The Main Nile Valley at the End of the Pleistocene (28–15 ka): Dispersal Corridor or Environmental Refugium?

Abstract

Under present environmental conditions, the Nile Valley acts as a ‘natural’ route between Africa and Eurasia, and is often considered as a corridor for dispersals out of and back into Africa in the past. This review aims to address the role played by the Nile Valley at the end of the Pleistocene (28-15 ka) in the context of post-‘Out of Africa’ modern human dispersals. Genetic studies based on both modern and ancient DNA suggest pre-Holocene dispersals ‘back into Africa’ as well as genetic interactions between modern humans across Africa and the Levant. During the Last Glacial, the lowering, or even complete desiccation of major eastern African lakes, including Lake Victoria, reduced the White Nile to a highly seasonal river, depriving the main Nile from its most important tributary in the dry season. This had major consequences, the specifics of which are still debated, on the behavior of the main Nile and the landscape around the Nile Delta. Despite this shift to more arid conditions, there is abundant evidence for human occupation in the main Nile Valley. Combining available geological, palaeoenvironmental, anthropological, genetic and archaeological data, this article discusses problems encountered when trying to reconcile results from different fields, the current limitations of the available data and research perspectives to further address the role of the Nile Valley as a dispersal corridor or an environmental refugium at the end of the Pleistocene.

New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba

“…Culturally, different lithic industries have been identified with sites associated to the end of the Late Pleistocene e.g. [13][14][15][16][17] . These occur in restricted geographical areas along the Nile, mainly in Upper Egypt.…”

“…These occur in restricted geographical areas along the Nile, mainly in Upper Egypt. They do not seem to be related to specific activities and are defined by characteristic sets of lithic tools and/or technology that appear to be associated with distinct small hunting-fishing-gathering groups [15][16][17] . Each of these lithic groups is believed to represent a cultural tradition that reflects group identity 15 (cf.…”

“…In addition, abundant lithic artefacts from the Qadan industry were discovered within the physical space of the bodies, where the soft tissues would have once been, or directly embedded in the bones 23 . Given their position, these lithic artefacts cannot be considered to be grave goods, nor can the Jebel Sahaba individuals be referred to as belonging to a Qadan population, particularly as other cultural entities are present in Lower Nubia during the same period 17 .…”

“…Among the adults with traces of injuries, 36.6% (n = 15) display signs of both healed and unhealed lesions, with males (n = 8) and females (n = 8) similarly affected. Only one non-adult, an adolescent [15][16][17][18][19], has both healed and unhealed lesions (Table 1). Most individuals with lesions 92.7% (n = 38) had some that were traumatic in origin, and over half of these individuals had a projectile impact (61.0%; n = 25).…”

“…Both the J:A ratio (JS = 0.200) and the mean childhood mortality value (JS = 0.073) are below the threshold of biased cemetery populations (respectively J:A < 0.380 and MCM < 0.135; 43 ). In the event of a mortality crisis linked to a single event, demographic anomalies are usually found in age cohorts less likely to die otherwise (namely the [10][11][12][13][14] and [15][16][17][18][19] cohorts) by way of an overrepresentation in their mortality quotient 35,36,44 . The Jebel Sahaba cemetery mortality curve does not include such an anomaly.…”