Climate frameworks for the Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age in Northwest Africa

Abstract

This paper examines climate conditions in Northwest Africa for Marine Isotope Stage 4, 3, and 2 (71,000–11,000 years ago) and their impact on the distribution of potential suitable areas on a regional scale. The analysis uses climate simulations to model: 1) the geographical extent and variability of macro-refugia based on ethnographic data; and 2) the frequency of suitable areas based on climate ranges obtained at dated archaeological occupations. The results include the production of maps of MSA and LSA site distribution, and annual precipitation and temperature values for each dated human occupation. The macro-refugia models confirm the persistence and low variability of ecological macro-refugia along the Mediterranean coast but reveal limitations in Central Sahara. Macro-refugia models aligned closely with climate-archaeological models, except for Marine Isotope Stage 4. Despite the general spatio-temporal limitations of climate simulations, our study offers valuable data to be integrated with local environmental proxies. These climate frameworks and insights can contribute to the exploration of past human demography, connectivity and human-environment interactions across different scales of analysis.