The Middle Palaeolithic of Cyrenaica: Is there an Aterian at the Haua Fteah and does it matter?

Abstract

The work of Charles McBurney in the 1950s described the Middle Palaeolithic of Cyrenaica, Libya based upon fieldwork at several localities including the Haua Fteah. The deep stratigraphy of that site has been used as a measure of the Middle Palaeolithic for the area and is being re-examined by the Cyrenaica Prehistory Project. Middle Palaeolithic industries there include the Pre-Aurignacian and Levalloiso–Mousterian and the latter, at least, is associated with modern humans in the form of two mandibles. McBurney and subsequent workers have been ambivalent about the presence of Aterian assemblages at the site and given the association of modern human remains with Levalloiso–Mousterian material is this significant?The nature of industrial succession at the Haua Fteah is discussed following analysis of the McBurney archive and further fieldwork at the site and in its landscape. There is no clear pre-Modern human presence yet demonstrated and so all the Middle Palaeolithic material at the Haua Fteah could be the product of modern humans. If this is so, why do the industries vary and does the reason for this variation explain the absence of the Aterian?The Aterian is present in the surrounding landscape. The Aterian has a clear association with modern humans in the Maghreb and is increasingly seen as an indicator of modern human presence. The sequence at the Haua Fteah can assist in formulating appropriate hypotheses for the processes of modern human dispersals across North Africa and beyond.