Aïn Hanech
Interactive map of Ain El-Hanech | |
| Alternative name | The Source of the Serpent |
|---|---|
| Location | Algeria |
| Region | Sétif Province |
| Coordinates | 36°12′14″N 5°39′10″E / 36.20389°N 5.65278°E |
| History | |
| Periods | Early Pleistocene |
The prehistoric site of Aïn El-Hanech (also The Serpent’s Spring) is a former lake situated in the commune of Guelta Zerka, approximately 7 kilometers northwest of El Eulma, in the Sétif Province of Algeria.[1]
History
The Aïn El-Hanech site was discovered in 1947 by French paleoanthropologist Camille Arambourg (1885–1969) during his research on continental deposits in the Sétif region.[1] Fossils found at the site have been dated to approximately 2.4 million years ago.[2][3]
Description
The site has produced fossilized remains of Lower Pleistocene animals, associated with an Oldowan-type pebble industry.[4] The paleofauna includes elephants, equids, bovids, suids, hippopotamuses, and rhinoceroses.[5] The worked pebbles consist of polyhedrons, subspheroids, and faceted spheroids similar to those from the Olduvai sites in Tanzania.[6] They were found in a layer dated by paleomagnetism to approximately 1.8 million years ago[1][2] and represent tools shaped through rudimentary flaking.
Paleoenvironment
The remains of flora and fauna indicate an environment of alluvial plains and open savanna, with C3-type vegetation similar to that of present-day Mediterranean regions.[7]
The site suggests seasonal occupation along the shores of an ancient lake, which provided raw materials such as limestone pebbles and flint nodules for toolmaking, as well as opportunities for hunting animals attracted to the water.[1]
Analysis
Although no human fossils have been discovered at the site, the antiquity of the Aïn El-Hanech deposit provides evidence of the early presence of hominins in North Africa at least 1.8 million years ago.[8]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Le gisement oldowayen d'Aïn El-Hanech" [The Oldowan site at Ain El-Hanech]. Setif (in French). Retrieved November 11, 2025.
- ^ a b Sahnouni, Mohamed (2023). "Ain Boucherit-Ain Hanech, Algeria". Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa. Springer International Publishing. pp. 43–64. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-20290-2_2. ISBN 978-3-031-20289-6.
- ^ "1.9 million and 2.4 million-year-old artefacts and stone tool cutmarked bones from Ain Boucherit, Algeria" [1.9 million and 2.4 million-year-old artifacts and stone tool cutmarked bones from Ain Boucherit, Algeria]. Iphes (in French). Retrieved November 11, 2025.: "Continued research at Ain Hanech (Sétif, Algeria) over the past two decades has expanded the geographic range of early hominin settlement in North Africa, also pushing back the evidence for ancestral hominin fashioning of stone tools and carnivore to 2.4 million years ago (Ma)."
- ^ Duval, Mathieu (2023). "On the age of Ain Hanech Oldowan locality (Algeria): First numerical dating results". Journal of Human Evolution. 180 103371. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103371. PMID 37178466. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
- ^ Chaid Saoudi, Yasmina (2012). "Contribution à la connaissance des faunes préhistoriques d'Algérie" [Contribution to the knowledge of prehistoric fauna in Algeria]. Ikosim (in French): 7–23. doi:10.3917/ikos.001.0007. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
- ^ Leakey, M. D. (1971). Olduvai Gorge: Volume 3, Excavations in Beds I and II, 1960-1963. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521077231.
- ^ Sahnouni, Mohamed (2004). "On the earliest human occupation in North Africa: a response to Geraads et al". Journal of Human Evolution. 46 (6): 763–775. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.04.003. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
- ^ Aumassip, Ginette (2001). L'Algérie des premiers hommes [Algeria of the first humans] (in French). Paris: Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme. pp. 37–44. ISBN 978-2-7351-0932-6. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
External links
- "À la recherche des os de l'homme préhistorique" [In search of prehistoric human bones]. El-Eulma.com (in French). Archived from the original on March 11, 2012.
- "L'Algérie, l'autre berceau de l'Humanité ?" [Algeria, the other cradle of humanity?]. cnews.fr (in French). 30 November 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2025.