of the second millennium AD. Cet article trace l'histoire ambiante du Plateau Tigreen dans l'Holocene en utilisant les donnees geomorphologiques, palynologiques, archeologiques et historiques. Il semble que (1) dans l'Holocene ancien le plateau etait caracterise par une phase humide avec une dense vegetation; (2) l'erosion causee par l'abbattage de la vegetation commen¸a dans l'Holocene moyen; (3) l'activite agricole s'intensifia a la fin de l'Holocene, par consequence de l'essor d'un etat; (4) la pression demographique augmenta de plus en plus du debut du premier millenaire av. J.-Ch. a la moitie du premier millenaire ap. J.-Ch.; (5) la degradation ambiante et la diminution demographique se verifierent a la fin du premier millenaire ap. J.-Ch.; (6) une regeneration de la vegetation se verifia au debut du seconde millenaire ap. J.-Ch.; et (7) l'abbatage de la vegetation recommen¸a dans la seconde moitie du seconde millenaire ap. J.-Ch.

Systematic surveys and excavations were carried out during the 1990–1996 field seasons in the Tadrart Acacus and surrounding areas, shedding new light on the climatic changes and cultural dynamics which occurred during the Holocene. In this paper, the geological, geomorphological, and archaeological evidence is assembled in order to provide a preliminary synthesis on the prehistory of the area.