Halibee member archaeology: Middle Stone Age environment, technology, and postmortem modifications

The Middle Awash study area of Ethiopia's Afar Rift features a composite stratigraphic thickness of >1 km. Near the top of this succession lie sediments of the lower Halibee member, comprising the Faro Daba and Chai Baro beds. The former are radioisotopically dated to ~100,000 y in age and contain abundant fossils and associated lithic artifacts representing the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Geological, paleontological, and archaeological datasets recovered from these sediments enlarge a sparse later Pleistocene record of African human evolution, a time before anatomically modern populations of our species expanded into Eurasia. The Faro Daba occurrences comprise the richest, least disturbed, and most spatially extensive of many open-air MSA-bearing localities in the study area and beyond. Protected atop a resistant underlying conglomerate, the largely horizontal outcrops of the soft, eroding fossiliferous Faro Daba sediments provide spatially extensive access to in situ assemblages of artifacts and fossils. Sedimentology, faunal composition, and combustion features are consistent with a wooded depositional environment with seasonal flooding distant from the main river channel. Archaeological and paleontological assemblages indicate minimal postdepositional disturbance of primary lithic tool manufacture and discard during ephemeral human occupations on this floodplain. Among the recovered fossils are three partial human skeletons with taphonomic evidence of different postmortem pathways.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2026-04-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2534441123
Primary Topic
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Halibee member archaeology: Middle Stone Age environment, technology, and postmortem modifications

Cesur Pehlevan, Antoine Souron, Antoine Louchart, Jean‐Renaud Boisserie et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
article

Halibee member archaeology: Middle Stone Age environment, technology, and postmortem modifications

Cesur Pehlevan, Antoine Souron, Antoine Louchart, Jean‐Renaud Boisserie, Elizabeth Niespolo, Johannes Müller, Ioannis X. Giaourtsakis, Faysal Bibi, P. R. Renne, Marianne F. Brasil, Ferhat Kaya, Christopher A. Brochu, Sahleselasie Melaku, Leslea J. Hlusko, Berhane Asfaw, William K. Hart, Joshua P. Carlson, Tim D. White, Laura Sánchez‐Romero, Raymond L. Bernor, Yonas Beyene, Giday WoldeGabriel, Jason J. HEAD, Haregewin Hailu
article en

Abstract

The Middle Awash study area of Ethiopia's Afar Rift features a composite stratigraphic thickness of >1 km. Near the top of this succession lie sediments of the lower Halibee member, comprising the Faro Daba and Chai Baro beds. The former are radioisotopically dated to ~100,000 y in age and contain abundant fossils and associated lithic artifacts representing the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Geological, paleontological, and archaeological datasets recovered from these sediments enlarge a sparse later Pleistocene record of African human evolution, a time before anatomically modern populations of our species expanded into Eurasia. The Faro Daba occurrences comprise the richest, least disturbed, and most spatially extensive of many open-air MSA-bearing localities in the study area and beyond. Protected atop a resistant underlying conglomerate, the largely horizontal outcrops of the soft, eroding fossiliferous Faro Daba sediments provide spatially extensive access to in situ assemblages of artifacts and fossils. Sedimentology, faunal composition, and combustion features are consistent with a wooded depositional environment with seasonal flooding distant from the main river channel. Archaeological and paleontological assemblages indicate minimal postdepositional disturbance of primary lithic tool manufacture and discard during ephemeral human occupations on this floodplain. Among the recovered fossils are three partial human skeletons with taphonomic evidence of different postmortem pathways.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 123(17)
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (FR), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), University of Iowa (US), Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University (TR), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Planetary Science Institute (US), Virginia Museum of Natural History (US), Museum für Naturkunde (DE), Berkeley Geochronology Center (US), Ministry for Foreign Affairs (SE), National Museum of Natural History (US), Université de Bordeaux (FR), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR), Princeton University (US), Rift Valley University (ET), Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica (TW), Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (ES), University of the Humanities (MN), National Museum of Archaeology (BO), Institute of Zoology (KZ), De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (FR), Institute of Paleoprimatology Human Paleontology Evolution and Paleoenvironments (FR), Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences (BY), Salus (United States) (US), Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon : Terre, Planètes et Environnement (FR), Department of Archaeology (LK), Western Washington University (US), Miami University (US), University of Oulu (FI)
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.