Late Stone Age Shell Middens on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea

Abstract

ABSTRACT A pioneer survey of the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea revealed three shell middens dated to the mid-Holocene that reflect the exploitation of different coastal environments. Misse East and Gelalo Northwest were both dated to the eighth millennium BP. The former is dominated by Atactodea striata, a small bivalve that burrows in intertidal sands, the latter by Terebralia palustris, a large gastropod living in mangrove swamps. Gelalo Northwest also included a relatively large number of shell beads. Asfet, dated to the sixth millennium BP, was also dominated by Terebralia palustris. This coastal settlement is probably the result of adverse climatic conditions that prevailed in the hinterland during that period. Change in the regime of monsoons in the Sahara and northeast Africa may have caused human populations to settle in better-watered areas, the Red Sea Coast among them, and to adapt to the new conditions by exploiting the marine environment.