Les comportements de subsistance en Afrique du Nord-Ouest durant la transition Pléistocène supérieur/Holocène : entre homogénéité et variations stratégiques

This article presents and discusses the main changes observed in the food behaviors of prehistoric populations from Northwest Africa during the Upper Palaeolithic (Iberomaurusian) and the Epipalaeolithic (Capsian) periods. We will take as a case of study the Algerian sites that cover these periods and which well illustrate the relationship between climatic changes and behavioral changes, in particular those related to animal exploitation. Indeed, there is a gradual shift from selective hunting to more diversified hunting towards the end of the last glacial maximum (LGM). This trend will be accentuated with the increase of small and very small game (gazelles and lagomorphs) during the advent of the Upper Capsian, which is occur with the 8.2 ka event (Holocene climatic event).