EVIDENCE FOR LATE QUATERNARY PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE FEZZAN, SOUTHERN LIBYA

The palaeogeomorphological work undertaken as part of the geoarchaeological Fezzan Project aims to further our understanding of climatic and environmental change in the Wadi el Agial area in the Fezzan, southern Libya as well as to provide a palaeoenvironmental framework within which the archaeology of the region may be interpreted. The archaeological record in the study area spans the past several hundred thousand years (lithic remains represent the Acheulian to the Late Neolithic periods) and therefore it is essential to gain an understanding of environmental change over this period of time.

Present day rainfall in the Fezzan is less than 20 mm per year on average, and exhibits high interannual variability. However, both geomorphological evidence and archaeological remains in the Fezzan indicate that this currently hyper-arid region experienced wetter phases in the past. For example, rock carvings and other archaeological remains attest to the existence of a more benign environment during the early to mid Holocene, when humans and large humid-climate fauna existed in currently inhospitable areas. Lake sediments and various geochemical crusts demonstrate the existence of open water bodies and a higher groundwater table during several phases of the Late Quaternary. Successive arid and humid phases were generally associated with episodes of northern hemisphere glacial advance and retreat respectively, but were not necessarily synchronous throughout the Sahara. New information from data-sparse areas of the Sahara such as the Fezzan is therefore particularly welcome. Evidence of wetter past environments in the Wadi el Agial is briefly summarised in this paper, with the emphasis placed on records of lake high-stands.