Jebel Akhdar Area (Haua Fteah, Hagfet ed Dabba, Hagfet et Tera), Libya

Jebel Akhdar is a mountain range in Cyrenaica, northeastern Libya, which lies between the Mediterranean coast to the north and the Sahara to the south. While Cyrenaica is located within a generally arid belt, Jebel Akhdar receives relatively high precipitation, forming a fertile zone. Archaeological research in the region began in the early 1900s. McBurney first explored the littoral east of Tripoli, Libya’s capital, during his military service in 1942-43. He then led the Cambridge Expeditions, which operated in 1947 and 1948, and finally focused on excavations in the Haua Fteah cave in the early 1950s. Renewed investigations by the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project were launched by Barker in 2007 and continued until 2015. Two other nearby caves, Hagfet ed Dabba and Hagfet et Tera, revealed Stone Age remains. Hagfet ed Dabba was discovered in 1947 by the Cambridge Expeditions and was reinvestigated in 2008 by the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project. Hagfet et Tera was discovered in 1937 by Petrocchi and investigated in 1948 by the Cambridge Expeditions. In addition, surveys in the jebel and the adjacent littoral, pre-desert, and desert zones revealed a further 85 Pleistocene sites, which include rare Acheulean occurrences, with widely distributed Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) assemblages.