Alice Leplongeon

Preliminary abstract: The end of the Pleistocene (~75-15ka) is a key period for the Nile Valley prehistory. The global shift to more arid conditions regionally translates into the expansion of the Sahara, the lowering of the sea level and the desiccation of some major eastern African lakes. This has important consequences on the behaviour of the Nile, its role as an ecological refugium, and on human populations living in its vicinity. During this period, genetic studies suggest that several dispersals of modern humans ‘out-of’ and ‘back-into’ Africa took place. Although the Nile Valley constitutes one of the possible routes for these dispersals, archaeological evidence for contacts between the Nile Valley and its neighbouring regions remains scarce and debated. This three-day workshop aims to bring together leading authorities in all fields (archaeology, geology, palaeoenvironments, zooarchaeology, genetics, palaeoanthropology) of the prehistory of Northeastern Africa and neighbouring regions. This meeting would be the first of its kind and intends to promote interdisciplinary discussions leading to possible collaborations. Participants will discuss and address broad-scale topics such as human responses to changes in their environment, human occupation of the Nile Valley and adjacent deserts and the role of Northeastern Africa in modern human dispersals.