Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34

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Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / p a l a e o

Pleistocene environments and human presence in the middle Atbara valley

(Khashm El Girba, Eastern Sudan)
Ernesto Abbate a,⁎, Andrea Albianelli a, Amel Awad b, Paolo Billi c, Piero Bruni a, Massimo Delfino a,
Marco P. Ferretti a, Omar Filippi d, Gianni Gallai a, Massimiliano Ghinassi e, Stein-Erik Lauritzen f,
Domenico Lo Vetro d, Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro g, Fabio Martini d, Giovanni Napoleone a, Omar Bedri h,
Mauro Papini a, Lorenzo Rook a, Mario Sagri a
a
Department of Earth Sciences, Florence University, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Florence, Italy
b
National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Sudan Ministry of Culture and Tourism, P.O.B. 178, Khartoum 11115, Sudan
c
Department of Earth Sciences, Ferrara University, Via Saragat 1, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
d
Department of Antiquity Sciences, Florence University, Piazza Brunelleschi 3-4, 50121 Florence, Italy
e
Department of Geosciences, Padova University, Via Giotto 1, 35137 Padova, Italy
f
Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allegaten 41, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
g
ICREA, IPHES, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Pl. Imperial Tarraco 1, 43005 Tarragona, Spain
h
Department of Geology, Khartoum University, P.O.B: 321, Khartoum 11115, Sudan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A 50 m thick Pleistocene fluvial succession is extensively exposed in the karib (badlands) area along the Atbara
Received 22 August 2008 river from Khashm El Girba to Halfa Al Jadida. Through a widespread major unconformity this succession has
Received in revised form 15 February 2010 been subdivided into the Butana Bridge Synthem (BBS) and Khashm El Girba Synthem (KGS). In the latter
Accepted 10 March 2010
minor unconformities mark the boundaries between KGS1, KGS2 and KGS3 subsynthems. The BBS is 10 m
Available online 17 March 2010
thick, starts with braided stream gravel and terminates with high-sinuosity river sand. An intermediate silty
interval with a well-developed calcrete marks a period of reduced clastic input and morphological stability. The
Keywords:
Pleistocene fluvial system
BBS yielded vertebrate remains and many Acheulean artefacts and was deposited from the late Early
Acheulean artefacts Pleistocene to the early Middle Pleistocene. After a gap of some hundred thousand years the sedimentary
Pleistocene mammals record continues with 40 m thick KGS fluvial deposits. They are quite diversified and include sands from
Hominin dispersal meandering rivers (KGS1) abruptly interrupted by braided river deposits that evolve to sinuous river sands
U–Th datings (KGS2), and, finally, from braided river pebbly sands to sheet flows (KGS3). The KGS yielded abundant
Eastern Sudan vertebrate remains and late Acheulean to Middle Stone Age artefacts. Mollusc patch reefs with stromatolitic
coatings at the base of the KGS2 and KGS3 gave U/Th ages of 126.1 kyr +/− 1.0 kyr and 92.2 kyr +/− 0.7 kyr,
respectively. These datings, together with fossil assemblages, and artefacts indicate a late Middle Pleistocene to
Late Pleistocene age for the KGS. The entire succession makes a northward (Goz Regeb area) transition into
fluvio-lacustrine deposits related to the “Atbara palaeolake”. Through palaeohydrological analyses bankfull
discharges have been estimated in some KGS1 and KGS2 fluvial channels. They resulted into one order of
magnitude less than the present-day Atbara river. The variations in fluvial style and discharge were connected
with climatic changes, river network modifications induced by tectonics, and palaeolake Atbara level
variations. Due to defined time constrains, the climate changes recorded in the KGS are matched with the
Pleistocene Marine Isotope Stages (MIS). The KGS1 meandering rivers can be referred to the MIS 7 wet period,
and the episodes of increasing rainfall in KGS2 and KGS3 to the Eemian MIS 5.5 and MIS 5.3 followed by arid
conditions (MIS 4?). Despite fossils and facies indicate environmental changes from arid savannah during the
BBS to grassland with water pools during the KGS, the Atbara valley was always favourable to human
settlement. Our study allowed to reconstruct, although discontinuously, the environments and the occurrence
of human presence from the late Early Pleistocene to the Holocene. During this period hominins on their way
from East Africa to Eurasia found abundant faunas and more or less perennial streams in the Atbara valley.
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 055 2757527; fax: +39 055 218628. There is a general agreement among palaeoanthropologists that
E-mail address: abbate@unifi.it (E. Abbate). the Homo homeland was in Africa with later dispersal to Eurasia

0031-0182/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.03.022
 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34
Fig. 1. Maps of the study area. (A) Location map. (B) Structural scheme, modified after GRAS and Robertson (1995). (C) General geological map, modified after GRAS (2004) map.
(D) Location of Fig. 2 map.
through the Nile valley and Levantine corridor, and/or through the
Bab El Mandab Straits with a northward dispersion across the Arabian
peninsula (Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen, 2001; Petraglia, 2003;
Dunnell and Roebroeks, 2005) (Fig. 1A). As to the timing of dispersal,
Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen (2001) assume at least three waves,
around 1.8–1.6, 1.4 and 0.8 Ma. The late (0.8 Ma) dispersal can be put
in relation with the one-million-year-old Homo found by the present
authors (Abbate et al., 1998, 2004; Martini et al., 2004; Bondioli et al.,
2006) at Buia (Eritrean Dankalia, Fig. 1A). Buia is the northernmost
site in the East Africa rift quite far from documented circummedi-
terranean localities of human occurrence (review in McBrearty and
Brooks, 2000; Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen, 2001). In the attempt of
filling this hiatus our investigations moved from Eritrea into the
Sudanese hinterland (Fig. 1A). Following anticipatory reports by
Arkell (1949) and successive thorough investigations in the Khashm
El Girba area by Chmielewski (1987), our study focused on the
Pleistocene continental deposits along the middle Atbara valley
(Fig. 2). During our 2005 to 2008 field campaigns this region proved
to be particularly promising owing to its fossil and artefact abundance
at various stratigraphical levels.
2. General setting
The study area is located between Khashm El Girba and Halfa Al
Jadida along the middle Atbara river (Fig. 1C). This river originates
from the western slopes of the Northern Ethiopian plateau close to
Lake Tana and flows into the Nile 300 km downstream of Khartoum
(Fig. 1C). In its middle reach it runs towards NNW on a wide flat plain
13
200 km wide and 400 km long covered by Neogene to Quaternary
continental deposits (prevailingly Umm Ruwaba Formation, White-
man, 1971; GRAS, 2004) (Fig. 1C). To the SE (Kassala area) the Atbara
plain merges into the very large (40 km wide and 120 km long)
terminal fan of the Gash river (Abdullatif, 1989) which runs at the
foot of the Red Sea Hills. The Atbara plain is bounded by the El Awad
Hills and by the Red Sea Hills on the west and east side, respectively,
with the former being the watershed divide between the Atbara and
Blue Nile valleys (Fig. 1C). They consist mainly of Precambrian
basement capped by Cretaceous Nubian sandstones and Tertiary
basalts (Whiteman, 1971) (Fig. 1C).
The rectangular NNW trending shape of the middle Atbara valley
recalls that of the Blue Nile, White Nile and South Sudan Rift (Melut
and Muglad) faulted basins (Schull, 1988) (Fig. 1B). The development
of these basins started since the Mesozoic in connection with the
dextral ENE–WSW trending Central African Shear Zone (Browne and
Fairhead, 1983). A structural map in GRAS and Robertson (1995)
shows, in fact, a faulted basin (Gash River basin) physiographically
corresponding to the Atbara and Gash valleys (Fig. 1B). An important
NNW trending normal fault (Hudi–Atbara fault) crosses longitudi-
nally the Atbara plain, and a similar fault (Gash fault) bounds the Gash
river basin of GRAS and Robertson (1995) (Fig. 1C).
To the SW side of the Atbara valley palaeogeographic maps by
Lawson (1927) and Ball (1939) show a vast Pleistocene lake (Lake
Sudd, firstly hypothesized by Lombardini, 1869) in the Upper Nile,
Bahr al Gazal and Equatoria provinces and up to the White/Blue Nile
confluence. Whiteman (1971) agrees with the occurrence of a lake of
sensibly smaller size that “could have been dammed back against” a
14 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34

Fig. 2. Geological map of the Khashm El Girba area, (D in Fig. 1C) with the locations of the archaeological sites and of the stratigraphical logs of Fig. 3.

