Haua Fteah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
  Location in Libya | |
| Coordinates | 32°53′59″N 22°03′05″E / 32.89972°N 22.05139°E |
|---|---|
| Altitude | 67 m (220 ft) |
| History | |
| Material | karst cave |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Charles McBurney, Graeme Barker |
Haua Fteah (Arabic: هوا فطيح, romanized: Hawā Fṭiyaḥ) is a large karstic cave located in the Cyrenaica in northeastern Libya.[1] This site has been of significance to research on African archaeological history and anatomically modern human prehistory because it was occupied during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, the Mesolithic and the Neolithic.[1] Evidence of modern human presence in the cave date back to 200,000 BP.[2]
The term 'haua' describes a typical cave structure of the local coastal area, which has been formed in its present shape by erosion processes of the sea during the early stage of the Pleistocene.[3]
Haua Fteah is 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the coast[1] and found near the northern side of the plateau[3] at the base of the Jebel Akhdar (or Green Mountain).[1] The entrance faces north towards the Mediterranean sea.
Stratigraphy and layout
Haua Fteah is 50 metres (160 ft) high by 20 metres (66 ft) wide on the north entrance with an 80 metres (260 ft) span on the interior roofed portion of the cave.[1] The horizontal stratigraphic layers are defined by the types of sediment contained in each layer and is supported by using radiocarbon dating techniques.[1]
The geological time scale at Haua Fteah shows major climatic changes that occurred during the Pleistocene.[3] During the final stage of the Riss-Wurm interglacial period the shoreline was six meters above the present sea level.[3] The second major stage is that in which the sea level was twenty meters below current sea level.[3]
Discovered and research
Haua Fteah was first discovered in 1948 by Charles McBurney.[3] McBurney and his team excavated the site from 1950 to 1955.[1] Excavations were not done after 1955 until the most recent excavation in 2007. Since McBurney's excavations, there had been much erosion in this cave and heavy sedimentary layers had deposited over the original site as well.[3]
A recent project called the Cyrenaica Prehistory Project (CPP),[1] run by Graeme Barker of Cambridge, began in 2007.[2] The goal of this program is to expand knowledge and understanding of the cave's sequence of use and the history of environmental changes and how humans had adapted to those changes.[2] The CPP attempts to reconstruct the history of climate, environment, and human activity at Haua Fteah.[2] The project plans on gaining insight to these areas through geomorphological, palaeoecological, and archaeological studies inside the cave and from the surrounding landscape.[2] A few questions that the CPP aims to answer include, "When did anatomically modern humans first arrive on Africa's northern shores? How did they and earlier populations deal with the effects of profound and often abrupt climatic change? Was `behavioral modernity' critical to their successful colonization of North Africa? When, how, and why did farming develop in the Holocene?" as outlined by Cambridge University.[2]
From 2007 through 2013 there has been 7 completed excavation seasons by the CPP.[2]
Account of excavations
The investigation of this site was started in 1951 in a sounding trench on the western side of the cave,[3] which was 10 x 10 x 2 meters deep.[1] In 1952, the second sounding trench was excavated horizontally atop the first trench[3] that was 7 x 6 x 5.5 meters deep.[1] Finally a deep sounding trench that was 3.8 X1.6 X 6.5 meters deep was excavated which gave the total excavation depth to be 14 meters deep.[1]
The CPP extended these findings by recovering more tools similar to those mentioned by McBurney.[2]