However, they have not yet been found east of the Nile and no Aterian sites are known from the Nile Valley.
12.
Tools of this era, starting about 30, 000 BC, are called Aterian ( after the archeological site of Bir el Ater, south of Tebessa ).
13.
The Aterian is primarily distinguished through the presence of tanged or pedunculated tools, and is named after the type site of Bir el Ater, south of Annaba.
14.
Items of personal adornment ( pierced and ochred Nassarius shell beads ) are known from at least one Aterian site, with an age of 82, 000 years.
15.
The Aterian is one of the oldest examples of regional technological diversification, evidencing significant differentiation to older stone tool industries in the area, frequently described as Mousterian.
16.
Anatomically modern humans are known to have been present in North Africa during the Upper Paleolithic, 45, 000 years ago, as attested by the Aterian culture.
17.
Pierced and ochred " Nassarius " shell beads were also recovered from Blombos, with even earlier examples ( Middle Stone Age, Aterian ) from the Taforalt Caves.
18.
With no apparent continuity, 22, 000 years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian industry, whose lithic assemblages bore relations with the Cro-Magnon cultures.
19.
The Acheulean implements completely vanish from the archeological record around 100, 000 years ago and were replaced by more complex Middle Paleolithic tool kits such as the Mousterian and the Aterian industries.
20.
More recently, a large-scale study of North African stone tool assemblages, including Aterian assemblages, indicated that the traditional concept of stone tool industries is problematic in the North African Middle Stone Age.
