100th century BCE
Maghrib and Sahara
The Aterian was a Middle Palaeolithic technological tradition centered in north-west Africa and extending across much of the Sahara. It is distinguished especially by tanged or pedunculate tools, often combined with bifacial points, Levallois products, scrapers, burins, and Upper Palaeolithic forms. The extract describes regional facies and chronological stages from the Maghrib, Saoura Valley, central Sahara, northern Chad, and western Egypt, while stressing uneven dating and continuing uncertainty about its relationship to the Mousterian.
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The Story
The Aterian is defined above all by the presence of tanged or pedunculate tools, especially points, although scrapers and burins can also bear tangs. These implements occur alongside Mousterian side-scrapers and points, Levallois flakes and blades, bifacially retouched forms, end-scrapers, borers, and backed pieces. The combination varies regionally, so the Aterian is presented not as a uniform toolkit but as a broad technological tradition with distinct local expressions.
Its distribution extends throughout the Maghrib and across a large part of the Sahara, generally north of latitude 15°N, westward into Mauritania and eastward to the oases of the eastern desert. Sites are frequently located beside former lakes, swamps, springs, and major watercourses. Important localities include Bir el-Ater in eastern Algeria, Taforalt and Dar es-Soltan in Morocco, the Saoura Valley, Adrar Bous in Niger, Bir Terfawi, and Kharga Oasis in western Egypt.
The tang is treated as the tradition’s most significant technological innovation because it provides the earliest described evidence for intentional hafting. A tang could be inserted into a socket or split wooden haft and secured with mastic or binding. By separating the stone working end from the handle or shaft, hafting allowed tools to become lighter and smaller, while expanding the possible uses of points, scrapers, burins, and other implements.
The chronology remains uneven. Coastal Aterian deposits are reported as more than 30,000 years old, while Saharan assemblages range from earlier than 45,000 years ago to more than 30,000 years ago. The extract recognizes two defensible stages on stratigraphic grounds, or three if controversial early assemblages such as El-Guettar are included. Many Saharan collections remain surface finds and undated, limiting broader chronological correlations.
100th century BCE
Maghrib and Sahara
The Aterian was a Middle Palaeolithic technological tradition centered in north-west Africa and extending across much of the Sahara. It is distinguished especially by tanged or pedunculate tools, often combined with bifacial points, Levallois products, scrapers, burins, and Upper Palaeolithic forms. The extract describes regional facies and chronological stages from the Maghrib, Saoura Valley, central Sahara, northern Chad, and western Egypt, while stressing uneven dating and continuing uncertainty about its relationship to the Mousterian.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Aterian is defined above all by the presence of tanged or pedunculate tools, especially points, although scrapers and burins can also bear tangs. These implements occur alongside Mousterian side-scrapers and points, Levallois flakes and blades, bifacially retouched forms, end-scrapers, borers, and backed pieces. The combination varies regionally, so the Aterian is presented not as a uniform toolkit but as a broad technological tradition with distinct local expressions.
Its distribution extends throughout the Maghrib and across a large part of the Sahara, generally north of latitude 15°N, westward into Mauritania and eastward to the oases of the eastern desert. Sites are frequently located beside former lakes, swamps, springs, and major watercourses. Important localities include Bir el-Ater in eastern Algeria, Taforalt and Dar es-Soltan in Morocco, the Saoura Valley, Adrar Bous in Niger, Bir Terfawi, and Kharga Oasis in western Egypt.
The tang is treated as the tradition’s most significant technological innovation because it provides the earliest described evidence for intentional hafting. A tang could be inserted into a socket or split wooden haft and secured with mastic or binding. By separating the stone working end from the handle or shaft, hafting allowed tools to become lighter and smaller, while expanding the possible uses of points, scrapers, burins, and other implements.
The chronology remains uneven. Coastal Aterian deposits are reported as more than 30,000 years old, while Saharan assemblages range from earlier than 45,000 years ago to more than 30,000 years ago. The extract recognizes two defensible stages on stratigraphic grounds, or three if controversial early assemblages such as El-Guettar are included. Many Saharan collections remain surface finds and undated, limiting broader chronological correlations.
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