Geochemical characterisation of lithic raw materials

Due to their inorganic nature, lithic artefacts are the class of objects produced by prehistoric human societies that are more easily preserved over time. The study of lithic artefacts can shed light on various aspects of the past, from the technological and cultural characteristics of a society to its ways of interacting and adapting to the environment. The acquisition of raw materials plays a key role in reconstructing the movements of human groups, their management of geographical space, their relations with neighbouring human groups and their socio- economic organisation. The occupation of the Jebel Gharbi-Nefusa was certainly partly determined by the presence of water sources, which thanks to the presence of important tectonic phenomena, were active even during the driest periods (Garcea & Giraudi 2006). However, the continuity of human use, evidenced by the presence of numerous sites during such periods, can also be related to the homogeneous distribution of good-quality lithic raw materials. The association of perennial water resources and outcrops of good quality lithic raw material are also constant characteristics in other areas of North Africa, inhabited during the final Pleistocene. It can therefore be assumed that the difficult climatic conditions made it necessary for human groups to limit their movements and favour particularly suitable ecological niches within a regime of reduced mobility (Mutri 2022). The provenance of a raw material can be identified by comparing the geochemical characteristics of lithic artefacts with those of potential sources located within a reasonable distance. This distance varies according to time period, environmental and climatic conditions, and the skills of the human group involved.