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The widespread utilization of laminar industries with backed retouch is the most characteristic feature of North African Later Stone Age contexts—from the Maghreb to the Nile Valley—between the end of the Pleistocene and the Early Holocene. These laminar microliths represent a true technological revolution triggered by the need for new tools to exploit a different range of resources available due to the changing environmental conditions. We propose that at Farafra the emergence of backed elements was tied to the re-occupation of the region at the beginning of the Holocene (twelfth–eleventh millennia cal BP), as demonstrated by the sites discovered in the southwestern area of the modern oasis at El Qasr. The paper focuses on the Farafra Northern Plateau and its slopes between the tenth and ninth millennia cal BP, a phase following the first re-occupation of the Farafra Oasis. We examine the techno-typological characteristics of the lithic assemblages and settlement strategies during the Early Holocene: how these were shaped by seasonality and changes in climatic regimes, considerations for access to raw materials for lithic tool production, and changing subsistence. The techno-typological characteristics of several lithic assemblages in Farafra depression are examined and compared with the assemblages in other areas of the Egyptian Western Desert during the Early Holocene.

The development of technological analysis at the end of the 1900s made it possible to explore new aspects of the production of artifacts from animal materials, especially bones and teeth, by Holocene Saharan societies. Here, we reappraise a selected set of these artifacts excavated from the shelter sites of Ti-n-Torha Two Caves, Ti-n-Torha East, and Ti-n-Torha North, in the Libyan desert of the Tadrart Akakus. These sites were occupied from ca. 10,500 cal BP to 6050 cal BP, first by hunter-gatherer groups, and then by pastoralists. New methodologies have allowed us to identify trends in the selection of raw materials, animal species, and the methods and techniques used in the manufacture of the objects. Stylistic choices, in particular, are one of the most representative traits of the pre-pastoral groups that occupied this area; they are also perhaps the first evidence for significant continuity across the three sites in the mode of production of objects from teeth and bones. Le développement de l’étude technologique à la fin des années 1900 a permis d’explorer de nouveaux aspects de la production matérielle d’origine animale, en particulier les os et les dents, dans les sociétés holocènes sahariennes. Sur ce type de tendance méthodologique se fonde la réévaluation récente d’un échantillon sélectionné d’objets en os et dent provenant des sites en abri de Ti-n-Torha Deux Grottes, Ti-n-Torha Est and Ti-n-Torha Nord, dans le désert libyen du Tadrart Akakus. Ces sites ont montré une occupation sur le territoire allant de 10,500 cal BP à 6050 cal BP. Les données que nous présentons nous permettent d’introduire certaines tendances dans la sélection des matières premières, des espèces animales, et des méthodes et des techniques choisies dans la fabrication des artefacts. Les choix stylistiques en particulier sont l’un des traits les plus représentatifs des groupes prépastoraux qui ont occupé ces zones et, peut-être, un premier élément significatif de continuité dans le système de production des matières des origines animale dans les trois sites.

The author group in the original version of this article contained a mistake.

In this article, we discuss the geological, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics of the proposed sources of pigments used in the Wadi Sura rock art, southwestern Egypt. Colors used in the paintings include white, yellow, and several reddish hues ranging from pale red to dark reddish brown, rare black, and greenish hues. The results of Raman spectroscopy and pXRF techniques on both raw coloring materials and archaeological pigments show that the ancient artists made extensive use of inorganic clay-based pigment (e.g., kaolinite) associated with anhydrite and gypsum. White raw coloring materials were recorded in the field as thin laminated beds and lenses within the Silurian sandstone bedrock and are also present in paleosol layers and reworked fragments mixed with ocher. Raw materials for red and yellow colors are represented by clay-based mixtures of aluminosilicate with iron oxide, hematite, goethite or magnetite, and gypsum. The amorphous carbon and romanechite, as well as goethite and magnetite, could have been the components of the dark brownish pigments widely used in the rock art of the study area. Surprisingly, lazurite was also recognized among the raw materials, although this blue pigment does not seem to have been used in the Wadi Sura rock art panels (however, bluish and greenish traces as violet reddish hues, along with bluish-greenish yellow colors, are reported in the paintings). Lazurite is not well known in the geology of Egypt and has been detected in this study for the first time. The results of our work indicate that access to the Silurian sandstones, mainly located on the northwestern slope of the plateau, may have been one of the factors for choosing this area of the Gilf Kebir for producing rock art images. Dans le présent article, nous examinons les caractéristiques géologiques, minéralogiques et géochimiques des sources de pigments qui auraient été utilisés pour les peintures de l’Oued Sura au sud-ouest de l'Égypte. Les couleurs présentes dans les peintures comprennent le blanc, le jaune et même certaines nuances de rouge, allant du rouge pâle au brun rougeâtre foncé, ainsi que de rares exemples de nuances de noir et de vert. Les résultats de la spectroscopie Raman et de fluorescence des rayons X portable sur les matières colorantes brutes et les pigments archéologiques montrent que les anciens artistes employaient généralement des matières premières de nature inorganique à base d’argile: par exemple, kaolinite associée à anhydrite et gypse. Des matières colorantes blanches ont été également détectées sur le terrain sous forme de minces couches stratifiées et de lentilles dans le substrat rocheux de grès du Silurien, et ils sont également présents dans des couches de paléosol et des fragments retravaillés et mélangés à l'ocre. Les matières colorants rouges et jaunes sont représentés par ailleurs par des mélanges d’aluminosilicates à base d’argile avec de l'oxyde de fer, de l'hématite, de la goethite ou de la magnétite et du gypse. En outre, une certaine quantité de carbone amorphe et romanèchite, avec la goethite et la magnétite, pourrait être la composante des pigments brun foncé largement employés dans l'art rupestre de cette zone archéologique. Étonnamment, parmi les matières premières, la lazurite a été identifiée, bien que ce pigment bleu ne semble pas avoir été utilisé dans les panneaux d’art rupestre de l’Oued Sura (cependant, nous avons observé des traces bleuâtres et verdâtres sous forme de nuances violet-rougeâtre, ainsi que des couleurs jaune bleu-verdâtre dans les peintures). La lazurite est mal connue dans la géologie de l'Égypte, et vient d'être détectée pour une première fois par la présente étude. Les résultats de nos travaux peuvent indiquer que l’accessibilité aux grès Siluriennes, situées principalement sur le coté nord-ouest du plateau, peut avoir été l'un des facteurs qui ont conduit à utiliser cet endroit du Gilf Kebir pour la production de l’art rupestre.