basement ridge northeast of Khartoum. Williams et al. (2003) palaeolake, as wide as 70 km and more than 500 km long, since c.
recognize palaeolake shorelines and lacustrine deposits along the 400 kyr. In their reconstruction the swampy areas south of Malakal
White Nile valley south of Khartoum, and hypothesize a White Nile replace the lake Sudd assumed by the previous authors.
 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34
Fig. 3. Stratigraphical logs (for location see Fig. 2). (A) Logs measured along the Atbara
banks, arranged from south to north. (B) Logs measured along an unnamed right tributary
of the Atbara in front of the Mushra Marmadeb region, with projected log 042, arranged
from west to east. The logs show a remarkable variation of the BBS and KGS1 thickness.
3. Methods
Stratigraphical, sedimentological, morphological, palaeohydrological,
palaeontological, radiometrical, magnetostratigraphical and archaeolog-
ical data collected through field surveys, satellite image and laboratory
analyses were assembled and processed.
Unconformity Bounded Stratigraphical Units (UBSU, Salvador,
1994), such as synthems and subsynthems were recognized and
mapped (Figs. 2, 3, 4). Sedimentological data were collected following
the facies analysis criteria (Nemec, 1996) through measurements of
detailed logs and line drawing interpretation. The structures of the
study area and their influence on the river network were obtained
from regional data, and field and satellite image observations. The
palaeohydrological data were deduced from channel geometry,
channel lag gravel grain size, pebble imbrication and lithology.
Particle sampling for grain size, palaeoflow direction and lithological
analyses as well as bankfull discharge estimates were carried out.
Palaeontological investigations focused on taxonomy and biostra-
tigraphy. The locations of fossil vertebrates have been GPS recorded
(WGS84 reference system). The study has been qualitative (descriptive
morphology and external anatomy) and quantitative (biometry, with
standard osteometric measurements). Fossils are kept at the Geology
Department, Khartoum University.
Artefacts were collected and analyzed by conventional methods.
An archaeological excavation was dug in the left bank of the Atbara
river at site 047 (Fig. 2).
15
U/Th datings of mollusc shells were performed by Thermal
Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) at the U-Series Laboratory of the
Department of Earth Sciences of the Bergen University, Norway. After
conventional chemical preparation, mass abundance of U and Th
isotopes was measured against a mixed 236U–233U–229Th spike. Ages
were calculated with the aid of the TIMS-Age 4U2U Program and
corrected for the Thorium detrital content assuming an initial 230Th–232
Th ratio of 1.5.
Samples for palaeomagnetic analyses were processed at the
palaeomagnetic laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technol-
ogy (ETH), Zurich. Analyses included polarities at the NRM stage, AC
demagnetization, thermal demagnetization.
4. Stratigraphy
The banks of the Atbara river from Khashm El Girba to Halfa Al Jadida
expose a c. 50 m thick Pleistocene fluvial succession where detailed
analyses have been carried out through twenty logs correlated along of
the Atbara and its major tributaries banks for 30 km (Figs. 2, 3). An
erosional unconformity, traceable at distance, allows to map the Butana
Bridge Synthem (BBS) and the overlying Khashm El Girba Synthem
(KGS). In the latter minor unconformities mark the boundaries between
three subsynthems: Khashm El Girba 1 (KGS1), Khashm El Girba 2
(KGS2) and Khashm El Girba 3 (KGS3) subsynthems (Fig. 4).
The KGS is overlain by thin alluvial and colluvial pebbly sand (“ac”
in Fig. 2) containing Late Stone Age artefacts and pottery (Chmie-
lewski, 1987). At distance from the Atbara, a well-developed black soil
(vertisol or “cotton soil”) extensively covers these sediments. Few
metres above the modern fluvial channels coarse-grained terraced
deposits (“t” in Fig. 2), with lithic implements (Chmielewski, 1987)
and tumuli graves, occur.
4.1. Butana Bridge Synthem (BBS)
This unit is well exposed close to the Butana railway bridge (Fig. 2),
and the Tertiary basalts are its only visible substratum. It is as much as
10 m thick and pinches out to the east where the KGS1 rests directly
on the basalts (site 050, Fig. 3). The BBS is made of three stacked
intervals (from the base, “i” to “iii”) arranged in a fining-upward trend
(Fig. 5) and records the onset and evolution of a fluvial network.
The i interval, up to 3 m thick, consists of amalgamated gravelly
channels (Fig. 6A) with a multi-storey and multilaterally internal
architecture. The channels are up to 2.5–3.8 m thick and 38–60 m wide,
and show a symmetric cross-section. They are floored by 20–30 cm
thick clast-supported well-rounded cobbly interval where clasts show
an a(t) b(i) tractional fabric. Channel fill is made of horizontal and planar
cross-bedded pebbles and cobbles with open-framework to clast-
supported texture, well-sorted sandy matrix, and tractional imbrication.
Horizontal bedded deposits form coarsening-upward packages up to
70 cm thick. Cross-bedded units are up to 1 m thick and contain beds
dipping 10°–15° transverse to the channel axis. Pebbles derive from
Tertiary basalts (65%) and, subordinately (22%), from the Precambrian
basement (quartzite, rhyolite and granite) and cherts of the Eocene Hudi
Formation (12%). The sedimentary features of this gravelly interval
point to a braided system (Miall, 1996; Bridge, 2003) with longitudinal
bars (plane parallel-bedded gravels, Nemec and Postma, 1993; Miall,
1996), and lateral accretion of side bars (low-angle cross-bedded
gravels, Lewin, 1976; Bridge, 1993, 2003) (Fig. 6B).
The ii interval (Fig. 6C) is up to 5 m thick and consists mainly of
yellow to reddish pedogenized massive silt with Mn nodules and sparse
caliches. Five samples for palaeomagnetic analyses gave a constant
normal polarity (log 047 in Fig. 5; see also the Chronology paragraph).
Gravelly sand lenses are also present in the lower portion of the ii
interval. They are single-storey amalgamated channels with both
symmetric and asymmetric profiles. These channels, 1.5–2 m thick
and 10–12 m wide, are floored by imbricated pebbles and cobbles,
16 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34
Fig. 4. Composite stratigraphic section of the Butana Bridge (BBS) and Khashm El Girba (KGS) synthems with artefacts and fossils distribution, interval sampled for palaeomagnetism
(see also Fig. 5), bivalve U/Th datings and correlation with Marine Isotope Stages (MIS).
which are in turn covered by planar cross-bedded pebbly sand dipping
10°–15° transverse to the channel axis. Tabular, 10 to 20 cm thick, sandy
beds with ripple lamination occur in this interval sporadically. In the
median portion a well-developed and continuous calcrete is intercalat-
ed. It consists of a basal 20 cm thick nodular horizon, an intermediate
25 cm thick crude laminar horizon, and an upper 15 cm thick hardpan
(Fig. 7E). The channels of the lower portion of the ii interval are
dominated by side bars deposits (Bridge, 1993, 2003). The presence of
fining-upward units along with an asymmetric profile of channel cross-
section (Allen et al., 1983; Miall, 1985) suggests a transition to a lower
braiding index (e.g. Rust, 1978; Friend and Sinha, 1993) and a gentle
increase in channel sinuosity. The calcrete horizons indicate periods of
reduced flood plain deposition and morphological stability (Catt, 1990;
Alonso-Zarza, 2003).
The iii interval (Fig. 6D) is about 2–3 m thick and consists of sand
and pedogenized sandy silt. Sandy deposits form 1–2 m thick
channelized bodies. They show an epsilon cross-bedding (Fig. 6D)
and a fining-upward trend from pebble to very fine sand. Tabular
sandy beds, 10–50 cm thick, locally occur within the silty deposits.
These beds are amalgamated and show both plane parallel- and ripple
(climbing) cross-stratification commonly masked by pedogenesis.
The channelized sand points to high-sinuosity channels (Bluck, 1971;
Miall, 1985), and the pedogenized mud to floodplain environment,
where tabular crevasse splays occurred.
Pebble imbrication and sedimentary structures indicate that the
fluvial system of the BBS was flowing northward (Fig. 4).
The BBS yielded a partially preserved skull of Elephas recki recki
(Fig. 8A) from the top of the basal pebbles (interval i), some Elephas
postcranial remains (humerus, femur, pelvis, and tusk fragment), a
maxillary bone with damaged teeth of Hippopotamus cf. gorgops, a
fragmentary mandible of a Girafidae indet., few remains of Bovidae
indet., and the carapace of Testudines indet. (Table 1). The Elephas
skull belongs to an adult animal with a strongly worn third molar in
use with a relatively low lamellar frequency (Fig. 8B).
4.1.1. Artefacts
In all studied outcrops the BBS proved to be particularly rich in
lithic industries with choppers, cores, retouched and unretouched
flakes and rare bifaces (Plate I). Stone tools are found as clasts in the
basal pebbly interval (Fig. 7A) and prevailingly in the middle to upper
portion of the yellow to reddish silt (interval ii). The raw material
utilized is mainly chert from the Hudi Formation. Abundant lithic
assemblages come from 047 (Fig. 7C, D) and 055 sites, and sparse
implements from site 019 and 014. Table 2 reports the typologies of
103 artefacts at site 047 where an archaeological survey covering
4300 sqm and a 10 m2 excavation has been carried out.
Abraded and heavily abraded artefacts come from the basal pebbles
of interval i and from the lenticular pebbly sand of interval ii, whereas
silty levels below the thick calcrete layer in the ii) interval yielded
unworn artefacts. In this level abundant flakes that in some cases can be
easily refitted, mark a surface with human activity traceable for some
tens of metres (Fig. 7C). In particular, the site 047 excavation, dug in the
silty levels, has revealed a palaeosurface with traces of tree trunks in life
position, together with twelve unretouched flakes. Eleven of them are
found close to each other, derive from the same core, and can be
considered in primary position or, at least, moderately displaced.
Typological groups are shown in Table 2. Bifaces (Plate I,1,2,4) are thick,
obtained with different degrees of accuracy, both with wide bifacial
 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34
Fig. 5. Sedimentological logs of the BBS at sites 045 and 047 with palaeomagnetic data
showing the normal polarity recorded in the collected samples (VGP=Virtual Geomagnetic
Pole). FU: fining-up trend.
scars reshaped by non-intrusive retouch, and with few rough scars.
Trihedral picks have also been found. Choppers (Plate I,3) and large and
flat primary flakes are abundant, as well as big cores with large few scars
obtained from cobbles and boulders, some of which may be considered
“giant cores” (Fig. 7B) (e.g. at site 052). It is worth noting the occurrence
of retouched flakes with accurate and, in some cases, bifacial retouch
(Plate I,5).
4.2. Khashm El Girba Synthem (KGS)
This unit, c. 40 m thick, is named after the Khashm El Girba town, and
consists of sand, silt, clay and subordinate gravel. It overlies the BBS
through a pronounced erosional surface (Figs. 4, 9A). It rests directly on
the Tertiary basalts at the Atbara/Girgif confluence, and on the Nubian
sandstones and Precambrian basement in the lower reaches of the Turk
wadi (Fig. 2). Minor unconformities within the KGS allow recognizing
the Khashm El Girba 1 to 3 subsynthems (Fig. 4).
4.2.1. Khashm El Girba 1 Subsynthem (KGS1)
The KGS1 varies in thickness from 5 to 15 m and is made of
multilaterally channelized sandy bodies (Fig. 9B, C) up to 6 m thick
and 120 m wide, and characterized by an asymmetric profile. The
deeper part of the channels is floored with pebble and trough cross-
stratified coarse sand with strings of pebble and isolated mud clasts.
The pebbles are as much as 10 cm in size, and mainly derive from
basement rocks (55%, quartzite, granite, gabbro and rhyolite), basalts
17
(38%) and cherts of the Hudi Formation (8%). This coarse lag is
overlain by epsilon cross-bedded sand dipping up to 18° towards the
deepest part of the channel and showing a fining-upward trend
(Fig. 10A). Where the inclined beds are cut parallel to the strike, they
show a symmetric mounded profile with flanks dipping about 5°–10°.
Sandy beds are characterized by trough cross-stratification, plane
parallel-stratification and ripple cross-lamination. The local flow
direction was oblique to the dip of beds. Massive, muddy lensoid
units, up to 4–5 m thick and 50–60 m wide, can locally overlie the
inclined beds. In places, the upper part of the cross-bedded sand is cut
by small channels, up to 2.5 m deep and 4–5 m wide, filled with
chaotic sandy silt (Fig. 9C). The axis of these scours is oblique to the
cross-bed dip. The palaeoflow orientations of the KGS1 river system
are dispersed towards north, southwest and southeast (Fig. 4). The
sedimentary features of the KGS1 point to a high-sinuosity fluvial
system (Miall, 1996; Bridge, 2003) characterized by lateral accretion
of point bars (Allen, 1963; Bluck, 1971) and widely distributed
palaeocurrents. The lensoid muddy bodies are interpreted as due to
the fill of abandoned channels (oxbow lake deposits, Bluck, 1971,
1980) stemming out from suspension fall-out of mud in slough water.
The small channels at the top of cross-bedded sand represent chute
channels (Miall, 1996), which were cut during the main floods and
locally filled by bank collapse deposits.
Fossil vertebrates consist of fragmentary dental remains of an
elephant (E. recki recki vel Elephas iolensis), a tooth fragment of Equus
sp., and a few specimens of Hippopotamus amphibius (Plate II,1,2), as
well as remains of Crocodylus niloticus and a large sized Testudines
indet. (Table 1).
4.2.1.1. Artefacts. Also the KGS1 has yielded abundant lithic assem-
blages. 173 artefacts were mainly recovered from four sites (009, 019,
021 and 022) in a restricted area on the left bank of the Atbara (Plate III).
In all these sites it is possible to assess the same technotypological
characters and degrees of edge abrasion. The lithic categories were
plotted against the physical conditions (Table 3). Three classes can be
distinguished: a) not-abraded assemblages (well-preserved surfaces,
fresh edges, rare or absent pseudoretouches); b) scarcely abraded
assemblages (smoothed or unsmoothed surfaces, scarcely abraded
edges, with pseudoretouches); and c) heavily abraded assemblages
(smoothed surfaces, heavily abraded edges with pseudoretouches).
The KGS1 stone tools pertain to definitely heterogeneous com-
plexes. A relatively strong difference exists between the not-abraded
artefacts and those heavily abraded. The latter can be easily matched
with the BBS lithic industry (Plate III,2,6). In the not-abraded
assemblage particularly interesting are some cores with centripetal
scars, flaked by hierarchical bifacial planning of the surfaces. One is a
typical Levallois core (Plate III,4). Some flakes with faceted platforms
(Plate III,5) or centripetal scars are also present. Moreover, two bifaces
(cleavers) show an outstanding retouch accuracy (Plate III,1,7).
Among the KGS1 scarcely abraded assemblages incoherent elements,
such as a small, short-cordiform biface are present too (Plate III,3).
4.2.2. Khashm El Girba 2 Subsynthem (KGS2)
This unit, 10–12 m thick, consists of two intervals (Fig. 10).
i) The lower interval, 3 m thick, is made of whitish, deeply
amalgamated, medium- to coarse-grained, channelized sandy bodies,
1–1.5 m thick and 40–60 m wide, with scarce silt matrix. They consist of
tabular, up to 50 cm thick beds, with well-developed trough cross-
stratification (Fig. 11A) and subordinate plane parallel and planar cross-
stratification. Pebble lithology consists mainly of quartzite (28%), basalt
(17%) and gabbro (6%). 16% of the pebbles derives from quartz veins of
the basement and 21% are caliche particles. The upper surface of these
sandy bodies is draped by river oyster (Etheria) patch reefs, coated by
stromatolites and forming a lenticular key bed traceable up to 20 km
along the Atbara river banks (Fig. 11B). The shells, from 5 to 15 cm in
size, are in life position and build up mounded bodies up to 0.5 m in
18 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34

