Libyan Sahara Research Articles

Saharan trade in the Roman period: short-, medium- and long-distance trade networks

This paper examines the evidence for Saharan trade in the Roman period in the light of recent fieldwork in the Libyan Sahara by the Fazzan Project and the Desert Migrations Project and by the Italian Mission in the Acacus. The results of these projects suggest that trade between the Roman world and the communities of the Sahara was substantially greater than believed a few years ago and highlight the transformative effect that contact with the ancient Mediterranean had on Saharan society, especially on the Garamantes of Fazzan. But this paper also argues that in focusing chiefly on trans-Saharan commerce, much previous research has misunderstood the nature and importance of Saharan trade in antiquity. Relatively few types of goods were traded all the way across the Sahara from south to north or vice-versa in the Roman period. Rather, we should be thinking principally in terms of a network of interdependent sub-systems, of short-, medium- and long-distance exchange; the trans-Saharan traffic was only one part of this network. Moreover, Saharan trade — and especially the short- and medium-distance subsystems — also provoked transformations in the frontier zones of Roman North Africa. The abundant evidence of Roman imports to Fazzan discovered by British fieldwork there also calls into question the universal assumption that trans-Saharan trade in the medieval and modern periods exceeded the scale of trans-Saharan trade in antiquity; this is based on no good evidence at all and may be entirely false. Comparison with better documented periods suggests that the Roman world was capable of absorbing a trans-Saharan slave traffic at least as large as that of the medieval period and the evidence of Roman imports points to a substantial trade, of which slaves were probably a major component, via the central routes across the Sahara. Saharan trade in antiquity was organised around a set of drivers that were very different from those of the medieval trans-Saharan trade, with a key role played by the development of a substantial agriculturally-based trading state within the Sahara itself, the Garamantes. The collapse of Saharan trade in late antiquity is related to the decline of Garamantian authority and is linked in part to the emergence of new tribal conglomerations in the frontier zones between the fourth and sixth centuries AD.

Palaeoclimate records from the Fazzan Basin, Libyan Sahara

Palaeoclimate records from the Fazzan Basin, Libyan Sahara

Single-grain dating of hearth material from the Awbari Sand Sea, Libyan Sahara

Single-grain dating of hearth material from the Awbari Sand Sea, Libyan Sahara

Il segnale climatico e le sue variazioni negli anelli di accrescimento degli alberi da siti estremi al contorno della regione mediterranea

Climatic signal and its variations in the tree rings from extreme environments bordering the Mediterranean region.Tree rings from climatically extreme environments, such as the Alpine treeline the arid and desert environments, allow the annually-resolved reconstruction of the climatic parameters most limiting tree growth in these areas. Climate proxies from the regions bordering the Mediterranean basin could provide a valuable contribution to palaeoclimate reconstructions in the area. Recent tree-ring chronologies of alpine conifers from the Italian Central Alps and discontinuous upper-mid Holocene chronologies of Cupressus dupreziana from the Libyan Sahara, confirm the possibility of obtaining meaningful palaeoclimatic information and quantitative reconstructions of the diverse climate parameters from annual tree rings. The Alpine tree-ring chronologies contain a summer-temperature signal, while the Libyan chronologies highlight the fluctuations of water availability in the Central Sahara over time. The information contained in these records can therefore contribute to a better definition of the past Mediterranean climate, showing how, by using dendrochronological data from sites limited by temperatures and by precipitations, relevant climatic information can also be derived from the bordering regions.

Desert Migrations Project XVI: Radiocarbon Dates from the Murzuq Region, Southern Libya

AbstractThis article concerns a series of 20 samples submitted for AMS radiocarbon dating from historic sites in the Libyan Sahara. The sites had been identified initially from remote sensing analysis, then visited on the ground in 2011 and organic samples suitable for a dating programme obtained. With the help of an award from the NERC-AHRC National Radiocarbon Facility, this initial suite of dates has been provided. The results are important in several ways. They demonstrate very clearly that settlement in this hyper-arid desert landscape reached its densest pattern in the late Garamantian era, broadly the fourth-fifth centuries AD. In the Islamic era that followed, though the overall population appears less dense, our dates throw light on several possible phases of settlement renewal.

Surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) on silver colloids for the identification of ancient textile dyes. Part II: pomegranate and sumac

AbstractThe effectiveness of surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) spectrocsopy on Ag colloids has been successfully demonstrated for the identification of a yellow dye in two ancient wool threads found in the Royal Tumulus of In Aghelachem, Libyan Sahara, belonging to the Garamantian period (2nd–3rd century A.D.). High‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) highlighted the presence of ellagic acid in the extracts from the threads, excluding other chromophores. This result, together with the abundance of malic acid detected by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), suggested the possible use of pomegranate rind or sumac berries as source of the yellow dye, both plants being documented in the Fezzan area during the Garamantian period. HPLC analyses and SERS spectra acquired on the extracts of the ancient threads were therefore compared with those obtained from pomegranate and sumac extracts of the corresponding fruits and reference dyed wool samples, allowing us to identify the yellow dye as deriving from pomegranate (Punica granatumL.). SERS spectra of ellagic acid and dyes extracted from pomegranate rind and sumac berries are reported here for the first time. A methodological improvement is also presented, based on the use of NaClO4as aggregating agent, that leads to a significant increase of the signal‐to‐noise ratio in the SERS spectra. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

DMP XIV: Prehistoric sites in the Wadi Barjuj, Fazzan, Libyan Sahara

AbstractThis paper reports on the fifth season of fieldwork for the Palaeoanthropology part of the Desert Migrations Project. Previous seasons established an extensive archaeological map based on a wide survey of the rich record along the edges of the Ubari Sand Sea, a small area of the Messak Settafet, the Wadi al-Ajal, the Wadi ash-Shati and the Wadi Barjuj. These surveys, complemented with small excavations, demonstrated a deep prehistory to the Fazzan, with Mode 1 technologies, Acheulean, Mode 3 (classic Levallois, large blade technologies, and Aterian), and Late Stone Age and Neolithic assemblages, some with pottery and grinding stones. The focus of the 2011 season was the Wadi Barjuj. This is an extensive wadi system to the South of the Messak, running along the northern edge of the Murzuq Sand Sea, and draining towards the east. Geomorphologically, it comprises old channel cut and fill gravels, usually finely graded, with areas of ancient lacustrine duricrusts, some of which are elevated significantly above the landscape. Surveys, complementing those of 2008, revealed a particularly rich and extensive Holocene series of sites, with microliths, pottery and grinding stones. These sites indicate a dense early Holocene occupation which seems associated with both hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. In addition, there was a low frequency of MSA lithics (compared to other survey areas), although one extremely rich site (BJJ4) had a very large number of water-worn, highly diagnostic small bifaces, characteristics of some Africa MSA traditions. Acheulean was relatively rare. One restricted locality (BJJ6) provided further evidence for a Mode 1 presence in the region, similar to that reported earlier from the Messak and Wadi ash-Shati (Mirazón Lahr et al. 2009, 2010). The context for the finds suggests that at various points during the Pleistocene the Wadi Barjuj was a low lying, swampy and/or lacustrine region, possibly riverine at times, and attractive to hominin populations because of its relatively rich resource base. This paper describes the localities and finds underpinning these conclusions.

DMP XI: Preliminary results from 2010 fieldwork on the human prehistory in the Libyan Sahara

