Site Organization and Mobility Strategies: The Early and Middle Holocene Stone Structures from Takarkori Rock Shelter (Southwestern Libya)

ABSTRACT

The identification of mobility patterns in prehistoric communities is crucial for the understanding of their social and economic strategies. Though factors such as economics, environment, and cultural choices are strictly related to mobility, it has been demonstrated how anticipated mobility is pivotal in generating different aspects of site structure and spatial organization. Considering the stone structures uncovered at Takarkori rock shelter (southwestern Libya, central Sahara), we performed morphometrical and spatial analysis to provide appropriate indicators of mobility patterns, site structure, and activity areas among hunter-gatherers and pastoral groups that inhabited the shelter during the Early and Middle Holocene. We recognized year-round semisedentary patterns and shorter seasonal occupations, based on the number, size, typology, and topography of stone structures. The paper discusses how, through the analysis of stone structures, it is possible to recognize mobility patterns in the archaeological record.

KEYWORDS:

• Holocene
• central Sahara
• hunter-gatherer-fishers
• herders
• spatial analysis
• mobility

Acknowledgements

This study is part of the activities of The Archaeological Mission in the Sahara, Sapienza University of Rome, and the Libyan Department of Antiquities (DoA), Tripoli, directed by S. D. L. Excavations and sampling strategy were designed and headed by S. D. L. The Libyan Department of Antiquities granted all the necessary permits to Sapienza University of Rome. We thank our Libyan colleagues and all our colleagues who participated in the field and in the laboratory. S. D. L. was entrusted funds by Sapienza University of Rome (Grandi Scavi di Ateneo) and the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (DGSP-VI). S. D. L. conceived and designed the study. O. S. wrote the paper and analyzed the stone structures, performing statistical and GIS analysis. S. D. L. provided stratigraphic and archaeological data, and M. G. contributed to the analysis of the stone structures. The authors equally contributed to the discussion.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Olivier Scancarello

Olivier Scancarello (M.A. 2019, Sapienza Università di Roma) is a post-graduate School of Archaeology student at Sapienza University of Rome. His research interests focus on African archaeology, particularly on the timing and modalities of the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to pastoral communities in the Sahara and on the cultural responses to environmental changes, population dynamics, and mobility patterns in arid zones. Since 2017, he has been a team member of the Archaeological Mission in the Sahara, directed by Savino di Lernia.

Marina Gallinaro

Marina Gallinaro (Ph.D. 2008, Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’) is Assistant Professor at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. She has conducted fieldwork activities in the central and eastern Sahara and in eastern Africa. Her research focuses on the interplay between humans and environment in arid zones and on the strategies that humans adopted to cope with climatic changes. Specific topics include the emergence of herding in Africa through the analysis of the archaeological landscape and settlement patterns, rock art studies, and cultural heritage management.

Savino di Lernia

Savino di Lernia (Ph.D. 1997, Sapienza Università di Roma) is an africanist archaeologist based at Sapienza University of Rome, where he teaches African archaeology and ethnoarchaeology. His research interests focus on the study of hunter-gatherer-fishers in northern and eastern Africa and on the analysis of pastoral societies in the Sahara, with particular attention to rock art. He is the director of the Archaeological Mission in the Sahara and the Archeological Mission in the Kenyan Rift Valley.