Fig. 6. The BBS outcrops along the left bank of the Atbara river. (A) Amalgamated gravelly channels in the interval i, site 052. (B) Gravelly channel lags and bars, interval i at site 052.
(C) The BBS interval ii at site 047, (see log 047 in Fig. 5); archaeological excavation carried out in the pedogenized silt (see also Fig. 7C, D). (D) The BBS interval iii, site 054: point bars
with epsilon cross-bedding truncated by coarse-grained Holocene terrace.

height and 1–1.5 m in diameter. The stromatolite coats, up to 5 mm developed from down current migration of dunes or, alternatively, bar
thick, are common on both molluscs and fluvial gravels (Fig. 11C, D). The units (Bridge, 2003; Reesink and Bridge, 2007) with a well-developed
features of this basal sandy interval indicate braiding shallow channels straight to sinuous avalanching front. The bivalve colonies formed in
with high lateral mobility (Miall, 1996). The cross-stratified tabular beds running clear waters during a phase of low sediment supply (Feibel,
 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34 19

Fig. 7. (A) Chopper in the pebbly basal interval i of BBS. (B) Giant cores from the BBS at site 052. (C) Reddish silt with abundant flakes (Table 2) on a wide settlement surface,
highlighted through an archaeological excavation, with close-up (D), site 047. (E) Well-developed calcrete horizon at the top of the yellow to reddish massive silts with root remains,
interval ii of the BBS, site 047, details in the text.

