100th century BCE
Wadi Derna, Cyrenaica, Libya
Hajj Creiem was a temporary hunter’s camp situated beside a small pool in the wadi tufa of Wadi Derna. Dating to the early Levallois–Mousterian, it covered approximately 1,800 square metres and contained about 2,000 flint artifacts transported from the seashore. The site was used for butchering and processing large quantities of animal meat, probably during an occupation lasting only a few days.
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The Story
Hajj Creiem was established beside a small pool in Wadi Derna during the early part of Levallois–Mousterian times. The occupation covered approximately 1,800 square metres and yielded an estimated 2,000 flint artifacts. Their raw material had been transported from the seashore, about eight kilometres to the north, before being worked at the camp.
The tools included side-scrapers and Mousterian points made on thin Levallois flakes. The arrangement of artifacts and the animal remains led to the interpretation of a temporary camp, probably occupied for only a few days. Its principal activities appear to have been the butchering and processing of meat from animals whose remains lay on the occupation floor.
The estimated food supply was unusually large for such a brief occupation. The group may have processed five to ten Barbary sheep, three to four zebra, two to three buffalo, and a gazelle, yielding an estimated 2,800 to 4,075 kilograms of usable meat. An analogy with the spatial requirements of San Bushman camps was used to suggest a group of approximately thirteen people, although that estimate is explicitly analogical.
100th century BCE
Wadi Derna, Cyrenaica, Libya
Hajj Creiem was a temporary hunter’s camp situated beside a small pool in the wadi tufa of Wadi Derna. Dating to the early Levallois–Mousterian, it covered approximately 1,800 square metres and contained about 2,000 flint artifacts transported from the seashore. The site was used for butchering and processing large quantities of animal meat, probably during an occupation lasting only a few days.
Continue exploring
The Story
Hajj Creiem was established beside a small pool in Wadi Derna during the early part of Levallois–Mousterian times. The occupation covered approximately 1,800 square metres and yielded an estimated 2,000 flint artifacts. Their raw material had been transported from the seashore, about eight kilometres to the north, before being worked at the camp.
The tools included side-scrapers and Mousterian points made on thin Levallois flakes. The arrangement of artifacts and the animal remains led to the interpretation of a temporary camp, probably occupied for only a few days. Its principal activities appear to have been the butchering and processing of meat from animals whose remains lay on the occupation floor.
The estimated food supply was unusually large for such a brief occupation. The group may have processed five to ten Barbary sheep, three to four zebra, two to three buffalo, and a gazelle, yielding an estimated 2,800 to 4,075 kilograms of usable meat. An analogy with the spatial requirements of San Bushman camps was used to suggest a group of approximately thirteen people, although that estimate is explicitly analogical.
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