Scientists from the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) and from the Algerian Centre de Recherches Préhistoriques, Anthropologiques et Historiques (CNRPAH) (Algiers, Algeria) have collaborated in a new round of fieldwork in June and July 2014 at the site of Ain Hanech in northeastern Algeria to investigate the Tempo and Mode of the earliest human occupation in North Africa.
Ain Hanech currently preserves the evidence of the oldest archaeological occurrences in North Africa and consists of several hundred meters of sedimentary deposits yielding savanna-like fossil fauna associated with Oldowan (Mode I) stone tools ranging between 2.3 and 1.7 million years ago. Dr. Mohamed Sahnouni, Research Professor and Coordinator of the Prehistoric Technology Program of the CENIEH, is leading the research at Ain Hanech since 1992.
The 2014 fieldwork focused on expanding the excavation at the locality of El-Kherba, exploring the Ain Boucherit fossil-bearing deposit, and sampling for paleomagnetic and usewear studies. The excavation at El-Kherba yielded further Oldowan stone tools associated with fossil bones of hippo, rhino, equids, bovids, and carnivores dated to 1.8 million years ago. The Ain Boucherit exploration allowed to discover fossil bones including cutmarked specimens. The Ain Boucherit occurrences are estimated to 2.3 million years ago.
Other scientists from CENIEH have also collaborated in the 2014 Ain Hanech fieldwork, including Professor Josep Maria Pares, Coordinator of Geochronology Program, and Dr. Joseba Rios, responsible for the Traceology research group, for carrying out magnetostratigraphic studies and usewear analyses of Oldowan stone tools.
The magnetostratigraphic study concentrated on sampling the lower part of the stratigraphic sequence estimated between 3-2 million years ago. The usewear study consisted of making molds of stone tool sharp edges and surfaces to study in which material they were used. Graduates students Claudia Alvarez from the Archaeomagnetism laboratory and Veronica Madrones from the Lithic Technology Laboratory also participated in the fieldwork.