2003), probably promoted by a temporary drowning of the area. These
conditions were also favourable to the development of episodical
stromatolithic coats (Zamarreño et al., 1997).
ii) The upper interval, about 10 m thick, mainly consists of red
brownish silt bearing isolated channelized sandy bodies (Fig. 12A, B).
The silt is structure-less and includes abundant caliches. The sandy
channels, up to 4.5 m deep and 60 m wide, show a multi-storey
architecture and are characterized by laterally extensive “wings”
(sensu Bersier, 1958; Allen et al., 1983; Fig. 12B). Single storeys lack
significant vertical changes in grain size and are characterized by
cross-bedding with beds dipping up to 18° transverse to the channel
axis. The beds, 5–15 cm thick, are characterized by plane parallel-
stratification and ripple cross-lamination (Fig. 12C). In the lowermost
part of the channels, pebbly imbrication and sedimentary structures
indicate palaeoflows to the north (Fig. 4). The lateral wings are wedge
shaped, with a flat base and gently inclined top. They are up to 1 m
thick in the immediacy of the lensoid bodies, and pinch out laterally
within 80–100 m. They consist of bioturbated and caliche-rich very
fine sand and silt in tabular beds up to 5 cm thick. Sedimentary
structures are masked by worm and root bioturbation, but climbing
ripples and plane parallel-laminations can be locally recognized. One
of the major channels provided the parameters for the palaeohy-
drological analysis of this fluvial system. Isolated tabular lensoid sandy
bodies, up to 1.5 m thick and 60–80 m wide, can occur within the red
brownish silt. These deposits consist of bioturbated medium to very
fine sand with plane parallel-stratification and ripple (climbing)
cross-lamination. The isolated channels (ribbon-type channels, Friend,
1983) crossing a muddy flood plain are a peculiarity of this interval.
The well-developed wings are interpreted as levees (Allen et al., 1983;
Reesink and Bridge, 2007) pointing to a marked channel stability and
minimum rate of lateral migration. The channel fill cross-bedded sand
was generated by down current migration of side bars (Allen, 1963;
20 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34

Fig. 8. Elephas recki recki cranium from the BBS (collected at coordinates N 15°04′38″ – E 35°57′29″). (A) Ventral view of the cranium in situ, hammer for scale. (B) Left upper M3 in
occlusal view (anterior to the bottom), scale bar in centimetres.

Bluck, 1971). The shallow sandy lensoid bodies within the flood plain those of the KGS1 and BBS units. They consist of small flakes made of
mud represent crevasse splays deposits (Ethridge et al., 1981; Allen chert and quartzite, with frequent small blade components.
et al., 1983).

Most of the vertebrate fossils have been collected in the KGS2 4.2.3. Khashm El Girba 3 Subsynthem (KGS3)
(Table 1). They are mostly fragmentary and represent the following The 10 to 15 m thick KGS3 consists of two main intervals similar to
taxa: C. niloticus, E. recki recki vel E. iolensis, Elephantidae indet., H. those forming the KGS2.
amphibius, cf. Phacochoerus sp., Giraffa camelopardalis, cf. Tragelaphus i) The lower interval, 2–3 m thick, is made of light grey coarse-
angasii, Syncerus antiquus (Plate II,5–8), Taurotragus sp. (Plate II,3,4), grained pebbly sand (Figs. 10B, 12D). It consists of flat lensoid bodies,
Bovidae indet. Despite the mostly fragmentary nature of vertebrate 0.5–1.5 m thick and 40–50 m wide, showing numerous internal
remains, a partial skeleton of S. antiquus has been recovered from site erosional surfaces. The beds are 20–50 cm thick, with well-developed
AT006. (GPS coordinates N 15°02′31″ – E 35°58′19″). An Etheria shell planar- to trough cross-stratification and subordinate plane parallel-
from the patch reef near the base of the KGS2 (Fig. 11B) gave an U/Th stratification. Discontinuous pebbly strings occur at the base of these
age of 126.1 kyr +/− 1.0 kyr. beds. The pebble lithology consists mainly of basalt (41%), quartzite
(39%) and a noteworthy percentage of granite (10%). Etheria river
4.2.2.1. Artefacts. The few pieces collected along the left bank of the oysters have been found in this interval. Similarly to the basal part of
Atbara river have technotypological characters very different from the KGS2, this interval points to braiding channels (Miall, 1996) with
down current migrating dunes or bar units (Reesink and Bridge,
2007).
ii) The upper interval, about 15 m thick, mainly consists of massive
red brownish silt bearing abundant caliches. Isolated light grey sandy
lenses, up to 6 m thick, and few tenths of metres wide, occur within
Table 1 the silt. They show a flat base and a poorly defined coarsening-upward
Fossil distribution in BBS and KGS.
trend, and are characterized by a well-developed tabular bedding. The
BBS KGS1 KGS2 KGS3 beds, 5–15 cm thick, consist of fine to medium plan-parallel stratified
Testudines indet. ✓ ✓ sand (Fig. 12E) with rare ripple cross-lamination. Isolated lensoid
Crocodylus niloticus ✓ ✓ beds, 15–30 cm thick and up to 2 m wide, are also present. They are
Elephas recki recki ✓ made of cross-stratified very coarse sand with scattered granules.
Elephas r. recki vel. E. iolensis ✓ ✓ Sedimentary structures and pebble imbrication indicate northward
Elephantidae indet. ✓
palaeoflows (Fig. 4). The deposits of this interval were laid down in an
Equus sp. ✓
Hippopotamus cf. gorgops ✓ alluvial plain where most of the sediments were deposited by poorly
Hippopotamus amphibius ✓ ✓ ✓ confined flows (Jorgensen and Fielding, 1996). The lensoid sandy
cf. Phacocerus sp. ✓ bodies represent flat and wide lobes fed by shallow and poorly
Giraffidae indet. ✓
defined ephemeral channels (Olsen, 1987) where the coarse sandy
Giraffa cf. camelopardalis ✓
cf. Tragelaphus angasii ✓ facies accumulated.
Gazella sp. (large size) ✓ Scanty remains of vertebrates are H. amphibius, a large sized
Syncerus antiquus ✓ Gazella sp. and few specimens attributable to Bovidae indet. (Table 1).
Taurotragus sp. ✓ A specimen from one Etheria shell close to the base of the KGS3 gave
Bovidae indet. ✓ ✓ ✓
an U/Th age of 92.2 kyr +/− 0.7 kyr.
E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34 21

Plate I. Artefacts in BBS. 1,2,4: bifaces; 3: chopper; 5: retouched flake (scraper).

22 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34

Table 2 into fluvio-lacustrine deposits (Fig. 13). The latter suggest the
The BBS lithic industry at 047 site. 12 unretouched flakes were collected in the occurrence of a lake extended from Goz Regeb to the north towards
excavation (Fig. 7C, D).
the Nile/Atbara confluence (“Atbara palaeolake”, Fig. 15A). A marginal
Bifaces 6 lacustrine and deltaic succession, 8–10 m thick, is well exposed for some
Trihedral picks 1 hundred metres along the left bank of the Atbara close to the Goz Regeb
Choppers 9
inselberg. It consists of a basal horizontally laminated, dark green,
Choppers or cores 3
Cores 10 organic-rich clay (50 cm thick) accumulated in a lacustrine setting. This
Hammerstones 1 clay is covered by 1 m of a crudely bedded silt passing upward into 2 m
Retouched flakes 15 thick, coarsening-upward deposits grading from fine sand with wave
Unretouched flakes 58
modified current climbing ripples (Fig. 13D) to intensely bioturbated
Total 103
medium sand, mainly consisting of massive normal graded beds with
well-developed load casts (Fig. 13C). This coarsening-up sequence
stemmed out from the progradation of a shoal-water delta, where sand
4.2.3.1. Artefacts. Small quartz flakes and flint blades of possible Late sedimentation derived from tractional and fall-out conditions (climbing
Stone Age were collected. ripples) or from rapid damping (normal graded beds) at the outlet of
distributary channels. Wave modification of current ripples, highlighted
4.3. Areal extension of the Pleistocene Atbara succession by a symmetric bedform profile, occurred during sporadic storms. These
deltaic deposits are truncated by a marked erosional unconformity
BBS and KGS outcrops have been recognized from 30 km south of overlain by 2–3 m of trough cross-bedded reddish coarse pebbly sand
Showak (at the Atbara/Setit confluence, Garaia village) up to Halfa Al laid down by a braided fluvial system. A well-defined surface, locally
Jadida (Fig. 1C). Further north (Goz Regeb) they make a lateral transition draped by a thin mud interval, marks the transition to a pebbly-sandy

