The Hargeisan revisited: Lithic industries from shelter 7 of Laas Geel, Somaliland and the transition between the Middle and Late Stone Age in the Horn of Africa
Introduction
Clark (1954) produced the first synthesis concerning the prehistory of the Horn of Africa. He characterized industries from the Early Stone Age (Upper Acheulian, which was barely documented in Somalia at the time) as well as the Middle Stone Age (Acheulio-Levalloisian, Levalloisian, Somaliland Stillbay) and the Late Stone Age (Doian, Somaliland Wilton). He described the archaeological potential of Somalia and put it in a broader perspective, by making comparisons with Eastern Africa and the African continent as a whole. He also stressed the particularities of the prehistoric record of this region, notably with the description of some industries that combine Late Stone Age (LSA) and Middle Stone Age (MSA) features (Somaliland Magosian, Hargeisan), which he considered a transitional facies: “Transional between the Middle and the Late Stone Age is the Somaliland variant of the Magosian and the intrusive blade and burin industries of the Hargeisan.” (Clark, 1954, p. 156).
This issue was examined again by S.A. Brandt and T.H. Gresham when they resumed research in Somalia (Brandt and Brook, 1984, Gresham, 1984, Brandt, 1986, Brandt and Gresham, 1990). The material collected during their fieldwork and a revision of the existing data allowed these authors to clarify some of the definitions proposed by Clark for the LSA industries. They gave a more detailed description of the Eibian (called Doian by Clark), introduced the Baardale and its different phases and strongly criticized the Somaliland Wilton. Finally, they were skeptical about the existence of a transitional facies between the MSA and the LSA – and of the Hargeisan in particular, because of the paucity of excavated and properly dated contexts.
We report new field research that renews previous data concerning the prehistory of the region, and particularly as a result of new data available from the site of Laas Geel in Somaliland (Fig. 1). This complex of rock shelters is located 80 km from Hargeisa (Somaliland) and is already known for its numerous rock paintings, which were described in 2002 (Gutherz et al., 2003a, Gutherz et al., 2003b, Gutherz and Jallot, 2011). Test excavations carried out in Shelter 7 allowed us to identify an important sedimentary deposit with stratified archaeological remains. The analysis of these deposits was first initiated to provide contextual data for the site's remarkable rock art. However, this analysis has resulted in new issues which are developed in this paper, and which are mainly based on examination and interpretation of the excavated lithic industries.
Our analysis of the lithic assemblage from excavations of Sondage 2 in Shelter 7 at Laas Geel enabled us to group the stratigraphic units (hereafter SUs) into two main archaeological phases: 1) the upper part of the sequence includes industries that we can undoubtedly assign to the LSA (SU 700–708); 2) by way of contrast, the stratigraphic units from the lower part of the sequence (SU 709–711) feature an industry combining technological components that are usually identified as both MSA and LSA. The lithic artifacts from Laas Geel therefore enable us to cross-examine some of the definitions proposed by Clark, namely the pertinence of “Hargeisan” and “Somaliland Wilton” labels, and to revisit the origins and developments of the LSA in the Horn of Africa.
Section snippets
The complex of Laas Geel
Laas Geel is one of the few rocky hills within a large eroded granitic peneplain halfway between Hargeisa and Berbera (Republic of Somaliland). The hill, which has an approximate elevation of 1025 m asl, overlooks the confluence of two wadis, whose underground flow is exploited by nomads who dig wells to water their herds. The hill features twenty or so natural rock shelters, most of which have wall paintings. Two shelters yielded preserved sedimentary deposits that were tested (shelters 7 and
The lithic industries of Laas Geel
Here, we present the results of our analysis of the excavated assemblage from Sondage 2A alone, because the material from Sondage 2B and 2C is currently being processed. However, the analysis of the lithic artifacts from Sondage 2A alone confirms the importance and the potential of the Shelter 7 deposits and contributes to our understanding of the technological changes that occurred between the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene in the Horn of Africa.
The richness of the
Raiders of the lost Hargeisan
As stated above, in his synthesis on the prehistory of the Horn of Africa, Clark (1954) proposed the existence of a transitional facies (the Hargeisan) between typically MSA (Somaliland Stillbay) and typically LSA (Somaliland Wilton) industries. The Hargeisan facies, which was distributed within the borders of the British Somalilands (nowadays the Republic of Somaliland) was characterized by Levallois productions (mostly oriented toward the production of unifacially retouched points) associated
Conclusion
The analysis conducted and discussed here, reinforces the existence of a very specific industry in the Horn of Africa at the end of the Pleistocene, which was originally identified and coined Hargeisan by Clark (1954). While Clark's Hargeisan facies is problematic given the taphonomic and chronological issues present on type-sites of this industry, his descriptions remain the closest example we have to date of the industry from the lower sequence of Shelter 7 at Laas Geel and pertain to a
Acknowledgements
The missions conducted at Laas Geel between 2002 and 2011 were made possible thanks to a warm and attentive welcome from the Republic of Somaliland's higher authorities. The site of Laas Geel and the Somaliland Archaeological Heritage were managed successively by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and are currently under the authority of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. We are thankful to the different Ministers and their teams who have been supportive of
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