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The Fezzan Project 1999: preliminary report on the third season of work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

David J. Mattingly,
Mohammed al-Mashai,
Phil Balcombe,
Nick Drake,
Stephanie Knight,
Sue McLaren,
Ruth Pelling,
Tim Reynolds,
David Thomas and
Andrew I. Wilson
...Show all authors
David J. Mattingly
Affiliation:
School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester
Mohammed al-Mashai
Affiliation:
Department of Antiquities, Tripoli
Phil Balcombe
Affiliation:
School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester
Nick Drake
Affiliation:
Kings College, London
Stephanie Knight
Affiliation:
School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester
Sue McLaren
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Leicester
Ruth Pelling
Affiliation:
Oxford University Museum
Tim Reynolds
Affiliation:
Cambridgeshire County Council
David Thomas
Affiliation:
MacDonald Institute, University of Cambridge
Andrew I. Wilson
Affiliation:
Magdalen College, Oxford
Kevin White
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Reading
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Abstract

This report summarises the work of the third season of the Fezzan project which took place in January 1999. The main environmental findings of the project team of specialist geographers are providing confirmation of dramatic climatic and environmental change over the last 100,000 years and give more precise dates for some of these changes. The excavations in Old Germa (ancient Garama) have continued through Islamic levels, with elements of five main phases of buildings now having been recorded. Additional standing structures, including one of Germa's main mosques, have been surveyed. Field survey around Germa has revealed further new settlement sites of prehistoric, Garamantian and Islamic date. Of particular importance is a series of lithic and pottery scatters relating to neolithic occupation along the edge of the Ubari Sand Sea, to the north of Germa. Further investigation of the irrigation channels (foggaras) has revealed significant new information about their size, construction and probable date. The report concludes with a brief preliminary analysis of changing settlement patterns over time.

Information

Type
Archaeological Reports
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 30 , 1999, pp. 129 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1999

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