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2026-02-20 02:52:12   •   ID: 2404

Ounan-Harif-Points and the double biased view of a Collector

Plate 1
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
The common classification of the tanged and shouldered points of the large Sahara belt from the late Pleistocene/early Holocene period is based on the characteristics of the tang and tip but does not depend on size.

Collectors often pay more attention to larger specimens, which are common in surface collections, and overlook the corresponding microlithic points. However, the microlithic points may be more significant from an evolutionary perspective.

This blog post aims to address this double bias.

Plate 1 shows large (6 cm), medium (3 cm), and small microlithic Ounan and Harifian points from North Africa.

Ounan points: The main feature is a short, clearly defined tang. It is formed by two small notches at the base of a blade or bladelet (Figures 1 and 2). Ounan points from unbiased collections measure between 1.0 and 3.0 cm in length. Larger examples up to 7 cm long are also known. These larger examples dominate surface collections due to their better visibility.

The tang is formed by fine, steep retouching. When made on blades (Fig. 1-5), the proximal end is modified to form a narrow perçoir-like tang. Often, this tang is incurved toward the shouldered edge of the tool. It was probably used to attach the point to a shaft, such as an arrow shaft.

In contrast to the elaborately worked stem, the rest of the point is often surprisingly "unworked." The longitudinal edges of the blade often remain natural (unretouched). The tip is usually formed by the natural end of the blade and minimally modified (see Fig. 1 and 2).

This definition does not consider whether the point is shouldered or tanged in the European sense or on the right or left edge. It also does not consider whether the point was made from a bladelet (microlithic) or from a blade (Fig. 3–5).

The Ounanian point was first recognized by Breuil in 1930 in Ounan. These points were found in a surface collection of tools from the south of Taodeni in northern Mali and were made from quartzite. Breuil ascribed them to the Epi-Paleolithic period, a suggestion still valid today.

Ounan points are approximately dated to 12-8 k.a. cal.BP. and spread across the entire central Sahara (Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya to the Nile Valley (Western Sahara, Faiyum, Kharga and Dakleh oases) and to Nubia and the Sudan („Early Khartoum Mesolithic.”) and mark the era before pottery production and livestock farming became dominant in the Sahara.

It is generally suggested, that the introduction of the Ounan point, especially of smaller specimens, represents a technological turning point by innovations in archery: The morphology suggests that these points were used as arrowheads for hunting fast game (such as gazelles or antelopes) in the Sahara, which was becoming greener at this time.

The production shows a high degree of standardization, suggesting specialized craft traditions.

Regarding the ratio between larger and microlithic specimens, Ounan points show considerable variability, with the ratio depending heavily on the geographical location, specific site characteristics, and weather the tools come from controlled modern excavations or from surface scatters.

Larger and slimmer examples are mainly known from biased surface collections of the Central Sahara and Algeria.

In many modern excavations in the Western Sahara (e.g. Wadi Tifariti), smaller Ounan points are prevalent and often occur together with other microliths (such as segments or triangles).

Excavated sites of the Eastern Sahara and the Egyptian oases showed a similar pattern: In areas such as Nabta Playa, Kharga or the Abu Tartur Plateau, inventories show a tendency towards smaller, shorter and wider forms. In recent literature, these are often differentiated as Ounan-Harif points to distinguish them from the longer „classic types“.

Harif points are elongated pointed bladelets whose blade is formed by the convergence of one backed and one unretouched edge. Their base features a short pointed retouched tang (Figure 6).

Figure 6


Harif points (Figure 6) are elongated pointed bladelets whose blade is formed by the convergence of one backed and one unretouched edge. Their base features a short pointed retouched tang.They are always microlithic in size and were usually made by the micro-burin technique.

Harifian points occur mainly in “Harifian” late Epipaleolithic/early Neolithic assemblages from the Negev and the Sinai around 10.5-10 k.a.Cal.BP.

Ounan-Harifian points also feature a short, pointed tang, but they are somewhat less elongated than Harif points. Although many points found in the Eastern Sahara are similar to “classic” Ounan points from Algeria and the Central Sahara, the eastern group has a wider variation. They seem to be shorter and broader, and their distal ends are often modified.

Therefore, the name Ounan-Harif point was proposed for the Egyptian varieties of tanged / shouldered points. These points, together with examples that are more similar to Ounanian points sensu strictu, have been found at sites in Dakhleh Oasis , Kharga Oasis, the Nabta-Kiseiba region, the Fayum oasis, Elkab ,at Nabta Playa and Bir Kiseiba and Abu Tartur. These points are dated to 7, 5- 6, 5 k.a. cal.BC. In summary such points are later than classic Ounan and Harifian Points.

Suggested Readings:

Shirai, Noriyuki: The Archaeology of the First Farmer-Herders in Egypt. New Insights into the Fayum Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic . https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/21366

Robert Vernet : le golfe d’Arguin de la préhistoire à l’histoire via academia edu.

G. Caton-Thompson:The Kharga Oasis in Prehistory (London, 1952).

R. Schild and F. Wendorf: The Prehistory of Dakhla Oasis and Adjacent Desert. (Wroclaw, 1977).

Camps, G. : Les civilisations préhistoriques de l'Afrique du Nord et du Sahara (Paris, 1974)

Tillet, T.: Le Paléolithique du Bassin tchadien. (Paris 1983)

important Literature:

Tiphaine Dachy et al. Living in an Egyptian Oasis: Reconstruction of the Holocene Archaeological Sequence in Kharga. Afr Archaeol Rev Vol. 35 (2018), pp. 531–566.

Mary M. A. McDonald: Technological Organization and Sedentism in the Epipalaeolithic of Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt Afr Archaeol Rev Vol. 9 (1991), pp. 81-109.

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