AbstractThis paper reports on the results of the work of the Palaeo team of the DMP in January 2010. The fieldwork was focused on two different areas – the Wadi ash-Shati and the southwestern margin of the Ubari Sand Sea. Work in the Wadi ash-Shati confirmed the existence of Oldowan sites in Fazzan (locality SHT11 and environs), which although undated, represent a major addition to the extent of prehistoric occupation of the area. Further work near the site originally studied by Petit-Maire in the 1980s confirmed the association of a shell layer dated to the last interglacial with archaeological artefacts in situ. These artefacts are of MSA affinity, thus placing Fazzan in the context of other northern African sites of that time. The work in the southwestern margin of the basin represented the first formal archaeological survey of that area. This revealed extensive Holocene and MSA occupations, and in a group of sites at the southern edge of the Hamada Zaqher, also Oldowan lithics. Little if any Acheulean remains were observed, while the latter predominate in the interdunes just north of the Wadi al-Ajal. Overall, the spatial and technological analyses of the sites and remains suggest that there were different resource constraints on hominins in the Middle and later Quaternary, shaping the distribution of industries and raw materials. Furthermore, the relative widespread distribution of Oldowan sites – Wadi ash-Shati, southern Messak, and Hamada Zaqher, shows that the Central Sahara played an important role in the evolutionary geography of Lower Pleistocene hominins in Africa.

Early to Middle Holocene landscape exploitation in a drying environment: Two case studies compared from the central Sahara (SW Fezzan, Libya)

The erg Uan Kasa and the wadi Tanezzuft (Libyan Sahara) reacted in different ways to Holocene climatic changes. Consequently, the human groups settled there responded with different ways of adaptation to the drying environment. In the erg Uan Kasa, shallow lakes were formed from the Early to the Mid-Holocene, and their shores were densely inhabited from the Epipalaeolithic to the Pastoral-Neolithic periods. The erg dried out at c. 5000 years BP, but the area was not completely abandoned, as indicated by minor Late Pastoral-Neolithic sites composed of scattered fireplaces. During the wet Holocene, the wadi Tanezzuft was a large meandering river, and its banks were densely settled. At c. 5000 years BP, the stream was not completely dried out, but it changed its pattern, originating an alluvial plain. A large oasis was formed between c. 4000 and 2000 years BP, exploited by Late Pastoral-Neolithic pastoral communities, and later by Garamantians, which introduced soil management and agricultural practices. The Tanezzuft oasis suffered a drastic reduction in size during the first centuries AD, at the time of the abandonment of the Garamantian settlements.

First Genetic Insight into Libyan Tuaregs: A Maternal Perspective

The Tuaregs are a semi-nomadic pastoralist people of northwest Africa. Their origins are still a matter of debate due to the scarcity of genetic and historical data. Here we report the first data on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic characterization of a Tuareg sample from Fezzan (Libyan Sahara). A total of 129 individuals from two villages in the Acacus region were genetically analysed. Both the hypervariable regions and the coding region of mtDNA were investigated. Phylogeographic investigation was carried out in order to reconstruct human migratory shifts in central Sahara, and to shed light on the origin of the Libyan Tuaregs. Our results clearly show low genetic diversity in the sample, possibly due to genetic drift and founder effect associated with the separation of Libyan Tuaregs from an ancestral population. Furthermore, the maternal genetic pool of the Libyan Tuaregs is characterized by a major "European" component shared with the Berbers that could be traced to the Iberian Peninsula, as well as a minor 'south Saharan' contribution possibly linked to both Eastern African and Near Eastern populations.

DMP VI: Preliminary results from 2009 fieldwork on the human prehistory of the Libyan Sahara

