The Sedimentary Context of El Kherba Early Pleistocene Oldowan Site, Algeria: Sediment and Soil Micromorphology Studies

Abstract

A comprehensive investigation is conducted on the archeological sediments from the Early Pleistocene site of El Kherba (Algeria), involving sediment and soil micromorphology analyses. El Kherba yielded Oldowan stone tools associated with animal fossils from three archeological levels. The studies aim at assessing the sedimentary processes that acted in the burial of the archeological remains and at identifying microfacies in order to gain high-resolution paleoenvironmental information pertaining to early hominin behavioral activities at the site 1.8 million years ago. The data indicate that the archeological assemblages accumulated in sediments with fine-grained particles, primarily silt and clay of massive structure, in a floodplain landscape in a temperate climate in the lower part of the stratigraphy and a gradual change from humid to arid environment in the upper part. These results are also supported by taphonomic and isotope studies carried out previously on the site.