The transition between Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in the Uan Afuda cave (Tadrart Acacus, Libyan Sahara). Environmental changes and human occupation.

The Uan Afuda cave fill (Tadrart Acacus, Libyan Sahara) is composed of three main units, ranging in age from the Upper Pleistocene to the Early Holocene (IXth millennium BP). At the base of the sequence, aeolian sand occurs (Unit 3), which includes Middle Palaeolithic (Atenan?) lithic assemblage. Subsequent weathering of the sand indicates an early onset of wet environment before the Xth millennium BP. Unit 2 follows, composed of colluvial sediments. It is radiocarbon dated to the end of the Xth millennium BP, and was deposited in a slightly drier environment. At this time, epipalaeolithic groups with a hunting economy inhabited the cave. The upper unit - Unit 1 - is mainly constituted by dung, plant and grass remains, artificially accumulated in the cave, under moderately dry conditions all through the whole IXth millennium. The archaeological materials consist of «mesolithic» artifacts associated with Dotted Wavy Line pottery. The faunal remains are very scarce; no domesticated animals were recorded among them.