AbstractThis paper reports on the work carried out during the 2009 field season of the prehistory sub-theme of the Desert Migrations Project. The work consisted of detailed survey and small-scale excavations in two wadis that drain the Messak Settafet, near the town of Jarma. Both wadis were found to contain evidence of Palaeolithic and Neolithic occupation, as well as of having been used as migratory routes between the Ubari and Murzuq sand seas. One of the wadis (WJAR-E-O1) was surveyed intensely along a few kilometers of its tributary margins. This revealed archaeological material ranging from Oldowan (Mode 1) to historic. The distribution of the various industries and structures had a distinct spatial patterning; the Palaeolithic scatters were spatially discrete, but Holocene remains were often found superimposed on earlier industries. Among the finds were a spatially discrete Oldowan assemblage, an extensive Acheulean industry which included the exploitation of fossil wood as a raw material, the identification of at least five major outcrops of fossil trees, and a number of more recent structures dating from Neolithic to Islamic times and consisting of graves, cairns, rock engravings, and stone features. Middle Stone Age lithics, so predominant over the surface of the Messak plateau, were absent. The second wadi (WJAR-W-02) was geomorphologically different, being comparatively narrow and deeply incised, and containing a number of terraces on the wadi bed resulting from cut and infill processes in the past. The surface of these terraces contained an extensive Aterian lithic industry, while evidence of late Holocene use of the area was also recorded in the form of Tifinagh inscriptions, rock engravings, cairns and graves. Besides mapping the archaeological distributions, a number of trenches were dug at the edge of the river terraces. These revealed an in situ stratigraphic sequence, within which Aterian lithics were found at a depth of > 1 m. Samples for OSL dating were taken. Overall, the work of the 2009 field season was extremely successful in that, besides the fascinating range of archaeological material recorded and studied, it provided important insights into the role of the north-south wadis that cross the Messak, the southern boundary of the area being explored by the DMP, and their differential use in prehistory.

Human influence, plant landscape evolution and climate inferences from the archaeobotanical records of the Wadi Teshuinat area (Libyan Sahara)

Central Sahara rock shelters offer an early and middle Holocene environmental reconstruction. This paper summarises palynological research carried out within a multidisciplinary archaeological research project on the Wadi Teshuinat area (Tadrart Acacus Mts., in south-western Fezzan, Libya). The sites were occupied by hunter-gatherer and pastoralist cultures. On-site pollen data, treated as a single ‘regional site’, showed that different pollen stratigraphies and flora characterised the past phases. Plant macro-remains also helped to understand local plant exploitation and landscape evolution. Pollen spectra showed the following climate oscillations: wet and cool (approx. 8800–8250 cal. BC), dry and warm (approx. 7920–7520 cal. BC), wet (approx. 7550–7200 cal. BC), dry (approx. 6340–6210 cal. BC—geoarchaeological evidence), wet and warm (approx. 6250–4300 cal. BC, including a wetter and warmer phase at approx. 5500–4600 cal. BC); dry and warm (approx. 4250–2900 cal. BC); drier and warm (approx. 2900–1600 cal. BC, up to the present). Since the early Holocene, both climatic and anthropic factors have played an important and strictly interconnected role in transforming the environment. Thus, while subsistence strategies were adjusting to climatic and environmental changes, the plant landscape was also being slowly and continuously shaped by humans.

Combining intensive field survey and digital technologies: new data on the Garamantian castles of Wadi Awiss, Acacus Mts., Libyan Sahara

In recent years, Garamantian archaeology has received renewed attention from historians and archaeologists, particularly in the south-western corner of Libya in the central Sahara. This paper focuses on the potential of intensive field surveys and digital technologies as applied to a particular segment of the Garamantian state: the ‘castles’ of Wadi Awiss and their associated contexts ― necropoleis and site remains. The combination of a field survey, selected settlement soundings and territorial funerary data provided additional information on the chronological and functional organization of the Garamantian system.

DMP III: Pleistocene and Holocene palaeonvironments and prehistoric occupation of Fazzan, Libyan Sahara

