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The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2008: the second season of investigations of the Haua Fteah cave and its landscape, and further results from the initial (2007) fieldwork

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

Graeme Barker ,
Laura Basell ,
Ian Brooks ,
Lucilla Burn ,
Caroline Cartwright ,
Franca Cole ,
John Davison ,
Lucy Farr ,
Rainer Grün  and
Roisin Hamilton
...Show all authors
Graeme Barker
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK
Laura Basell
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, UK
Ian Brooks
Affiliation:
Engineering Archaeological Services Ltd, Blaenau Ffestiniog, UK
Lucilla Burn
Affiliation:
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
Caroline Cartwright
Affiliation:
Science Group, British Museum, London, UK
Franca Cole
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK
John Davison
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Archaeology, and Palaeoecology, Queen's University of Belfast, UK
Lucy Farr
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK
Rainer Grün
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Roisin Hamilton
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Archaeology, and Palaeoecology, Queen's University of Belfast, UK
Chris Hunt
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Archaeology, and Palaeoecology, Queen's University of Belfast, UK
Robyn Inglis
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK
Zenobia Jacobs
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Australia
Victoria Leitch
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK
Jacob Morales
Affiliation:
Departamento de Sciencias Historicas, University of Las Palmas, Spain
Iain Morley
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK
Mike Morley
Affiliation:
Museum of London Archaeology Service, London, UK
Steven Pawley
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
Alex Pryor
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK
Ryan Rabett
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK
Tim Reynolds
Affiliation:
Faculty of Continuing Education, Birkbeck College London, UK
Hwedi el-Rishi
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Garyunis University, Benghazi, Libya
Richard Roberts
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Australia
David Simpson
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Archaeology, and Palaeoecology, Queen's University of Belfast, UK
Chris Stimpson
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK
Mohammed Touati
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Omar Mukhtar University, al-Beida, Libya
Marijke van der Veen
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
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Abstract

The second (2008) season of fieldwork of the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project has significantly advanced understanding of the Haua Fteah stratigraphy and of the archaeology and geomorphology of the landscape in which the cave is located. The excavations of the McBurney backfill have reached a total depth of 7.5 m below the present ground surface, the depth at which two human mandibles were found in the 1950s excavations. Reconnaissance at the Hagfet ed-Dabba established that the sediments associated with the Upper Palaeolithic ‘Dabban’ industry were more or less entirely removed by the McBurney excavation. Exploratory excavations in the Hagfet al-Gama, a coastal cave west of the Haua Fteah, found evidence of Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Hellenistic occupation. The initial results from the study of botanical remains, both macroscopic and microscopic, obtained in the 2007 season at the Haua Fteah confirm the potential of the site to yield a rich suite of materials to inform on climatic and environmental change, and on human activities in the cave.

Type
Archaeological Reports
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 39 , 2008 , pp. 175 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2000

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