Settlement Dynamics and Cultural Interactions in Upper Pleistocene Libya: A Historical and Eco-Evolutionary Perspective

Abstract

Although extensive research has been conducted on Pleistocene cultures in Libya, our understanding of human settlement dynamics and patterns of cultural exchange during the Upper Pleistocene remains limited and fragmented. To the best of the author’s knowledge, most previous studies have focused primarily on classifying lithic assemblages within stratigraphic and typological frameworks and analyzing habitation sites, often neglecting an integrated approach that connects spatial, temporal, and cultural dimensions. Paleoenvironmental evidence indicates successive phases of aridity and humidity; however, the impact of these environmental changes on human mobility, settlement distribution, and cultural exchange remains insufficiently explored. This study seeks to address these gaps by adopting a dual historical and eco-evolutionary perspective, emphasizing the dynamic interplay between environmental change, human settlement, and cultural interaction. The analysis is further expanded to incorporate the “Green Corridors” hypothesis and genetic evidence, while employing an eco-cultural methodological framework to examine human mobility across diverse ecological settings and its relation to ecological and technological mechanisms underlying cultural and economic transformations. The results reveal morphological and typological similarities between Pre-Aurignacian and Dabban tools at Haua Fteah Cave in Libya and those from Mount Carmel in Palestine and Ksar Akil in Lebanon. Moreover, environmental equivalencies were observed among human groups in the Tadrart Acacus, Hoggar, and Air-Ténéré regions. The study also demonstrates that changes in human settlement patterns were influenced not only by environmental fluctuations but even more strongly by transformations in the structural and functional characteristics of human groups. Overall, the stratigraphic sequences and artifacts from Jabal al-Akhdar, Tadrart Acacus, and Jebel Gharbi provide a unique window into a network of cultural interactions spanning the coastal zones, the Sahara, and the Levant, likely involving the exchange of technological elements, ideas, and adaptive behaviors. Collectively, these findings position Libya as a central hub for understanding the dispersal of modern humans in the region, whether through early migrations out of Africa or reverse movements from the Levant.