Sedimentary processes, temporality and Palaeolithic narratives of northern Africa (70,000–15,000 BP)
The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK
In northern Africa and the surrounding regions, cave sequences are commonly characterised by episodic depositional regimes. These stratigraphies comprise of sedimentary deposits that accrete extremely rapidly, or slowly over large timeframes, interspersed with sedimentary hiatuses or erosional events that can represent thousands of years.
Episodes or ‘phases’ of sedimentation can often be linked to broad scale environmental conditions. For example, pulses of regional climatic deterioration might be expressed in the sedimentary record by the occurrence of physically weathered rock (eboulis) and warmer climatic interludes may result in sedimentation with in-situ or re-worked pedogenic elements. Temporal gaps or ‘sedimentary hiatuses’ that occur between major pulses of sedimentation are both climatically and culturally significant. Human occupations occurring during these times may leave palimpsest accumulations of cultural material on ground surfaces which are not accreting volume through natural geomorphic processes
This paper reviews the significance of episodic sedimentary processes at the Haua Fteah cave in Libya. The Haua Fteah was excavated c. 60 years ago and has been instrumental in the construction of Palaeolithic narratives ever since. The Haua Fteah is a primary record in the northern hemispheric history of hominin evolution and the spatio-temporal emergence of Homo sapiens.