Re‐examining the age of the Affad MSA deposits in the Middle Nile Valley

Abstract

We present data on the chronology of fluvial and aeolian sediments as well as ecofacts that allow us to indicate the timing of Middle Stone Age settlement in Affad on the Middle Nile. Previously published chronometric data based solely on (multi‐grain) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates suggested the extremely late settlement and usage of Middle Stone Age technology in North‐East Africa during the Terminal Pleistocene (post‐Last Glacial Maximum). The current analyses using multiple dating methods—multi‐ and single‐grain OSL, thermoluminescence (TL), electron spin resonance (ESR) or accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS14C)—with OSL analyses carried out blind in three independent laboratories suggest this age is incorrect. More likely is that the site dates to about 50 ka. The comparison of dating results and methodological differences enable us to explore a spectrum of possible explanations. Here we infer the strong need to consider an appropriate methodology specific to the depositional context for indicating the age of fluvial sediments and prehistoric settlements at open‐air sites of North‐East Africa.