MULTIDISCIPLINARY ANALYSIS OF THE PLANT RECORDS FROM THE HOLOCENE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF TAKARKORI (SOUTH-WESTERN LIBYA)

In central Saharan massifs stratigraphic sequences of great archaeological and biological relevance, which represent a precious archive for palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental investigations, are well preserved. Takarkori (S-W Libya) is considered representative of the Saharan rock shelters, being one of the few sites preserving the transition from hunter-gatherer subsistence to food production [1]. The rock shelter was excavated by the Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Acacus and Messak (central Sahara), under the direction of S. di Lernia. It exposes a surface of ca. 140 m2 in extent and 1,6 m in depth. Chronology ranges from ca. 10,200 to ca. 4,600 cal yr BP [2]. Pollen analysis from the sediments of the archaeological site gives essential information about the environmental conditions during the Early and Middle Holocene and the adaptive strategies of human groups living in the area [1]. Pollen analysis shows a prevalent presence of Poaceae whose discrimination at species level is critical to understand the role of grasses collected for food, or fodder, by the dwellings of the area. Therefore, the pollen analyses were integrated with other archaeobotanical studies including plant macroremains and molecular analyses. Morphological and molecular analysis of Panicum and Sorghum spp. spikelets were carried out; they are witness of wild cereals living near the site. The domestication status and interactions with humans may be investigated, for example, through barcoding ancient DNA (aDNA) [3]. We developed an optimised method for DNA extraction from ancient dried spikelets, and ad hoc primer sets were designed. The core-barcode identified by the Consortium for the Barcoding of Life (CBOL) Plant Working group, consisting of portions of the plastid regions rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA and trnL [4] was used as reference. Bioinformatic analysis of the results is in progress and will allow a better taxonomic identification of these African wild cereals remains.