Fig. 9. The KGS1 deposits at site 009. (A) The KGS1 meander fluvial deposits resting above the BBS with a marked erosional surface. (B) The meandering channels of the KGS1, and
line drawing. (C) Close-up of the B view showing cross-bedded sands cut by a chute channel filled by slumped bank collapse (“S” in figure), and line drawing.
 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34
Fig. 10. (A) Sedimentological log of the KGS1 and basal portion of the KGS2, site 022.
(B) Sedimentological log of the middle and upper portion of KGS2 and base of KGS3, site 062.
Gilbert delta up to 4 m thick (Fig. 13A, B). It shows a well-defined
partition into a horizontal fluvial-dominated topset, a steeply inclined
(25°) foreset and a tangential bottomset. In the foreset beds the
dominance of debris flow deposits, along with the local occurrence of
well-defined backset beds (Fig. 13B) confirm the presence of a steep
avalanching front, which prograded several hundred metres northward
according to the bed attitude. On the whole the Goz Regeb succession
records two fluvio-lacustrine phases separated by a marked unconfor-
mity. This bipartition reminds that of the BBS/KGS fluvial system in the
Khasm El Girba area. However, discontinuous outcrops along the Atbara
between Halfa AlJadida and Goz Regeb prevent firm correlations.
From a geomorphological point of view, further information on the
occurrence and extension of the deltaic systems prograding into the
Atbara palaeolake and of the palaeolake itself are provided by a DEM
(Digital Elevation Model) obtained from the Shuttle Radar Thematic
Map (Fig. 14). Although slightly modified by exogenous processes and
under a thin cover of eolian, alluvial and colluvial deposits, three
morphological contexts can be specified from NW to SE: i) a flat area
north of Goz Regeb referable to an ancient lake floor, ii) a lobate slope
23
in the Goz Regeb area representing the morphological expression of a
past delta system, and iii) a relatively steeper plain which was hosting
the palaeolake feeder rivers and related alluvial plains. These
morphological units are considered relict landforms of the Late
Pleistocene palaeogeography that, on a wider regional view, was also
including the fluvio-lacustrine system of the White Nile palaeolake
(Williams et al., 2003) and, further south, the Sudd humid areas (Sudd
palaeolake ?) (Fig. 15A).
5. Palaeohydrology
The bankfull discharge (Q) of the KGS1 and KGS2 channels (about
120 and 59 m wide and 6 and 4.5 m deep, respectively) (Figs. 9C, 12B)
was obtained by 24 formulas, reported in the literature (see Wharton,
1995) (Table 4) and by the continuity equation (Q = AV, with A the
cross-section area and V the mean flow velocity).
To calculate the average flow velocity, the Chezy uniform flow
criterion was adopted, whereas the friction factor was assessed by
Limerinos (1970) equation. The resulting bankfull flow velocity is 1.35 and
1.47 ms− 1 for the KGS1 and KGS2 channels, respectively. Costa (1983)
empirical method, which is applicable for dryland rivers (Graf, 1988), was
also used to predict flow velocity that resulted 1.31 and 1.15 ms− 1 for the
KGS1 and KGS2 channels, respectively. Both values are very similar to
those calculated by the Chezy criterion.
Three of the equations used to infer bankfull discharge (i.e.,
Williams, 1978; Mosley, 1979; Rotnicki, 1991) and the Chezy equation
require the streambed gradient, as an entry parameter. Since it was
not possible to measure this parameter in the field, three methods
were used: i) Henderson (1966) equation relating streambed gradient
to the median grain size of bed material to obtain a bed gradient of
0.00034 and 0.00044 for the KGS1 and KGS2 channels, respectively; ii)
the empirical function relating the ratio hmax/D84 (in which hmax is the
maximum bankfull flow depth) to streambed gradient, developed by
Dingman (written communication), that provides a gradient of
0.00032 and 0.00039 for the KGS1 and KGS2 channels, respectively;
iii) by reworking the shear stress relation, the bed gradient was
obtained as S = τ/ρgh in which τ is shear stress, ρ is water density, g is
acceleration due to gravity, h is flow depth and S is energy slope,
assumed parallel to bed gradient. The mean value of shear stress,
calculated by several equations (Shields, 1936; Milhous, 1973; Baker
and Ritter, 1975; Andrews, 1983; Carling, 1983; Williams, 1983;
Hammond et al., 1984; Komar, 1987) was used to obtain for both the
study channels a streambed gradient of 0.00033, i.e a value typical of
meandering rivers (Leopold and Wolman, 1957).
Inserting a bed gradient of 0.00033 for the KGS1 channel and
0.00039 for the KGS2 channel into the Chezy equation, a bankfull
discharge of 486 and 241 m3s− 1, respectively, resulted. A bankfull
flow of 1118 for KGS1 channel and 694 m3s− 1 for KGS2 channel is
instead obtained by averaging the results of the 24 formulas listed in
Table 4. Since these criteria, that are based on channel cross-section
geometry and grain size of bed material, are not homogeneous the
mean values of Table 4 can be considered as a first approximation.
However, if we restrict our inference to the formulas based on data
sets relative to river systems with climatic, physiographic and size
characteristics comparable with those supposed for the KGS1 and
KGS2 channels (bold italic numbers in Table 4), an average bankfull
discharge of 694 and 249 m3s− 1, respectively, results. These values
are closer to those calculated by the continuity equation and assuming
uniform flow conditions (486 and 241 m3s− 1).
These results were compared with the bankfull discharges of Atbara
and Gash, the two main modern rivers in the study area. The Sudanese
Water Authority provided 34 (1966–2004) and 25 (1971–2005) years
of daily discharge data, for the Atbara river, upstream of the Khashm El
Girba dam, and the Gash river at Kassala, respectively. The discharges
with 1.58 and 2.33 years return time, typically associated with the
bankfull flow range, were calculated by the Gumbel EV1 method for
24 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34
both the modern rivers (Table 4). The bankfull discharge of Atbara
(Q1.58 = 4228 m3s− 1; Q2.33 = 5691 m3s− 1) is about one order of
magnitude larger than that calculated by the continuity equation and
the empirical formulas for KGS1 and KGS2 channels (486–694 and 241–
249 m3s− 1, respectively). These palaeochannels, by contrast, have a
bankfull discharge much closer to that of the modern Gash at Kassala
(Q1.58 = 250 m3s− 1;Q2.33 = 312 m3s− 1). These data will be used in the
reconstruction of the evolution of the fluvial network.
6. Structural framework
Evidences of recent, possibly Middle Pleistocene, deformations
have been found along the Girgif creek, a right tributary of the Atbara,
where the KGS1 is juxtaposed to the Tertiary basalts along a belt of
synsedimentary normal faults dipping 30°–85° towards west and east
(Fig. 2). The fault plane gap is locally filled by sedimentary sandy
dikes. This belt belongs to the Hudi–Atbara fault system (Fig. 1C). In
the same outcrop further faults cut orthogonally the normal faults. On
a small scale it is here repeated the regional fault pattern (Fig. 1B). The
Gash/Atbara–Hudi basin is subdivided into parallel half-graben
subbasins trending NNW–SSE with master faults on the eastern
side. The two most important are those bounding the eastern side
both of the Gash basin at the foot of the Red Sea Hills (Gash fault) and
the Hudi depression, east of Atbara town (Hudi–Atbara fault)
(Fig. 1C). Additional evidence of recent activity for the Gash fault is
the occurrence of 240 m of Quaternary alluvial sediments in the
present Gash terminal fan area (GRAS and Robertson, 1995).
7. Overview of artefacts
In his precursory review of the Sudan archaeology Arkell (1949)
assigned to the “Lower Palaeolithic” the industries in the Butana
(Khasm El Girba) area. Arkell's conclusions have been confirmed by
Chmielewski (1987) who stresses the human presence during
repeated phases of the Acheulean in the Atbara territory. Through
new artefact and fossil collection the vertical distribution of these
industries can be defined according to the new stratigraphical data. In
the BBS human activity is testified by Acheulean artefacts with the
presence of bifaces, abundance of large flakes and big cores with few
large scars and choppers. Are also notable some retouched flakes with
an accurate and, in some cases, bifacial retouch. The flaking of big and
giant cores to obtain large flakes is documented in the initial phase of
the Acheulean (Konso Gardula: Asfaw et al., 1992; Beyene et al., in
press) and persists in the whole Early Acheulean (Buya: Martini et al.,
2004; Koobi Fora, Okote and Chari Members: Isaac, 1997; Olduvai,
Middle Bed II: Leakey, 1971). Although the scarcity of bifaces in our
assemblages could suggest also a Developed Oldowan (about 1.5 to
0.7 Ma), as known, for example, at Olduvai (Leakey, 1971; Leakey and
Roe, 1994; Mora and de la Torre-Sainz, 2005) and at Gadeb (Clark and
Kurashina, 1979; Williams et al., 1979), the overall technotypological
features of the BBS artefacts point to the Acheulean.
The KGS1 artefacts belong to heterogeneous techno-complexes:
Levallois cores and refined, sometimes little, bifaces seem to indicate
different cultural contexts, chronologically younger than the BBS
complex, like Late or Final Acheulean or Middle Stone Age (MSA). In
the African context the Levallois artefacts, which characterize the
MSA, are present since the Late Acheulean (about 650–300 kyr) and
become more frequent in the Final Acheulean (about 300–150 kyr),
when more refined bifaces are peculiar too. More standardized bifaces
include little chordiform and triangular forms (Melka Kunture, Garba
Plate II. Fossil mammals from KGS. 1,2: H. amphibius collected at coordinates N15°02′05″ – E35°58′28″, mandibular symphysis in anterior (1), and superior (2) views; 3,4: cf.
Taurotragus sp. collected at coordinates N15°01′49″ – E35°58′34″, proximal tibia in plantar (3) and superior (4) views; 5–7: S. antiquus collected at coordinates N15°02′18″ –
E35°58′17″, juvenile left mandible in labial (5), lingual (6) and occlusal (7) views; 8: S. antiquus skull from KGS2 (site 006) in basal view (coordinates N15°02′31″ – E35°58′19″).
Scale bars in centimetres.
III, B: Chavaillon et al., 1978, 1979). At Kapthurin rare bifaces are
present in association with one Levallois core (Tyron, 2006).
8. Overview of fossil associations
The Khasm El Girba fluvial succession has rendered relatively
abundant vertebrate fossils, but, to date, no hominin remains.
The BBS provided vertebrate remains useful for chronologic
assessment. Of particular interest is the partial skull of an adult E.
recki recki. The taxonomical attribution to this advanced subspecies is
based on the general morphology of the skull (the diverging tusk
socket and, possibly, the lateral part of the occiput appearing to
protrude laterally) albeit it has a relatively low lamellar frequency
possibly due to the advanced stage of wear of the tooth. The BBS
elephant is comparable to E. recki recki from Olduvai Bed II (Early
Pleistocene). Further isolated elephant teeth collected on surface or
from KGS1 and KGS2 are attributable to a derived form of the African
Elephas lineage or, possibly, to the closely related species E. iolensis,
that shows very similar dental morphologies to E. recki recki. E. iolensis
is known from several Middle to Late Pleistocene localities in
Northern Africa. In Sudan, elephant remains attributed to this species
were found at Natodameri and dated around 35,000 years BP (Maglio
and Cooke, 1978). On the whole, the faunal assemblage (especially the
association of E. recki recki and H. cf. gorgops) points to an Early
Pleistocene age for the base of the BBS. A relatively dry savannah is
suggested by the BBS fossil assemblage.
A much younger age, generic Middle to Late Pleistocene age, can be
supposed for the KGS1 mammal assemblage on the basis of the co-
occurrence of a derived form of elephant (E. recki recki vel E. iolensis)
and a modern hippo (H. amphibius). Furthermore, a late Middle to Late
Pleistocene age for KGS2 can be assumed mainly from the occurrence
of the giant African buffalo S. antiquus. The latter form, a sister species
of the extant cape buffalo Syncerus caffer, is mentioned in literature
under different names. This species has different anatomy in the skull
(with the occipital crest situated backward and the base of the horn-
cores placed forward, going directly outward, downward and
upward) and in the postcranial skeleton from that of genuine
Pelorovis sensu strictu, which is the ancestor of Bos (Martínez-Navarro
et al., 2007). Because of meaningful similarities of this Late Pleistocene
giant buffalo with the genus Syncerus, as described by Klein (1994), it
has been included within this genus and named S. antiquus (see Peters
et al., 1994; Hadjouis, 2002; Hadjouis and Sahnouni, 2006; and
references therein). The occurrence in the KGS of hippos and
crocodiles on the one hand, and of Elephas, giraffes, a hypsodont
suid and bovids of different sizes on the other hand, indicates a fluvial
habitat surrounded by a relatively open environment with some
pools. Taxa representative of open environment (e.g. Elephas, giraffe)
outnumber (also in terms of collected remains) those related to
freshwater habitat (e.g. hippo). Moreover, river oysters (Etheria) reefs
with associated small pelycipods occur rarely and discontinuously in
the sedimentary succession. These bivalve colonies indicate perennial
flows in channel environments (Van Damme and Gautier, 1972;
Brown and Feibel, 1986; Feibel, 2003; Lepre et al., 2007). The fossil
assemblages suggest the occurrence of a grassland savannah crossed
by streams with a wide range of discharges.
9. Chronology
The chronology of the studied succession relies on fossil assem-
blages, artefacts, radiometric and palaeomagnetic data (Figs. 4, 5).
E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34 25
26 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34

