Not Just a Corridor

The end of the Pleistocene (c. 75-15 ka) is a key period for the prehistory of
the Nile Valley. The climatic fluctuations documented during this period have
led human populations from the Middle and Late Palaeolithic to adapt to a
changing Nile. In particular, the global shift to more arid conditions
regionally translated into the expansion of the Sahara, the lowering of sea
levels and the desiccation of some major eastern African lakes. These
climatically-induced environmental changes influenced the behaviour of the
Nile —although how exactly is still debated— and its role as an ecological
refugium for human populations living in its vicinity. Genetic and fossil
evidence highlight a strong population substructure in Africa during this
period, suggesting the alternation of phases of major dispersals of modern
humans within the continent, as well as out-of and back-into Africa, with
phases of relative isolation of populations, which might be linked to the
creation of environmental refugia during the climatic fluctuations of this
period. Understanding to what extent the technological variability observed in
north-eastern Africa between 75,000 and 15,000 years ago is linked to
environmental changes and/or possible contacts between different human
populations is critical in this context. The best-preserved evidence for past
human behavior are archaeological assemblages, most often lithic assemblages.
However, the use of different terminologies, whether they refer to cultural or
techno-typological entities, hampers any systematic comparison between the
Nile Valley on one hand and neighbouring regions on the other hand. An outcome
of this practice is the artificial ‘isolation’ of the north-eastern African
record from its neighbouring regions. This monograph groups together chapters
presenting updated reviews and new data on regional archaeological,
palaeoenvironmental, palaeoanthropological and geological records from north-
eastern Africa, North Africa, the Levant and eastern Africa for the period
ranging from 75,000 to 15,000 years ago. While north-eastern Africa, and the
Nile Valley in particular, is generally considered as one of the main possible
routes of migrations out of Africa, few recent studies allow the data from
this region to be viewed from a macro-regional perspective. This book allows
the exploration of topical issues, such as modern humans’ capacity for
adaptation, particularly in the context of climate change, as well as
population interactions and human dispersals in the past, taking a
multidisciplinary approach.