Palaeoenvironments and landscape diversity in Egypt during the Last Interglacial and its implications on the dispersal of Homo sapiens

The Last Interglacial period is important for the spread of humans from Africa to Eurasia. Significant wetter climatic conditions allowed humans to live in the present-day arid landscape in Northeastern Africa. However, not only the environment but also other parameters, such as the topography and the availability of good raw material sources, impact past human behaviour. Our mapping with the integration of archaeological sites and environmental archives clarifies regional differences and similarities across Egypt. The Eastern Desert is characterized by a small structured landscape with an above-average occurrence of eligible raw material and it differs from the more homogeneous landscape of the Western Desert with its large palaeo-lakes. The given map allows a more distinct evaluation of regional variabilities for Out-of-Africa’s northern migration route as a complex intermediate scale between a global and local approach to human-environment relations.

末次间冰期（Last Interglacial period）对于人类从非洲向欧亚大陆的扩散具有关键意义。彼时显著偏湿润的气候条件，使得人类得以在现今非洲东北部的干旱地貌中定居。然而，除环境因素外，地形、优质原材料可获取性等其他参数也会对古人类行为产生影响。我们整合考古遗址与环境记录所开展的制图工作，厘清了埃及全境的区域差异与共性。东部沙漠以规模较小且结构清晰的地貌为特征，同时优质可利用原材料的出现频率高于平均水平；这与拥有大型古湖泊、地貌更为均质的西部沙漠截然不同。本研究提供的地图，能够更为清晰地评估“走出非洲”北部迁徙路线的区域变异情况——该研究尺度介于探讨人地关系的全球视角与局部视角之间，属于复杂的中间尺度。