NEW DISCOVERIES IN THE LAND OF THE GARAMANTES: ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF LIBYAN SAHARA
NEW DISCOVERIES IN THE LAND OF THE GARAMANTES: ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF LIBYAN SAHARA

Summary/Abstract: The Sahara, the largest desert in the world, is presently an area with a hyper-arid climate, where the survival of human communities is made possible by a delicate and clever system of adaptation by these communities to the local resources and to the environmental characteristics of the area. In the common image, generated in the past by the reports of travellers but today further disseminated by a growing presence of cultural and adventure touring, the desert is (or better was, before the recent interventions of roads, communication and productive structures, and by the oil prospecting) a stretch of sand dunes and mountains, where human life and activity concentrates in two characteristic features: the oasis and the caravan. The presence of oases with intensive horticulture is made possible by the arrangement of hydraulic structures (wells, underground canals) and by the cultivation of date palms, and provides the food sustenance of the human groups. The caravan is made possible by the use of the domesticated camel (the dromedary), and gives access to areas with differentiated resources, providing a consistent commercial profit.

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