A Critical Inventory and Associated Chronology of the Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age in Northwest Africa

Abstract

The study of human evolution and cultural patterns relies on empirical evidence provided by the archaeological record. Accessing dependable archaeological data from scholarly publications can often be challenging due to the variability in site documentation and the diversity of academic practices in publication processes. This study presents a comprehensive synthesis of the published literature documenting dated and undated archaeological materials from the Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age in Northwest Africa, notably Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. No previously published open-access database exists for these chronocultural periods in the region. Our dataset encompasses 993 sites and 1152 dates spanning approximately 370,000 to 8,000 years ago. Through a critical evaluation of the dates, we reveal qualitative and quantitative disparities and highlight the potential of the current archaeological record. While only ~10% of sites are dated and ~4.5% have reliable dates associated with a human occupation, this database holds significant potential for demographic and taxonomic meta-analyses as well as for methodological studies associated with chronological data in archaeology.