North Africa (49,293 – 28,578 BCE) Upper…
49293 BCE to 28578 BCE
North Africa (49,293 – 28,578 BCE) Upper Pleistocene I — Ice-Edge Steppes, Coastal Refugia, and Early Maghrebi Traditions
Geographic and Environmental Context
North Africa includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia (Ifriqiya), Libya (Tripolitania–Fezzan–Cyrenaica), and Western Sahara.Anchors: the Atlas ranges (High/Middle/Anti-Atlas; Tell Atlas; Aurès), the Tell and Sahel coasts (Atlantic Morocco, Rif/Alboran, Kabylia, Ifriqiya, Syrte/Gulf of Sidra, Cyrenaica), the Saharan platforms and sand seas (Erg Chech, Grand Erg Occidental & Oriental, Tanezrouft), the oases and basins (Tafilalt, Draâ, Touat–Gourara–Tidikelt, M’zab, Wadi Igharghar, Fezzan (Wadi al-Ajyal, Ubari and Murzuq dunes)), and the trans-Saharan corridors toward Lake Chad, Niger Bend, and the Nile.
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Atlas forelands opened onto periglacial steppe–tundra; the Tell/Sahel littoral had embayed lagoons and dune fields; much of the Sahara was hyper-arid plateau punctuated by rare springs.
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The Alboran–Strait of Gibraltar shelf was broader; Gulf of Gabès shallower; Syrte (Gulf of Sidra) exposed terraces.
Climate & Environmental Shifts
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Last Glacial Maximum (LGM): colder, drier; winter westerlies strengthened; dust accumulation high in the interior.
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Moisture pockets persisted on windward Atlas slopes and in coastal refugia.
Subsistence & Settlement
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Refugial foragers occupied caves and rockshelters along the Atlas piedmont and coast, hunting gazelle, equids, aurochs, and ibex, with seasonal littoral shellfish and fish.
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Inland groups ranged widely between piedmont springs and basin playas.
Technology & Material Culture
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Late Middle–Upper Paleolithic lithics: Levallois-derived flake/point industries transitioning toward bladelets in some zones.
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Bone points, scrapers; ochre and shell/teeth beads signal symbolic life.
Movement & Interaction Corridors
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Atlantic–Alboran ribbon (Rif–Tangier–Atlantic Morocco) and Tell coast acted as highways; Atlas passes linked coast to basins; isolated Saharan wadis channeled episodic movement.
Cultural & Symbolic Expressions
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Parietal and portable markings in cave contexts; patterned hearth renewal in long-used shelters.
Environmental Adaptation & Resilience
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Coast–piedmont switching and multi-resource diets buffered LGM stress; knowledge of perennial springs was critical.
Transition
As deglaciation commenced, woodland patches and wetlands expanded along the coast and Atlas foothills, inviting broader foraging repertoires.