AbstractThe palaeoanthropological and geomorphological sub-projects of the Desert Migrations Project (DMP) focus on the Pleistocene and early Holocene environment and prehistory of Fazzan so as to assess the timing and extent of hominin and human movement across the Sahara through time. This paper reports on the findings of the 2008 field season, with a focus on the prehistoric evidence along the northern margin of the Ubari sand sea.The geomorphological record of the area preserves evidence of at least five past episodes of lake formation. The exact chronology of these, as well as the spatial extent of these lakes, remains the focus of further study.The archaeological record of hominin and human occupation of Fazzan prior to the establishment of the Garamantian civilisation is extraordinarily rich. Between 2007 and 2008, the DMP palaeoanthropological project surveyed thirty-five localities along the northern margin of the Ubari sand sea, recording a range of assemblages spanning all Palaeolithic industries. Most of the archaeological remains found consisted of stone-tools, while grinding stones were comparatively restricted geographically. Mode 1/Oldowan tools were found at two localities, contrasting with the widespread presence of Mode 2/Acheulean, Mode 3/Middle Stone Age and Mode 5/microlithic artefacts. This indicates that, although hominin presence in the area is probably earlier than previously thought, populations were comparatively sparse until the Middle Pleistocene. Twenty-one localities within the Ubari sand sea, as well as seven south of the Messak Settafet were also surveyed between 2007 and 2008. The detailed study of the lithics from these areas will be carried out next year, but preliminary results stress the different nature of the assemblages found within interdune corridors — very low frequency of cores, no Mode 1 and extremely rare Mode 2 lithics (found at a single locality).The 2009 field season will focus on obtaining further samples of palaeolake sediments for dating, on the evidence of Mode 1 assemblages south of the Messak, as well as on the refining of the archaeological indicators that may distinguish the different phases of hominin and human occupation of Fazzan during the Later Pleistocene and Holocene.

Desert Migrations: people, environment and culture in the Libyan Sahara

AbstractThe Desert Migrations Project is a new interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional collaborative project between the Society for Libyan Studies and the Department of Antiquities. The geographical focus of the study is the Fazzan region of southwest Libya and in thematic terms we aim to address the theme of migration in the broadest sense, encompassing the movement of people, ideas/knowledge and material culture into and out of Fazzan, along with evidence of shifting climatic and ecological boundaries over time. The report describes the principal sub-strands of the project's first season in January 2007, with some account of research questions, methods employed and some preliminary results. Three main sub-projects are reported on. The first concerns the improved understanding of long-term climatic and environmental changes derived from a detailed palaeoenvironmental study of palaeolake sediments. This geo-science work runs alongside and feeds directly into both archaeological sub-projects, the first relating to prehistoric activity and mobility around and between a series of palaeolakes during wetter climatic cycles; the second to the excavation of burials in the Wadi al-Ajal, exploring the changing relationship between material culture, identity and ethnicity across time, from prehistory to the early Islamic period (the span of the main cemetery zones). In addition, some rock art research and a survey of historic period sites was undertaken in the Wadi ash-Shati and Ubari sand sea.

Polymorphisms of the COL1A2, CYP1A1 and HS1,2 Ig enhancer genes in the Tuaregs from Libya

Background: Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of the COL1A2 and CYP1A1 and short tandem repeats of HS1,2 Ig enhancer genes are proving to be useful markers for describing human populations and thus are of interest for anthropogenetic research. Moreover, they can provide useful information in identifying alleles and haplotypes associated with particular forms of common diseases or for pharmacogenomics studies.Aim: The objective of this study was to define the genetic structure of Libyan Tuaregs and to establish the degree of genetic homogeneity amongst the El Awaynat and Tahala groups.Subjects and methods: Tuareg individuals from El Awaynat (n = 99) and Tahala (n = 18), in Libyan Sahara, were analysed for the RFLPs of COL1A2 and CYP1A1 and short tandem repeats of HS1,2 Ig enhancer genes. In order to provide a clearer picture of COL1A2, CYP1A1 and HS1,2 Ig enhancer allele and haplotype frequency distributions in various human groups distributed over a wide geographic area, comparisons with other African, European and Asian populations were carried out by analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and genetic distance analysis.Results: No significant level of differentiation was evident between the two Libyan Tuareg groups according to AMOVA. For the CYP1A1 gene, a possible new haplotype was observed, even though at a very low frequency. Linkage disequilibrium was assessed only for COL1A2, since CYP1A1 turned out to be poorly polymorphic for m2 and m3.Conclusions: Statistical analyses showed that Tuaregs from Libya are located in a intermediate position between south Saharan populations on one side and the Europeans and the Asians on the other.

