Preliminary results from excavations at Gueldaman Cave GLD1 (Akbou, Algeria)

Evidence of a prolonged drought ca. 4200 yr BP correlated with prehistoric settlement abandonment from the Gueldaman GLD1 Cave, Northern Algeria

“…Gueldaman GLD1 Cave is one of a series of karstic caves formed within the southeastward slope of the Adrar Gueldaman ridge, western part of Babor mountains in Northern Algeria (Kherbouche et al, 2014). It is located close to the large Soummam River, 5-6 km from the Akbou town, and approximately 65 km southern inland from the Western-Mediterranean Sea (36 • 26 N, 4 • 34 E, 507 m a.s.l.…”

“…The entrance, facing to the SE, is a semi-circular ∼ 6 m large arch, leading to a dome-shaped ∼ 10 m high and 6 m wide corridor which ends with the main chamber "Grande Salle" at a depth of 30-40 m. Previous archaeological excavation and field investigation suggest that Gueldaman GLD1 Cave has probably been open since at least ca. 7 ka ago (Kherbouche et al, 2014). The area is covered by a thin layer (< 10 cm) of soil derived from the limestone bedrock, wind-blown silicate dust, and organic matter from local vegetation such as Pistacia lentiscus, Quercus ilex, Buxus sempervirens, typical Mediterranean Garrigue type plant assemblage (C3 dominated).…”

Middle Holocene hunting and herding at Gueldaman Cave, Algeria: An integrated study of the vertebrate fauna and pottery lipid residues

“…The rich and diverse archaeological record uncovered during recent excavations at Gueldaman Cave, Algeria demonstrates its potential as a key site for understanding the north west African Neolithisation process (Kherbouche et al, 2014). This has provided a unique opportunity for a programme of organic residue analysis to apply molecular and isotopic techniques to the analysis of absorbed food residues extracted from Neolithic ceramic vessels from the site.…”

“…The site of Gueldaman (GLD1) is located on this ridge (Fig. 1A), at 507 m altitude, in a large karst network together with five other caves, two of which, GLD2 and GLD3, also contain deposits of prehistoric origin (Kherbouche et al, 2014). Large amounts of charcoal were found in the stratigraphical sections of both S2 and S3 areas, particularly in archaeological layers, UA2, UA3 and UA4, suggesting significant anthropogenic activity in the cave (note: correlation between layers and archaeological units is shown in Table 1).…”

From art to context: Holocene roots of an Initial Neolithic Pastoralism (INP) in the Atlas Ouled Naïl, Algeria

“…Rock art sites and animal subsistence modes from Holocene settlements are still not yet linked, but are documented. Algerian cases in the Ouled Naïl highlands might also concern Tellian ridges ( Kherbouche et al, 2014;Merzoug et al, 2014), Atlas Moroccan sites (Simoneau, 1969;Searight, 1996Searight, , 2004Ouchaou and Amani, 1997;Ouchaou et al, 1998Ouchaou et al, , 2003Ouchaou, 2000aOuchaou, , b, 2004Ouchaou, , 2012Martinet, 2001e2002;Linst€ adter, 2004Linst€ adter, , 2008Soler et al, 2006;Rodrigue, 2009;Ballouche et al, 2012;Linst€ adter and Kehl, 2012;Soler and Subils, 2012;Skounti et al, 2012;Roubet and Ouchaou, 2014), and Tunisian sites (YahiaAch eche, 2007(YahiaAch eche, , 2009Dridi and Aouadi, 2012;Aouadi et al, 2014).…”