Abstract
Although essential for reconstructing hominin behaviour during the Early Palaeolithic, only a handful of Acheulean sites have been dated in the Eastern Sahara region. This is due to the scarcity of sites for this time period and the lack of datable material. However, recent excavations in the Atbara region (Sudan) have provided unique opportunities to analyse and date Acheulean stone tools. We report here on EDAR 7, part of a cluster of Acheulean and Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites that were recently discovered in the Eastern Desert Atbara River (EDAR) region, located in the Eastern Desert (Sudan) far from the Nile valley. At EDAR 7, a 3.5 metre sedimentary sequence was excavated, allowing an Acheulean assemblage to be investigated using a combination of sedimentology, stone tool studies and optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL). The site has delivered a complete Acheulean knapping chaine opératoire, providing new information about the Saharan Acheulean. The EDAR 7 site is interpreted as a remnant of a campsite based on the co-occurrence of two reduction modes: one geared towards the production of Large Cutting Tools (LCTs), and the other based on the flaking of small debitage and production of flake tools. Particularly notable in the EDAR 7 assemblage is the abundance of cleavers, most of which display evidence of flake production. Implementation of giant Kombewa flakes was also observed. A geometric morphometric analysis of hand-axes was conducted to verify a possible Late Acheulean assemblage standardisation in the Nubian Sahara. In addition, the analysis of micro-traces and wear on the artefacts has provided information on the use history of the Acheulean stone tools. Sediment analyses and OSL dating show that the EDAR 7 sequence contains the oldest Acheulean encampment remains in the Eastern Sahara, dated to the MIS 11 or earlier. This confirms that Homo erectus occupied the EDAR region during Middle Pleistocene humid periods, and demonstrates that habitable corridors existed between the Ethiopian Highlands, the Nile and the Red Sea coast, allowing population dispersals across the continent and out of it.
Highlights
Stratified Palaeolithic sites in the Eastern Sahara are rare [1,2,3,4]
While sites representing the Levallois tradition and the Late Palaeolithic of the Nile valley [18,19,20,21] are better represented, the oldest cultural episodes, e.g. Oldowan pebble tool tradition are absent or limited to a few sites only [22,23,24,25], as is the case of Acheulean Industrial Complex (i.e. Mode 2 of Clark [26]) [5, 10,11,12, 27,28,29,30,31]. It is in this context that several Palaeolithic sites in the Eastern Desert within an ancient watercourse system, referred to as the Eastern Desert Atbara River (EDAR) sites, were studied and dated, providing a unique opportunity to understand the chronology, stratigraphic positions and cultural properties of these rare sequences [32]
A thick sedimentary sequence containing a Pleistocene to Holocene succession was excavated in the EDAR area
Summary
Stratified Palaeolithic sites in the Eastern Sahara are rare [1,2,3,4]. Besides the sites situated in the Nile valley [5,6,7,8] and Egyptian oases [9,10,11,12], cave sites in the Red Sea Mountains [13, 14] and individual open-air sites in the desert [15, 16] have been recorded. While sites representing the Levallois tradition and the Late Palaeolithic of the Nile valley [18,19,20,21] are better represented, the oldest cultural episodes, e.g. Oldowan pebble tool tradition are absent or limited to a few sites only [22,23,24,25], as is the case of Acheulean Industrial Complex (i.e. Mode 2 of Clark [26]) [5, 10,11,12, 27,28,29,30,31] It is in this context that several Palaeolithic sites in the Eastern Desert within an ancient watercourse system, referred to as the Eastern Desert Atbara River (EDAR) sites, were studied and dated, providing a unique opportunity to understand the chronology, stratigraphic positions and cultural properties of these rare sequences [32]. Gold mining shafts located there have revealed a complex of Palaeolithic sites, in which both Acheulean and MSA sites have been recognised in their original stratigraphic contexts
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