Plate III. Artefacts in KGS1. 1,3,7: bifaces; 2,6: choppers; 4: Levallois core; and 5: flat flake with faceted platform.
 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34 27

Table 3
The KGS1 lithic industry at 009, 019, 021 and 022 sites. Class a: not-abraded assemblages;
class b: scarcely abraded assemblages; and class c: heavily abraded assemblages.

Class a Class b Class c Total

Bifaces 2 9 - 11
Choppers 2 11 8 21
Cores 10 32 3 45
Retouched flakes 1 9 2 12
Unretouched flakes 12 65 7 84
Total 27 126 20 173

The occurrence of E. recki recki and H. cf. gorgops and associated

Acheulean artefacts point to an Early Pleistocene age for the
conglomerates of the BBS i interval.. This sudden and coarse sediment
supply can be correlated to the 0.8 Ma intense rainfall conditions at
the end of the long aridity phase that had begun at about 1.8 Ma (Said,
1993). During this pluvial period the Atbara and Blue Nile pushed
their way into Sudan and Egypt. This caused the aggradation of the
Atbara fluvial plain represented initially by the coarser BBS i interval
and, successively, by the finer ii interval. The five normal polarity
samples collected in the latter interval (log 047 in Fig. 5) are assigned
to the Brunhes chron (not earlier than the Middle Pleistocene) and
pull up the age of the BBS i to the late Early Pleistocene (Fig. 4). To
assess the temporal extension of the BBS ii interval the occurrence of
the thick, well-expressed calcretes in its upper portion points to a
period of the order of some hundred thousand years of morphological
stability necessary to develop such palaeosoils (Wright, 1990; Alonso-
Zarza, 2003). Conceivably, the ii interval together with the litholog-
ically similar (but avoid of fossils and lithics) iii interval span a
substantial portion of the Middle Pleistocene.
Although the fossil mammals indicate for the KGS1 a generic
Middle to Late Pleistocene age, coherent with the occurrence of Late
Acheulean to Middle Stone Age artefacts, radiometric age determina-
tions limit the top of the KGS1 to the Middle Pleistocene. In fact, a
mollusc shell at the base of KGS2 gave a U/Th age of 126.1 kyr, and
that at the base of the overlying KGS3 a U/Th age of 92.2 kyr (Table 5).
Both samples display moderate to high U content with higher 234U/
238
U activity ratios than global mean seawater (234U/238U = 1.14),
suggesting major uptake of U from terrestrial sources. Moreover, the
index of non-authigenic 230Th contamination (230Th/232Th) is higher
than the practical threshold of 50, indicating that age correction for
non-authigenic, initial 230Th is not necessary. The measurements and
corresponding dates are therefore robust. Molluscs are generally
regarded as semi open-system materials, where most of the U content
is from post mortem uptake (e.g. Kaufmann et al., 1971). However, the
fact that the two dates are in stratigraphical order in spite of very
different U-content suggests that they may be regarded as reliable
minimum ages. In conclusion, the KGS 1 can be assigned to the late
Middle Pleistocene, and the KGS2 and KGS3 to the Late Pleistocene.
These previously discussed chronological data suggest a hiatus of
some hundred thousand years between BBS and KGS1.
Protostoric and historic artefacts (Chmielewski, 1987) at surface of Fig. 11. (A) Pebbly sands with trough cross-bedding at the base of KGS2, site 022.
the KGS3 or embedded in the overlying fluvial/colluvial deposits mark (B) Etheria patch reef resting on pebbly sands at the base of KGS2. (C) Stromatolites
the end of the succession, that, even with gaps, encompasses coating fluvial pebbles and bivalves in the KGS2 patch reefs, close to site 062. (D) Thin
section of the stromatolitic coating.
evidences from the late Early Pleistocene to historic times.

10. Discussion
The Pleistocene history of the study area can be framed in the
context of the Nile basin evolution. After the Pliocene uplift of the
Ethiopian plateau (Merla, 1963; Abbate and Sagri, 1979), that diverted
the drainage of the highlands towards the Nile basin, the restoration
of wet conditions at c. 0.8 Ma (Said, 1993) caused the flood plain
aggradation of northward-flowing rivers in the Atbara basin. We
assume that the onset of the BBS fluvial network is compatible with
this new hydrographic arrangement in which powerful water courses,
loaded with coarse sediments derived from the Ethiopian plateau,
gave rise to braided rivers producing coalescing alluvial fans
(Fig. 15B). The fluvio-lacustrine sediments of the Goz Regeb area are
indicative of the occurrence of the Atbara palaeolake fed by rivers
flowing northward and probably related to this humid phase. This
water body was possibly dammed by the uplifting of the Nubian
massif, and was partially coeval with the White Nile palaeolake, and,
with more uncertainties, with the Sudd palaeolake (Fig. 15A).
28 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34

Fig. 12. (A) Panoramic view of the KGS2 and overlying KGS3 at site 062 showing ribbon-type channels with laterally extensive wings interbedded in the reddish silty levels. (B) Close
view of a ribbon channel with line drawing. (C) Cross-bedded sands and ripple cross-lamination in the sand filling the ribbon channel. (D) The KGS2 reddish silt covered by the KGS3
pebbly sand basal level. (E) Coarse sand sheets alternating with massive silts in the upper portion of KGS3 (interval ii).

