Haua Fteah
 Location in Libya
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| Coordinates | 32°53′59″N 22°03′05″E / 32.89972°N 22.05139°ECoordinates: 32°53′59″N 22°03′05″E / 32.89972°N 22.05139°E |
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| Altitude | 67 m (220 ft) |
| History | |
| Material | karst cave |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Charles McBurney, Graeme Barker |
Haua Fteah is a large karstic cave located in the Cyrenaica in northeastern Libya. This site is significant for research on African archaeological history and modern human prehistory as it was occupied during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, the Mesolithic and the Neolithic Traces of modern human presence in the cave date back to 200,000 BP as it shelters human inhabitants to this day.
The term ‘haua’ describes a typical cave structure of the local coastal area, which has been formed in its present shape by erosion processes of the sea during the early stage of the .
Haua Fteah is 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the coast and found near the northern side of the plateau at the base of the Jebel Akhdar (or Green Mountain). The entrance to this natural cave faces north towards the Mediterranean sea.
Haua Fteah is 50 metres (160 ft) high by 20 metres (66 ft) wide on the north entrance with an 80 metres (260 ft) span on the interior roofed portion of the cave.
The horizontal stratigraphic layers are defined by the types of sediment contained in each layer and is supported by using radiocarbon dating techniques.
The geological time scale at Haua Fteah shows major climatic changes that occurred during the . During the final stage of the Riss-Wurm interglacial period the shoreline was six meters above the present sea level. The second major stage is that in which the sea level was twenty meters below current sea level.
A few questions that the CPP aims to answer include, "When did anatomically modern humans first arrive on Africa's northern shores? How did they and earlier populations deal with the effects of profound and often abrupt climatic change? Was `behavioral modernity' critical to their successful colonization of North Africa? When, how, and why did farming develop in the Holocene?" as outlined by Cambridge University.
From 2007 through 2013 there has been 7 completed excavation seasons by the CPP.
The investigation of this site was started in 1951 in a sounding trench on the western side of the cave, which was 10 x 10 x 2 meters deep. In 1952, the second sounding trench was excavated horizontally atop the first trench that was 7 x 6 x 5.5 meters deep. Finally a deep sounding trench that was 3.8 X1.6 X 6.5 meters deep was excavated which gave the total excavation depth to be 14 meters deep.
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