Uan Tabu is a rock shelter in the Tadrart Acacus mountains in Libya. It is located on the left bank of the ancient wadi Teshuinat river. In modern day, it is located a few meters above the existing wadi Teshuinat river. The rock shelter is very wide at 50 meters. It is 10 meters high and four meters deep. It is notable for the rock art found at the site and its more recent importance in learning more about the chronology and archaeology of the Aterian in the Sahara Desert.
Within the site, archaeologists found wooden structures, faunal remains, ostrich egg shell beads, shards of pottery and 10 hearths or combustion sites. The site provides evidence for Aterian, Acacus and Pastoral occupation.
Aterian
Using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating on the deposits in the lower stratigraphic layers (Unit IV), archaeologists were able to date them to 61,000 ± 10,000 years old BP. This coincides with the arid climate that existed in the Libyan Sahara between 100,000 to 40,000 years ago. The layers above Unit IV are dated to 8,800 ± 100 years old, displaying a very large period of time with no human occupation at this site. The return of occupation at this site based on these upper Holocene dates aligns with a humid period in the Sahara.
Uan Tabu is the only site in the Central Saharan that is fully Aterian. Unlike other sites in the area, many Aterian lithics were found at Uan Tabu in Unit IV. Some of the stone tools were retouched which could imply that the site was the location of a long term habituation. Unit IV can be divided into two distinct sections. The lower layers, 24 and 25, feature tools exclusively made of sandstone and Nubian cores are only present in these layers. There were also knives and tanged points and tools. The upper layers, 21 and 22, have lithics of different materials. In these layers Levallois point cores, flake cores and blades are found more frequently than at the lower layers. This supports the idea that later Aterian groups were less mobile than earlier ones and had time to develop tools.
By dating this fully Aterian site, archaeologists are able to gain more understanding on the movement of modern humans throughout the Sahara. Both the evidence of Aterian technology and OSL dating show that there was occupation at this site during the Late Pleistocene's arid climate. Previously there was no evidence of either of these things existing in the Acacus Mountains of the Central Sahara.
Acacus
Early Acacus
The Early Acacus at Uan Tabu dates from 9,810 ± 75 to 8,880 ± 100 years ago BP. Within the archaeological site, Unit III is the one that corresponds to the Early Acacus. Early attempts to date this site were often inaccurate because of suspected contamination, resulting in narrow time frames. In order to combat this, archaeologists at the site specially treated the material within the deposit. Further analysis of the deposit material within Unit III, revealed new information about the environment and lifestyle of modern humans occupying the site.
Unit III consisted of mainly organic matter that came from the outer part of the wooden shelter found at this site. The collections of the organic matter indicated a wet climate with lots of vegetation. In addition, low pollen concentration and poor preservation indicated a wetter, more humid climate. Since the rock shelter was on the river bed, there was lots of vegetation typically found in marshlands. Analysis of charcoal found at that site was primarily from the plant Tamarix which was prominent in the surrounding area, creating a wooded grassland and implying that there was a nearby shallow water table. The people occupying the site at the time were knowledgeable in plant uses and harvested the vegetation for resources like food and fibres. There was not a depletion of natural resources as a result of human actions which indicates that the population living at Uan Tabu was small.
Barbary Sheep
During the Early Acacus, faunal remains indicate that Barbary Sheep were the main source of subsistence. Unit III's faunal remains were entirely Barbary Sheep which aligns with the evidence of this species' success at other sites in Northern Africa. The people inhabiting Uan Tabu were also likely herding and caging the Barbary Sheep based on the accumulation of spherulite, dung and plant layers. Although Barbary Sheep were not domesticated, it was the only sheep or goat in Africa at the time and shows partial domestication and the transition of modern humans managing livestock in this area.
References
↑Garcea, Elena A.A (2001). "The Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sequence". In Garcea, Elena A.A. (ed.). Uan Tabu in the Settlement History of the Lybian Sahara (1sted.). All’Insegna del Giglio. pp.1–14. ISBN978-88-7814-184-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
12Cremaschi, Mauro; Di Lernia, Savino; Centro interuniversitario di ricerca sulle civiltà e l'ambiente del Sahara antico e delle zone aride, eds. (1999). Wadi Teshuinat palaeoenvironment and prehistory in south-western Fezzan, Libyan Sahara: survey and excavations in the Tadrart Acacus, Erg Uan Kasa, Messak Settafet and Edeyen of Murzuq, 1990-1995. C.N.R. quaderni di geodinamica alpina e quaternaria. Firenze: All'insegna del giglio. ISBN978-88-7814-144-5.
1234567891011121314Garcea, Elena A.A. (2001). "Cultural adaptations at Uan Tabu from the Upper Pleistocene to the late Holocene". In Garcea, Elena A.A. (ed.). Uan Tabu in the Settlement History of the Lybian Sahara (1sted.). All’Insegna del Giglio. pp.219–235. ISBN978-88-7814-184-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
12Mercuri, Anna Maria; Grandi, Guiliana Trevisan (2001). "Palynological analyses of the late Pleistocene, Early Holocene and Middle Holocene layers". In Garcea, Elena A.A. (ed.). Uan Tabu in the Settlement History of the Lybian Sahara (1sted.). All’Insegna del Giglio. pp.161–188. ISBN978-88-7814-184-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
