The study of the human societies of the Final Pleistocene of North
Africa requires an in-depth analysis of the techno-typological
characteristics of the microlithic industries that were widespread in
the whole Mediterranean area during the period between 24000 and 10000
years ago.
Most of the research projects in Maghreb and Libya were carried out
decades ago. At the time sediments were rarely sieved and the small
lithic tools, so characteristic of this period, were often lost. Also,
little attention was paid to the raw material sourcing, which is an
exceptional tool for understanding technology, human behavior and land
management. It is thus of great importance to focus on new research,
that has the potential to delineate a more detailed picture of the
North-African Later Stone Age.
Based on more recent research in the Jebel Gharbi (Libya), this book
offers a high-resolution description and documentation of the LSA lithic
complexes of North-Western Libya, applying an approach that integrates
up-to-date techno-typological studies with geochemistry and functional
analysis. This research aims to define the characteristics of the human
occupation of the Jebel Gharbi during the Late Pleistocene, with
specific reference to the period from the Last Glacial Maximum to the
Holocene transition, delineating a picture of the human occupation of
the area through about ten millennia. This volume represents an
exhaustive overview on the Prehistory of Northern Libya in areas that
aren't, nowadays, accessible to researchers.