Structurally preserved polypores from the Neogene of North Africa: Ganodermites libycus gen. et sp. nov. (Polyporales, Ganodermataceae)

A new fossil polypore, Ganodermites libycus (Polyporales, Ganodermataceae), occurs in the form of a structurally preserved (permineralized) basidiocarp from the Lower Miocene (Neogene) of Jebel Zelten in the northern part of the Libyan Sahara, North Africa. The basidiocarp is characterized by distinct growth increments, a stratified hymenium, and equidistantly arranged pores. The trimitic hyphal system consists of generative, skeletal, and binding hyphae; clavate pilocystidia regularly occur among the tramal hyphae. The basidia are clavate and (2–)4-sterigmate. They produce ellipsoid, apically truncate basidiospores, which display a two-layered ganodermatoid spore wall. Ganodermites libycus represents the earliest persuasive fossil evidence for polypores closely related to the extant genus Ganoderma, and displays a mosaic of characters seen in modern Ganoderma species. Coprolite-filled tunnels in the basidiocarp indicate that G. libycus was utilized as a food source by fungivorous arthropods or arthropod larvae.

Multiple phases of North African humidity recorded in lacustrine sediments from the Fazzan Basin, Libyan Sahara

The Fazzan Basin of south-west Libya is at present arid with less than 20 mm of rainfall per annum. However, regionally extensive limestones, lacustrine sands and coquina (fossiliferous carbonate rock) deposits show that the Fazzan Basin previously contained a large palaeolake, indicating that the climate in the past was more humid. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating techniques have been applied to key lacustrine deposits within the basin in an attempt to provide an internally consistent chronology for this humidity record. Results indicate that palaeolake sediments within the Fazzan Basin record a very long history of palaeohydrological change, ranging from present day arid conditions to humidity capable of sustaining a lake with an approximate area of 76,250 km 2. The existence of humid periods in mid oxygen isotope stage 5 and the early Holocene is confirmed. An older lacustrine event, tentatively correlated to oxygen isotope stage 11, is also recognized. In addition, evidence is presented for at least two humid phases beyond the age range over which the conventional OSL dating technique is applicable. This study demonstrates that OSL dating of palaeolake sediments within the Fazzan Basin offers the potential to provide a detailed record of North African humidity spanning several glacial–interglacial cycles.

A PRELIMINARY REPORT OF EXCAVATIONS IN FEWET, LIBYAN SAHARA

In 1997, the .Joint Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Akakus and Messak (Libyan Sahara)., presently directed by Savino di Lernia, started a program of historical archaeology aimed at recovering remains of the Garamantian period, ca 800 BC to 350 AD. One of the selected sites is Fewet, a small but well nucleated oasis some 10 km SW of Ghat. After a first sounding in 2001, part of the settlement was excavated in 2002-2003, and the adjacent necropolis was surveyed in 2003. The excavated settlement is a rounded compound, with a perimeter wall of stones and mud bricks and a series of small dwelling units, with partition walls in mud bricks, around a central empty space and a communal well. One half of the compound is well preserved, with smashed pottery and remains of carbonized seeds and basketry on the sandy floors. The site is radiocarbon dated to the 2nd-1st centuries BC. The necropolis, including ca 1000 tumuli (but the survey is not yet complete) extends over the entire course of Garamantian history, about one millennium or more, and the typological development - from conical to drum-shaped tumuli - is confirmed by the associated pottery from Final Pastoral to Post-Garamantian times. The site of Fewet provides a good example of a small rural settlement at the SW border of the Garamantian kingdom, and the entire research project (geology and palaeo-environmental studies, archaeological excavation and survey) helps to figure out the life and the material culture in a small Saharan oasis of the proto-historical period.

Incoming tourism, outgoing culture: Tourism, development and cultural heritage in the Libyan Sahara

Archaeological contexts in arid lands are particularly endangered, not only by the natural damaging effects of desert environments, but also by both recent indiscriminate tourism and infrastructural developments, specifically oil exploitation. This case study of the Acacus and Messak Mountains in the Libyan Sahara explores the history and causes of the present situation, through a detailed analysis of the state of preservation of the cultural heritage – particularly rock art. At the same time, it provides the first evaluation of the perception of the situation by local people, placing it in a wider scenario that integrates tourism, development, and conservation.