In the BBS the transition from the basal braided into upper sinuous
channel system points to a decrease of the ratio between bedload
(grain size and quantity) and water discharge and/or a decrease in the
gradient profile (Lane, 1955). Moreover, the progressive reduction of
channels amalgamation, in conjunction with the augment of overbank
fines, testifies an increase in accommodation space in the floodplain
(Wright and Marriott, 1993; Martinsen et al., 1999; Plint et al., 2001).
This was probably due to the fluvial response (Shanley and McCabe,
1991; Wright and Marriott, 1993; Shanley and McCabe, 1994) to a
level rise of the Atbara palaeolake. The pebbles from the river beds
were used as raw material for the lithic industries of the BBS.
Furthermore, the flood plain with sinuous channels of the middle and
upper BBS portion was particularly suitable to permanent settlements
as testified by the artefacts of site 047.
The hiatus between BBS and KGS with a time span of some
hundred thousand years could be due to erosion of the uppermost
BBS, possibly combined with a significant reduction of aggradation
rate forced by intense arid episodes, as recorded in the marine
sediments (deMenocal, 2004), and to “sporadic and tenuous”
connections of the Nile with its tributaries (Said, 1993). Moreover,
erosional or low aggradation phases could have been enhanced by
local faults (Fig. 2 and cartoons in Fig, 15), uplift of the nearby Nubian
massif and reactivation of the Mesozoic rift basins.
Wet conditions in the Atbara catchment resumed during the KGS1
time with the development of meandering rivers (Fig. 15C). The
amalgamation of KGS1 channels suggests a low rate of accommoda-
tion space creation, probably connected with the onset of the Atbara
palaeolake level rise. These hydromorphological conditions induced
also an intense erosion of the BBS sediments with a reworking of the
oldest Acheulean artefacts. Once more this fluvial environment was
favourable to human activity resulting in more advanced technoty-
pological artefacts.
After a minor erosional phase between KGS1 and KGS2, probably
due to a lake level fall, sandy-braided streams spread across the
Atbara basin. The aggradation of these fluvial deposits is compatible
with the onset of a further lake level rise induced by a new rainy
period (beginning of the Eemian, see later). High accommodation
space availability lead to the deposition of flood plain silt, incised at
different stratigraphical levels by ribbon-type, sandy channels with
scarce lateral mobility (Shanley and McCabe, 1994; Plint et al., 2001;
 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34 29

Fig. 13. Fluvio-lacustrine deposits in a section along the Atbara river, 100 km north of Halfa Al Jadida (Goz Regeb area). They represent the downcurrent transition of the BBS and KGS
fluvial deposits. From the top of section. (A) Cross-bedded pebbly sand of a Gilbert-type delta resting above fluvial deposits; (B) topset, foreset and bottom set of the Gilbert-type
delta; backset beds in the foreset; (C) deltaic lobe deposits forming a coarsening-upward (CU) sequence with laminated organic-rich clay on the Atbara bank, covered by massive silt
and fine sand with asymmetric climbing ripples modified by waves (D), and followed by intensely bioturbated sand with basal load casts deep into the rippled horizon. The lobe is
truncated by the trough cross-bedded fluvial sands.

Catuneanu et al., 2009). Due to the abundance of water and mammal
faunas, human life conditions were again benign in the Atbara basin
and adjoining areas to the southwest (see archaic H. sapiens at Singa
along the Blue Nile, Stringer, 1979; McDermott et al., 1996).
After a further minor erosional phase, probably due to a lake level
fall, sandy-braided rivers, connected with a new rainy period, mark the
onset of the last KGS unit. These sediments were followed by prevailing
sheet-flow deposits indicative of an evolution towards more arid
conditions.
The studied succession can be tentatively placed within the
Pleistocene global climate history taking into account that in the sub-
Saharian regions glacial and interglacial stages correspond to dry and
wet periods, respectively (deMenocal, 1995, 2004). Since high-
resolution chronological data are not available for the BBS, a tentative
comparison with the global Early Pleistocene climatic events (e.g. Head
and Gibbard, 2005) through the Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) can be put
forward only for the KGS (Fig. 4). The KGS1 meandering rivers can be
referred to the wet period corresponding to MIS 7 at about 0.2 Ma. The
episodes of increasing rainfall recorded in the KGS2 and KGS3 can be
matched through radiometric datings with the Eemian MIS 5.5 and 5.3.
More arid conditions (MIS 4?) characterize the middle and upper
portion of KGS3.
A further clue for the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction is provided
by the palaeohydrological analysis of the “palaeo Khashm” (Fig. 15C)
through its KGS1 and KGS2 channels. The bankfull discharge of the KGS1
channel was c. 500 m3s− 1, and 245 m3s− 1for the KGS2 channel. These
values are, respectively, one tenth and one twentieth of that of the
modern Atbara (Table 4). This marked difference between the palaeo
Khasm and the Atbara is mainly imputable to fluvial network modifica-
tions induced by tectonics since late Middle Pleistocene. Moreover, the
KGS1 bankfull discharge is twice that of the modern Gash, whereas the
KGS2 discharge is the same. As suggested by traces of fossil water courses
30 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34
Fig. 14. Khasm El Girba-Goz Regeb area: Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from
Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) data (http://csi.cgiar.org/index.asp)
processed through Global Mapper 5.1. software (contours c.10 m). The present-day
landforms, enhanced by the DEM, suggest the occurrence in the Goz Regeb region of a
lobate slope referable to a palaeodelta connected northward to a flat area (Atbara
palaeolake floor). The delta system is fed on its southern margin by rivers flowing in the
alluvial plain between the Al Awad and Red Sea hills. A very recent field of huge sand
dunes in the extreme northern portion of the DEM.
in satellite images (Fig. 15F) and hydrological comparisons, a “palaeo
Atbara” was probably flowing close to the El Awad Hills, while a “palaeo
Gash” was contributing to the palaeo Khashm (Fig. 15C). Successively,
during the KGS2 and KGS3 times (Late Pleistocene) the palaeo Gash
gradually shifted north-eastward and lost its connection with the palaeo
Khashm (Fig. 15D,E). This migration was caused by the tilting towards
east of the faulted block on which the palaeo Gash was flowing. The
palaeo Khashm, deprived of the palaeo Gash contribution, developed
minor-sized channels present in the KGS2 with a discharge of 245 m3s− 1.
At the end of the Pleistocene or during the early Holocene also the palaeo
Atbara underwent a similar shifting towards northeast, due to the tilting
of the faulted block along the Hudi–Atbara fault, and reached its present
position into the palaeo Khasm valley (Fig. 15F). This diversion is well
evident in the satellite image (Fig. 15F) since close to Showak the present-
day Atbara turns its course from NNW to north.
During the early Holocene after the Last Glacial Maximum arid
period, rainfalls increased in the Nile and Atbara catchments (Nabtian
Wet Phase of Said, 1993). In addition, the rapid melting of the ice cap
of the Semien Mt. (Ethiopia) sensibly incremented the water
discharges from the adjacent highlands (Coetzee and Van Zinderen,
1989; Nyssen et al, 2004). This dramatic increase of water caused the
overflow of the Atbara palaeolake, and its northward outlet cut the
Nubian massif along the northsouth Wadi Gabgaba fault system
(Stern and Abdelsalam, 1996) and reached the Nile system.
A concomitant regional uplift starting from the Atbara upper
reaches contributed to the some tens of metres deep incision of the
Atbara valley through the Pleistocene deposits. During the same time
the Nile re-established its tropical connection previously lost in the
Sudd area (Said, 1993, Talbot et al., 2000, Woodward et al., 2007). This
Fig. 15. Palaeogeographical and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of the study area in the context of the Nile drainage network. (A) Map showing the study area location
(squared) and extension of the Pleistocene White Nile palaeolake (Williams et al., 2003), Sudd palaeolake (after Ball, 1939) and Atbara palaeolake (this paper). (B to E) Hydrographic
network variations of the Atbara fluvial system since the late Early Pleistocene; see inset in (A) for the area covered in the cartoons. (F) Satellite image of the middle Atbara valley and
Gash terminal fan with traces of the Gash and Atbara palaeorivers before their diversion.
larger amount of rainfalls favoured the development of regionally
widespread black soils (“cotton soils”).
11. Conclusions
Our researches have proved the human presence in the Atbara
basin since the late Early Pleistocene and allowed the reconstruction
of the environments in which the human activities were carried out.
This reconstruction is not continuous because of the important time
gap between the BBS and the overlying KGS marked by different
faunas and artefacts.
During the BBS time (late Early Pleistocene to the early Middle
Pleistocene) the Atbara area was characterized by coarse-grained
braided rivers gradually replaced by low-sinuosity to meandering
rivers. The overlying late Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene KGS
units record a well-documented and relatively continuous history for
the last 0.2 Ma. In these units the fluvial style is more articulated and
exhibits variations from high-sinuosity sandy rivers abruptly inter-
rupted by sandy-braided rivers evolving to isolated sinuosity rivers,
and, finally, from sandy-braided rivers to sheet flows. These fluvial
systems were flowing northward into the Atbara palaeolake located in
the lower reaches of the present-day Atbara river.
Modifications of climatic conditions, basin physiography and
palaeolake Atbara level produced different fluvial styles, but the habitats
were always favourable to humans. Also the faunal assemblages indicate
variable conditions. The faunas in the BBS are less abundant and
differentiated (elephants, hippos, giraffids and turtles), whereas in the
KGS faunal diversity increases (hippos, elephants, several bovids,
equids, suids, giraffids, crocodiles, and turtles) with some water-
dependant taxa (like the hippos, some of the diverse bovidae, crocodiles
and turtles). A patchy environment with relatively arid savannah for the
BBS and a grassland with water pools for the KGS derive from this
diversity. A difference can be also found in the lithic industries. The
artefacts of BBS indicate a full-fledged phase of the Acheulean, while in
KGS1 some artefacts refer to different younger phases of the Acheulean
or to the Middle Stone Age. Some other evidences at the top of the
succession are indicative of further later human industries (Late Stone
Age, Chmielewski, 1987).
The Atbara Acheulean artefacts are similar to those found in Buia
(Eritrea; Martini et al., 2004), and could be associated with African
Homo erectus/ergaster, while the younger lithic industries could have
been manufactured by the H. sapiens. It is possible that during the
whole Pleistocene both hunter species were using the Atbara area and
its northward prolongation along the Nile valley as a wide settlement
territory and a bridgehead towards Eurasia (e.g. Woodward et al.,
2007). This hypothesis is supported by the Atbara findings and the
Acheulean sites in Sudan and Egypt (Arkell, 1949; Caton-Thomson,
1952; Carlson, 1967; Wendorf, 1968; Biberson et al., 1970; Wendorf
and Shield, 1980; McHugh et al., 1988) and the Late Acheulean to
Middle Stone Age localities in Sudan and Egypt (Arkell, 1949;
Chmielewski, 1968; Giorgini, 1971; Van Peer, 1998; Van Peer et al.,
2003).
During the Pleistocene the Atbara/Nile corridor was exploited as
an important migratory and exchange path between East Africa and
the Mediterranean areas and, eventually, the Eurasia continent. This
trail was complementary or alternative to the southerly route through
Bab El Mandab (Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen, 2001; Petraglia, 2003;
Beyin, 2006). The latter was preferentially used when, as during the
“Desert Phase” (1.8–0.8 Ma, Said, 1993), harsh physical and ecological
conditions were rendering impracticable the Nile corridor.
E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34 31
32 E. Abbate et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292 (2010) 12–34

