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The Upper Pleistocene and early Holocene prehistory of the Horn of Africa

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Abstract

The last major synthesis of the Upper Pleistocene and early Holocene prehistory of the Horn was published over thirty years ago. This paper therefore attempts critically to review the current state of knowledge and research pertaining to Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age hunter/gatherer culture history and adaptation in the region that now encompasses Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Although the archaeological record still suffers from major gaps in information, chronometric analyses as well as subsistence, settlement and other behavioural data from stratified excavated sites have begun to reveal the Horn's potential for providing important contributions to understanding late Quaternary hunter/gatherer cultural development.

Résumé

Plus de trente ans se sont écoulés depuis la parution de la dernière grande synthèse sur la préhistoire de la Corne de l'Afrique au Pléistocène Supérieur et au début de l'Holocène. Cet article essaie donc de passer en revue de façon critique l'état actuel des connaissances et la recherche sur l'histoire culturelle et sur l'adaptation ‘Middle Stone Age’ et ‘Later Stone Age’ dans la région qui comprend la Somalie, l'Ethiopie et le Djibouti. Bien que les documents archéologiques souffrent encore de lacunes majeures en ce qui concerne les informations, les analyses chronométriques et les moyens de subsistance, des données sur les habitations et sur d'autres aspects du comportement obtenus de gisements stratifiés fouillés ont commencé à dévoiler que la Corne pourra éventuellement fournir des contributions importantes à notre compréhension du développement culturel des chasseurs-cueilleurs du Quaternaire final.

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Brandt, S.A. The Upper Pleistocene and early Holocene prehistory of the Horn of Africa. Afr Archaeol Rev 4, 41–82 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01117035

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