Abbassia Pluvial
Encyclopedia
The Abbassia Pluvial was an extended wet and rainy period in the climate
history of North Africa
. It began c. 120,000 years before the present (ybp
), lasted approximately 30,000 years, and ended c. 90,000 ybp. The Abbassia Pluvial
spanned the end of the Lower Paleolithic
and the start of the Middle Paleolithic
eras — an interval that is also sometimes identified as the Achulean (250–90 kybp). As with the subsequent Mousterian Pluvial, the Abbassia was brought about by global climate changes associated with the ice ages
and interglacials
of the Pleistocene Epoch.
that followed (c. 50–30 kybp), the Abbassia Pluvial brought wet and fertile conditions to what is now the Sahara Desert, which bloomed with lush vegetation fed by lakes, swamps, and river systems, many of which later disappeared in the drier climate that followed the pluvial. African wiIdllife now associated with the grasslands and woodlands south of the Sahara penetrated the entire North African region during the Abbassia Pluvial.
and Aterian
Industries
— flourished in Africa during the Abbassia Pluvial. The shift to harsher climate conditions that came with the end of the pluvial promoted the emigration of modern Homo sapiens out of Africa and over the rest of the globe.
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
history of North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. It began c. 120,000 years before the present (ybp
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
), lasted approximately 30,000 years, and ended c. 90,000 ybp. The Abbassia Pluvial
Pluvial
In geology and climatology, a pluvial was an extended period of abundant rainfall lasting many thousands of years. Pluvial is also applied to the sediments of these periods . The term is especially applied to such periods during the Pleistocene Epoch...
spanned the end of the Lower Paleolithic
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...
and the start of the Middle Paleolithic
Middle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology. The Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age...
eras — an interval that is also sometimes identified as the Achulean (250–90 kybp). As with the subsequent Mousterian Pluvial, the Abbassia was brought about by global climate changes associated with the ice ages
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
and interglacials
Interglacial
An Interglacial period is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age...
of the Pleistocene Epoch.
Ecological impact
As with the Mousterian PluvialMousterian Pluvial
The Mousterian Pluvial was an extended wet and rainy period in the climate history of North Africa. It occurred during the Upper Paleolithic era, beginning around 50,000 years before the present , lasting 20,000 years, and ending around 30,000 ybp .During the Mousterian Pluvial, the now-desiccated...
that followed (c. 50–30 kybp), the Abbassia Pluvial brought wet and fertile conditions to what is now the Sahara Desert, which bloomed with lush vegetation fed by lakes, swamps, and river systems, many of which later disappeared in the drier climate that followed the pluvial. African wiIdllife now associated with the grasslands and woodlands south of the Sahara penetrated the entire North African region during the Abbassia Pluvial.
Cultures
Human stone age cultures — notably the MousterianMousterian
Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age.-Naming:...
and Aterian
Aterian
The Aterian industry is a name given by archaeologists to a type of stone tool manufacturing dating to the Middle Stone Age in the region around the Atlas Mountains and the northern Sahara, it refers the site of Bir el Ater, south of Annaba.The industry was probably created by modern humans ,...
Industries
Archaeological industry
An archaeological industry, normally just "industry", is the name given in the study of prehistory to a consistent range of assemblages connected with a single product, such as the Langdale axe industry...
— flourished in Africa during the Abbassia Pluvial. The shift to harsher climate conditions that came with the end of the pluvial promoted the emigration of modern Homo sapiens out of Africa and over the rest of the globe.