Made in the Desert: Evaluating the Role of Traditional Knowledge for Adaptation to the Arid Environment in Central Sahara

Abstract

The indigenous knowledge of desert dwellers is a largely neglected intangible heritage that includes a wide array of techniques, methods, and practices for coping in arid environments. Such an intangible body of knowledge is often the source of the successful adaptation to arid and semi-arid regions in the world. The case study of the Kel Tadrart Tuareg from southwest Libya is herein used to show how an ethnoarchaeological approach may shed light on adaptation to an arid climate of past and current societies.