100th century BCE
Cyrenaica, northern Libya
The Cyrenaican Levallois–Mousterian was a Middle Palaeolithic lithic tradition of northern Libya, appearing approximately 75,000–80,000 years ago and continuing until about 40,000 years ago. It featured discoidal and Levallois cores, faceted flakes, side-scrapers, Mousterian points, hearth-associated artifact concentrations, and occasional Aterian traits. Neanderthal jaw fragments were recovered at Haua Fteah. The tradition formed part of a wider technological sphere showing similarities with assemblages in Palestine and the Zagros Mountains.
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The Story
The Cyrenaican Levallois–Mousterian emerged during a sequence of marked climatic fluctuations. Its appearance is placed approximately 75,000 to 80,000 years ago, after an earlier interglacial industry and before the first Upper Palaeolithic, or Dabban, assemblages. In northern Libya, this tradition occupied a long interval that the passage associates with colder conditions and later climatic change.
Its technology relied heavily on discoidal cores and Levallois methods. Faceted platforms and Levallois flakes were common, including flakes struck from small radially prepared cores, while blade forms remained rare. Finished implements were dominated by side-scrapers and Mousterian points, with some notched tools; the early assemblage from Layer 34 also contained relatively high numbers of end-scrapers and burins and a rare bifacial foliate point.
Hearths occurred throughout the Levallois–Mousterian levels at Haua Fteah, with artifacts apparently clustered around them in a pattern comparable to settlement sites. Two Neanderthal jaw fragments were found there, one dated to 45,050 + 3,200 BP. Pebbles bearing evidence of pitting and cutting may have served as anvils or hammerstones during tool retouching, including possible bipolar flaking.
100th century BCE
Cyrenaica, northern Libya
The Cyrenaican Levallois–Mousterian was a Middle Palaeolithic lithic tradition of northern Libya, appearing approximately 75,000–80,000 years ago and continuing until about 40,000 years ago. It featured discoidal and Levallois cores, faceted flakes, side-scrapers, Mousterian points, hearth-associated artifact concentrations, and occasional Aterian traits. Neanderthal jaw fragments were recovered at Haua Fteah. The tradition formed part of a wider technological sphere showing similarities with assemblages in Palestine and the Zagros Mountains.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Cyrenaican Levallois–Mousterian emerged during a sequence of marked climatic fluctuations. Its appearance is placed approximately 75,000 to 80,000 years ago, after an earlier interglacial industry and before the first Upper Palaeolithic, or Dabban, assemblages. In northern Libya, this tradition occupied a long interval that the passage associates with colder conditions and later climatic change.
Its technology relied heavily on discoidal cores and Levallois methods. Faceted platforms and Levallois flakes were common, including flakes struck from small radially prepared cores, while blade forms remained rare. Finished implements were dominated by side-scrapers and Mousterian points, with some notched tools; the early assemblage from Layer 34 also contained relatively high numbers of end-scrapers and burins and a rare bifacial foliate point.
Hearths occurred throughout the Levallois–Mousterian levels at Haua Fteah, with artifacts apparently clustered around them in a pattern comparable to settlement sites. Two Neanderthal jaw fragments were found there, one dated to 45,050 + 3,200 BP. Pebbles bearing evidence of pitting and cutting may have served as anvils or hammerstones during tool retouching, including possible bipolar flaking.