Intensive survey and three sample sections at Jebel Gharbi in north-west Libya offer a new dated sequence of the environment, and the human presence within it, from the Middle Stone Age to the early Holocene. Hunter-gatherers were continuously active, including during the hitherto elusive Later Stone Age.

Surveys and test excavations in the Jebel Gharbi have brought to light a large quantity of prehistoric sites indicating intensive human occupation from the Upper Pleistocene to the Holocene. Several radiometric dates (standard ¹⁴C, AMS and U/Th) provide a detailed framework of the absolute chronology of the local peopling of the area. Generalised Middle Stone Age archaeological materials represent the earliest term of reference in the geological series. Aterian complexes are well-represented, being widely spread throughout the mountain range and in the lowlands. Lower Later Stone Age, or \"Dabban\", artefacts are also attested to both geological and archaeological sequences. Human occupation continued with the Upper and Final Epipalaeolithic (or \"Iberomaurusian\") and later, with Capsian and Neolithic groups. Permanent and seasonal water springs and raw material sources influenced settlement strategy and selected areas offered particularly favourable conditions and became intensively occupied. /// Reconnaissances et sondages dans le Jebel Gharbi ont mis au jour une grande quantité de sites préhistoriques qui suggèrent une occupation intensive du Pléistocène supérieur à l'Holocène. Nombreux dates radiométriques (¹⁴C, AMS et U/Th) fournissent un cadre détaillé de la chronologie absolue de l'occupation locale de la zone. Matériels archéologiques du Paléolithique moyen représentent le terme de référence le plus ancien dans les stratigraphies géologiques. Les assemblages atériens sont bien représentés, en étant présent soit dans le massif soit dans la pleine. Des sites du Paléolithique moyen ou \"Dabbéen\" sont aussi connus dans les séquences géologiques et archéologiques. L'occupation humaine continue avec les Upper et Final Epipaléolithique (ou \"Ibéromaurusien\") et, après, avec des groupes capsiens et néolithiques. Sources d'eau permanentes et saisonnières ont influencé la stratégie des gisements et des zones sélectionnées ont offert des conditions particulièrement favorables et sont devenu intensivement occupées.

Italian Archaeological Mission in the Farafra Oasis – Egypt - The archaeologicalresearch in desert areas has long employed multidisciplinary fi eld and laboratorymethods. The Italian Archaeological Mission in the Farafra Oasis – Egyptof the Sapienza University of Rome benefi ts from three decades of experienceduring which it has kept pace with the latest developments in fi eldwork techniques.Geomatic techniques, as used by the Geodesy and Geomatic Area ofthe same university, are particularly important for archaeological research concernedwith large geographical areas. The paper shows how survey was organisedthrough several stages, from the creation of accurate maps, to photoplansof signifi cant structures and to DEMs of the different fi nd locations. Processingthe cartographic data from the Wadi el Obeiyid, moreover, made it possible tohypothesize which areas would have been suitable for human settlement, andthese will be the focus of future surveys.

The discovery in the early 1970s of the important Wadi Ti-n-Torha complex with its three sites within a few hundred meters of each other - Torha East, Torha Two Caves and Torha North - had important consequences for following studies of the prehistory of southern Libya and highlighted its position within the cultures of central Sahara. Wadi Ti-n-Torha is located in the northeastern region of the Tadrart Akakus, which had never before been explored. Research conducted under the direction of Salvatore M. Puglisi and later by Barbara E. Barich in the period 1969-1985 brought to light for the first time an Early Holocene (from 10,500 cal BP), pre-pastoral horizon and discussed its relationship with later pastoral occupation. The latter until then was the only occupation phase identified in the Tadrart by previous explorations and was also documented in the upper levels of the Torha North shelter. The diachronic presence of both pre-pastoral and pastoral horizons in the same area made the Wadi Ti-n-Torha investigation particularly strategic. Wadi Ti-n-Torha s Early Holocene showed entirely novel features in terms of technology, environmental exploitation and settlement pattern. Quite noteworthy are, in the first place, the presence of pottery at least 10,000 years old, alongside the intensive use of wild plants and the semi-stable occupation pattern based on stone structures that anticipated the 8th mill. BP examples of the Egyptian Oases. With these characteristics the Early Holocene horizon of the Ti-n-Torha presents itself as a prepatory environment of the later pastoral occupation. A comparative examination of the pre-pastoral and pastoral features reveals elements of continuity in the relationship with the environment. The acquisition of new resources was accommodated within a system that, at the initial stage, shows no obvious ruptures. The article proposes a rereading of this exceptional complex. This is done by drawing the main events of the sequence, from pre-pastoral to pastoral layers made clearer by calibrated BP and BCE chronology. The new approach makes the correspondences between environmental changes and human adaptation more visible. The reinterpretation also concerns the artifactual complex, particularly a new approach to the study of animal raw materials of which a careful technological and stylistic analysis is presented.