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Mobility and kinship in the prehistoric Sahara: Strontium isotope analysis of Holocene human skeletons from the Acacus Mts. (southwestern Libya)
- Source :
-
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology . Sep2006, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p390-402. 13p. - Publication Year :
- 2006
-
Abstract
- Abstract: The origins and development of pastoralism in Saharan North Africa involves societies and economies that, subjected to profound climatic changes and progressive desertification, came to be based on the movement of people and resources. The extreme conditions to which these groups were subjected made mobility a ‘resource’ in itself. Through the first analysis of Sr isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) in dental enamel of human skeletons from prehistoric burials of the Fezzan (southwestern Libya), we begin to investigate how mobility patterns changed with the onset of the desert. In combining our results with the archaeological evidence, we find that, the transformation in the economy of prehistoric groups correlated with a shift in mobility and possibly kinship systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Subjects :
- *HUMAN anatomy
*HUMAN skeleton
*CLIMATE change
*CLIMATOLOGY
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02784165
- Volume :
- 25
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 22213276
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2006.01.002