1. Land-use and cultivation in the etaghas of the Tadrart Acacus (south-west Libya): the dawn of Saharan agriculture?
- Author
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di Lernia, Savino, N'Siala, Isabella Massamba, Mercuri, Anna Maria, and Zerboni, Andrea
- Subjects
Aquatic resources -- Libya -- Northern Africa ,Agriculture ,Archaeological dating ,Land use -- Libya -- Northern Africa ,Radiocarbon dating ,Ponds ,Archaeology ,Anthropology/archeology/folklore - Abstract
The hyperarid climate of the central Sahara precludes permanent agriculture, although occasional temporary ponds, or etaghas, as a result of rain-fed flooding of wadi beds in the Tadrart Acacus Mountains of the Libyan Sahara allow the pastoral Kel Tadrart Tuareg to cultivate cereals. Geoarchaeological and archaeological data, along with radiocarbon dating and evidence from rock art, however, suggest a much greater antiquity for the exploitation of these etaghas. The authors propose that the present-day cultivation of etaghas mirrors attempts at flood-recession or rainfed cultivation by late prehistoric Pastoral Neolithic groups, who first exploited residual water resources to supplement their pastoral subsistence practices. Keywords: Sahara, Libya, Tadrart Acacus, Pastoral Neolithic, rain-fed cultivation, Tuareg, Introduction Since the Mid Holocene, the Sahara's climate has been hyperarid, with a mean annual rainfall of between 0 and 20mm (Nicholson 2011). This limited and unpredictable rainfall does not [...]
- Published
- 2020
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