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The 1973–6 excavations at Aïn Misteheyia, a Capsian site in eastern Algeria, revealed an archaeological sequence dated to between ~9500 and 6000 cal. BP. Using a new shell reservoir offset of 476 ± 48 14Cyr for the terrestrial snail Helix melanostoma, we show that the sequence at Aïn Misteheyia based on pre-AMS shell dates is coeval and comparable to the well documented one excavated in 1978 at the nearby site of Kef Zoura D based on AMS dates for samples of charcoal, bone and shell. The revised dating shows a clear break in the Aïn Misteheyia chronological sequence documenting a techno-technological and subsistence change corresponding to a transition from Typical Capsian to Upper Capsian which matches the one documented at Kef Zoura D. The revised chronology shows that this change, at both sites, correlates closely with the 8.2 ka cold event, which had a major impact on changing patterns of late hunter gatherer socio-economics in the Maghreb.