The Archaeology of Western Sahara : A Synthesis of Fieldwork, 2002 to 2009

Contrary to much perceived wisdom, the Sahara is a rich and varied tapestry of diverse environments that sustain an array of ecosystems. Throughout its history, the Sahara has been a stage for human evolution, with human habitation, movement and lifeways shaped by a dynamic environment of successive phases of relative humidity and aridity driven by wider global climatic changes. The nature of human utilization of the landscape has undergone many changes, from the ephemeral and ill-defined lithic scatters of the Early Holocene to the dense and complex funerary landscapes of Late Holocene Pastoral period. Generally speaking, the living have left very little trace of their existence while funerary monuments endure, stamping the landscape with a cultural timelessness that marks certain regions of the desert as “special”. During the last ten years, the Western Sahara Project has undertaken large scale archaeological and environmental research that has begun to address the gaps in our knowledge of the archaeology and palaeoenvironments of Western Sahara, and to develop narratives of prehistoric cultural adaptation and change from the end of the Pleistocene to the Late Holocene and place it within its wider Saharan context. A detailed discussion of past environmental change and a presentation of results from the environmental component of the extensive survey work are provided. A typology of built stone features– monuments and funerary architecture is presented together with the results of the archaeological component of the extensive survey work, focusing on stone features, but also including discussion of ceramics and rock art and the analysis of lithic assemblages. Chapters focusing on intensive survey work in key study areas consider the landscape contexts of monuments and the results of excavation of burial cairns and artefact scatters. HISTORY / Africa /General Cover 1 Book Title 2 Copyright 3 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 List of Figures 12 List of Tables 16 List of Plates 18 Chapter 1: The Archaeology of Western Sahara in Context - Joanne Clarke and Nick Brooks 20 Introduction 20 Aims and approach of this volume 22 Geopolitical context 22 The Western Sahara Project: history, context and aims 23 Previous archaeological and environmental research in Western Sahara 24 The archaeology of Western Sahara in regional context 26 Chapter 2: The Environmental Survey - Sue J. McLaren, Nick Brooks, Helena White, Marijke van der Veen, Tony Gouldwell and Maria Guagnin 29 Introduction 29 Geology and topography 29 Overview 29 Northern Sector 30 Southern Sector 32 Present-day climate 33 Past climatic contexts 35 Holocene climate change in the Sahara 35 Palaeo-environmental indicators in the Project study areas 37 Results of environmental survey work 39 Approach and methodology 39 Results from the Northern Sector 40 Results from the Southern Sector 45 Discussion 50 Chapter 3: Typology of Stone Features - Nick Brooks, Salvatore Garfi and Yves Gauthier 53 Introduction 53 Features, structures and monuments 53 Typologies of stone features 54 Morphological groups 55 Cairns 55 Falcate monuments (‘Falcates’) 63 Other types of stone feature 63 Petroforms 63 Descriptions of stone features by groups and types 63 Cairns 63 Falcate monuments (‘Falcates’) 66 Petroforms 69 Other monument types 72 Chapter 4: The Extensive Survey - Nick Brooks, Joanne Clarke, Yves Gauthier and Maria Guagnin 75 Introduction 75 Approach and methodology 75 Rationale and approach 75 Identifi cation of stone features using Google Earth imagery 77 Presentation of data 78 Results 79 Types and numbers of features recorded 79 Frequencies and distributions of stone features by morphological group and type 82 Use of quartz in association with stone features 108 Artefact concentrations (lithics and ceramics) 109 Rock art 111 Discussion 118 Affi nities with the central Sahara 118 Regional innovation 119 Relative dating of monumental stone features 120 Differences between the Northern and Southern Sectors 121 Conclusions 123 Chapter 5: Intensive Survey - Salvatore Garfi and Joanne Clarke 125 Introduction 125 Methods 125 Topography of the TF1 Study Area 127 Zone I: inselberg and pediment (central south) 127 Zone II: dissected plain with tors (south) 127 Zone III: rising and undulating ground (central north) 127 Zone IV: dissected plain (north) 127 Overview of archaeology 127 Differing landscapes 127 Other monument types 138 Discussion 138 Relationship of monuments to the landscape 138 Patterns in monument types – spatially and to do with associated features 140 Relationships with monuments farther afield 140 Description of monuments and artefact scatter sites from the TF1 Study Area noted in the text 142 Chapter 6: The Excavations - Joanne Clarke, Vicky Winton and Alexander Wasse 165 Introduction 165 2005 Excavations 165 WS023 166 WS024 172 Chipped stone from the vicinity of WS023 and WS024 (V. Winton) 177 Degree of modifi cation and raw material reduction 177 Raw materials 179 Comparisons and interpretation 179 Dating of the tumuli 180 Discussion 180 2007 surface collection and excavation 181 WS100 181 WS103 183 WS104 184 WS107 189 Dating 192 Ceramics from the 2007 surface collections and excavations 192 Discussion 193 Chapter 7: The Chipped Stone - Anne Pirie 196 Introduction 196 WS100 196 WS100.101 196 WS100.102 198 Discussion 200 WS103 201 WS103 Test pit (F023) 204 Discussion 204 WS104 204 WS104.105 204 WS104.106, Area 14 204 WS104.106, Area 23 206 WS107 206 Areas 15–19 transects 206 WS107, Area 20 209 Area 21 209 Area 22 211 The small assemblages 212 WS226, WS228, WS229 212 WS400 212 Discussion 212 Palaeolithic occupation 212 Early Holocene occupation 212 Early Middle Holocene occupation 214 Chapter 8: Western Sahara in Local and Regional Context - Joanne Clarke and Nick Brooks 216 Introduction 216 The changing face of the TF1 Study Area 217 A landscape of meaning 218 Burial monuments and social complexity 219 An ‘Atlantic’ connection? 219 Use of quartz and contrasting materials in funerary contexts 220 Monument locations and alignments 221 Western Saharan funerary practices in regional context 222 Environmental contexts and human-environment interaction 222 Conclusions 223 Bibliography 224 Index 234 Plate section 240 Back Cover 256 Contrary to much perceived wisdom, the Sahara is a rich and varied tapestry of diverse environments that sustain an array of ecosystems. Throughout its history, the Sahara has been a stage for human evolution, with human habitation, movement and lifeways shaped by a dynamic environment of successive phases of relative humidity and aridity driven by wider global climatic changes. The nature of human utilization of the landscape has undergone many changes, from the ephemeral and ill-defined lithic scatters of the Early Holocene to the dense and complex funerary landscapes of Late Holocene Pastoral period. Generally speaking, the living have left very little trace of their existence while funerary monuments endure, stamping the landscape with a cultural timelessness that marks certain regions of the desert as “special”. During the last ten years, the Western Sahara Project has undertaken large scale archaeological and environmental research that has begun to address the gaps in our knowledge of the archaeology and palaeoenvironments of Western Sahara, and to develop narratives of prehistoric cultural adaptation and change from the end of the Pleistocene to the Late Holocene and place it within its wider Saharan context. A detailed discussion of past environmental change and a presentation of results from the environmental component of the extensive survey work are provided. A typology of built stone features – monuments and funerary architecture is presented together with the results of the archaeological component of the extensive survey work, focusing on stone features, but also including discussion of ceramics and rock art and the analysis of lithic assemblages. Chapters focusing on intensive survey work in key study areas consider the landscape contexts of monuments and the results of excavation of burial cairns and artifact scatters.