Tracing Human Behavior in Middle Stone Age SW Libya

Research carried out since the 1990s by the archaeological mission of Sapienza University of Rome in SW Libya provided wide-ranging data on the Pleistocene archaeology of this vast region. This principally relies on surface scatters and on a series of soundings, among which two Aterian, stratified, dated sites. The adoption of the Levallois method since Later Acheulean implies that not all “Mode 3” surface assemblages without hand-axes can be automatically equated to MSA. The subject is of difficult approach in many cases and chronology is definitely very coarse, except for the Aterian occupation. Data on early MSA are scanty. They nevertheless attest an early occurrence possibly rooted in MIS 6 – after comparisons with early Nubian complex and sub-Saharan Middle Stone Age – reinforcing the idea that multiple dispersals across North Africa likely occurred. The evolution through time of the MSA is hardly assessable. It is probable that many of the findings could belong to wet episodes of MIS 5, when enhanced humidity could have favoured a more stable settlement system. The end of the MSA witnesses the Aterian frequentation, which highlights the adaptation of possibly residual human groups confined to mountain environments within a MIS 4 hyperarid landscape. The MSA in our study area is then supposedly comprised in the interval from roughly MIS 6 to about 60 ka – the latest dated Aterian occurrence – during which humans had to cope with variable environmental constrains likely adopting different settlement systems able to intercept, e.g., the resources kept by mountain ranges even during severe climatic conditions or following particular paths carrying out different specialized activities (e.g., raw material procurement).