“Saharan Waterscapes”. Traditional Knowledge and Historical Depth of Water Management in the Akakus Mts. (SW Libya).

We present a preliminary report from the project “Saharan Waterscapes”, a multi-disciplinary research programme based on geoarchaeological, ethnoarchaeological, and ethnobotanic surveys carried out in the last years in the Acacus Mts. (SW Libya, central Sahara). The main aim was to assess the water resources available in the area, completing the first repertory of the natural (gheltas) and artificial (excavated wells and abonkor) water-related features. The relations between rainfall, landscape and resources (plants, animals, flock, etc) are crucial for the understanding of many segments of kel Tadrart Tuareg universe. The relevance of water resources and cultivation in the Acacus Mt. in historical and social memory of Kel Tadrart have also been approached, and compared with local and regional data on the variability of rainfall, indicating interesting potential analogies for the analysis of social responses to climate fluctuations during the late Holocene.