Work

Mid-Holocene climate and high-elevation environments during the Later Stone Age occupations of Beefa Cave (Melka Kunture, Upper Awash, Ethiopia)

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This study presents stable carbon and oxygen isotope data from bovid tooth enamel recovered from level 1 of Beefa Cave (∼5 ka), a Later Stone Age site located at 2000–2200 m a.s.l. within the Melka Kunture complex on the Ethiopian highlands. Bulk and intra-tooth sequential samples on bovid teeth were used to reconstruct the diet, vegetation structure, and seasonal hydroclimatic variability. Carbon isotope values indicate a strong reliance on C 4 grasses, while pronounced intra-tooth oxygen values oscillations document marked seasonal variability in water availability during enamel mineralization. Compared with the Early and Middle Pleistocene isotopic records from Melka Kunture, the mid-Holocene specimens exhibit substantially higher carbon and oxygen values, reflecting a long-term shift from wetter, mixed C 3 -C 4 environments to more open, seasonally dry high-elevation landscapes. Comparisons with contemporaneous sites in Africa further highlight pronounced spatial heterogeneity in environmental responses at ∼5 ka. These results provide new insights into Holocene ecological reorganization of the Ethiopian highlands and the environmental contexts of Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer occupations.

Source: Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105637

Authors: Giuseppe Briatico, Haregwine Hailu, Denis Geraads, Margherita Mussi, Rita T. Melis, Giuseppina Mutri