Table 4
Bankfull discharge calculated by different criteria for KGS1 and KGS2 palaeochannels and compared with the bankfull discharge of the modern Atbara and Gash rivers. Q = flow
discharge; Qbkf = bankfull discharge; Q1.58 = discharge with 1.58 year-return interval (modal class flood); Q2.33 = discharge with 2.33 year-return interval (mean flood); Q2 = two
year-return time discharge; Qmaf = median annual flood; KG dam = upstream of Khashm el Girba dam.

KGS1 KGS2

Author/s Database Flow Q Q

(m3s− 1) (m3s− 1)

Shumm (1972) 36 streams, semiarid USA and Australia Qbkf 669 275
Hedman et al. (1972) 52 perennial streams in Colorado Q2 1292 284
Hedman et al. (1974) 120 streams in Kansas Q2 2714 835
Bray (1975) 71 gravel-bed rivers in Canada Q2 124 25
Dury (1977) Meandering rivers Qbkf 799 221
Williams (1978) Meandering rivers Qbkf 525 208
Mosley (1979) 73 streams New Zealand South Island Qbkf 126 63
Osterkamp and Hedman (1977) 32 high gradient streams, western USA Qbkf 66 12
Osterkamp and Hedman (1982) 252 streams in Missouri Q2 654 275
Hedman and Osterkamp (1982) USA alpine pine forested Q2 705 176
Hedman and Osterkamp (1982) North plains East Rocky mountains Q2 1930 502
Hedman and Osterkamp (1982) Plain West Rocky mountains Q2 1316 314
Omang et al. (1983) 38 streams thunderstorm plain, Montana Q2 290 109
Omang et al. (1983) 28 streams flat plains, Montana Q2 1333 349
Omang et al. (1983) 12 streams forest snowmelt Q2 275 105
Caroni and Maraga (1984) 30 streams Po basin (Italy) Qmaf 997 226
Wharton (1992) 75 sites in UK Qbkf 2495 616
Wharton (1992) 75 sites in UK Qbkf 2589 924
Rotnicki (1991) General paleohydraulic equation Qbkf 996 369
Wharton and Tomlinson (1999) 24 rivers in Java Qbkf 1825 586
Wharton and Tomlinson (1999) 8 rivers in Burundi Qbkf 419 212
Wharton and Tomlinson (1999) 12 rivers in Ghana Qbkf 2084 734
Wharton and Tomlinson (1999) 8 rivers in Tanzania Qbkf 1029 412
Xu (2004) Sandbed meandering rivers diff. environ. Qbkf 566 165
Mean of all data/criteria 1118 334
Mean of most suitable criteria 694 249
This study Field data; Chezy + Limerinos (1970) Qbkf 486 241
Present Atbara R., KG dam Instrument data; Gumbel distrib. Q1.58 4228
Present Atbara R. KG dam Instrument data; Gumbel distrib. Q2.33 5691
Present Gash R. at Kassala Instrument data; Gumbel distrib. Q1.58 250
Present Gash R. at Kassala Instrument data; Gumbel distrib. Q2.33 312

Table 5
Uranium series dating results. All isotope data are activity ratios, ages in kyr = 1000 yr. Analysts: Stein-Erik Lauritzen and Henriette C. Linge (Department of Earth Science, University
of Bergen, Allegaten 41, N-5007 Bergen, Norway), Silviu Constantin (“Emil Racovita” Institute of Speleology, str. Frumoasa 31, 010986 Bucharest, Romania).
230
J.no. Sample U Th/234U 2σ 234
U/238U 2σ 230
Th/232Th 2σ Age
(ppm) (kyr) 2σ

718 051-2 mollusc/umbo piece 1.41 0.5857 ± 0.0028 1.2530 ± 0.0052 398.10 ± 7.41 92.192 ± 0.714
739 Shell 09 (Africa, SEL) 0.563 0.7049 ± 0.0029 1.1997 ± 0.0039 62.55 ± 0.77 126.121 ± 1.031

Besides the debate about the ways of dispersal, the Sudan and Eritrea
(Buia) areas with their profuse archaeological remains shed new light
both on the interrelationships between the early Palaeolithic man and
his surroundings and on what lead humans out of Africa. Strong
demographic impulse, especially in populations living in the proximity
of lakes and streams, might have forced humans to seek new territories.
A key determinant of the success of these Acheulean pioneering
migrants was their capability to integrate and adapt, which is shown in
the African sites by their performing selective hunt and collection of raw
lithic materials (Harris et al., 2007).
Acknowledgements
We thank Francesco Landucci, Dept. Earth Sciences, Florence
University for his expert fossil restoration, Giovanni Pezzati for the
bivalve taxonomy, Henriette C. Linge, University of Bergen and Silviu
Constantin, Institute of Speleology, Bucharest for Uranium series dating,
Dr. Salah, Geology Department, Khartoum University for information on
the Showak outcrops, Lawrence Dingman and Matthew Wolinsky for
useful suggestions to calculate the palaeochannel bed gradient, F. Heller
of the Swiss ETH Magnetic laboratory for providing the equipment for
magnetic measurements. A comfortable staying in the study area was
possible through the facilities kindly provided by the Showak Dam
Implementation Unit and Khashm El Girba Transmission Department of
the Hydroelectric Power Corporation and ENELPower, Turin.
We thank Finn Surlyk and two anonymous referees for their
thorough revisions, critical comments and suggestions.
Financial support to different phases of our researches in eastern
Africa has been provided by the Italian Ministry for the University and
Research (Cofin 2005), the Universities of Florence and Ferrara, the
National Geographic Society (7946/05 to LR), the Wenner Gren
Foundation (7575/06 to LR), the Spanish Ministry of Science and
Education, and the EXCAVA Project (Generalitat de Catalunya). The
support of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs (DGPCC, Settore
Archeologia) is also acknowledged.
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