Re-entering the central Sahara at the onset of the Holocene: A territorial approach to Early Acacus hunter-gatherers (SW Libya)

The central Sahara was intensely occupied at the very onset of the Holocene, when moister conditions re-established after the Younger Dryas. In the study area (SW Libya), a solid 14C chronology dates the occupation of Early Acacus H/G between 9800 and 8900 BP. It is likely that the colonization by these small groups of specialized hunter-gatherers was rapid, entering unfamiliar areas characterized by the presence of lakes and ponds. Whether or not the very first re-entry was a uniquely Holocene phenomenon is still debated, we favour an arrival from the North considering current palaeoenvironmental, archaeological and possibly genetic evidences. The archaeological record consists of around ninety sites: surface occurrences and a few excavated sequences standing as regional and supra-regional references. Sites are located on different geomorphological contexts and are task-specifically organized. Subsistence relied on specialized hunting of Barbary sheep and on some vegetal species. The provenance and circulation of lithic raw materials reveals a high mobility, at a regional but also at a wider scale. Tool-kits are light, bladelet-based, curated and dominated by backed armatures. Early Acacus occupation reveals strong differences compared to the subsequent Late Acacus phase (8900-7400 BP) when a profound reorganization in the subsistence-settlement system, featuring an increase in the delayed use of resources - i.e. corralling of Barbary sheep and storage of wild cereals - occurred. In this work we present an overview of the Early Acacus archaeological data, with an emphasis on the territorial analysis of lithic assemblages.