Exploration for Cenozoic Fossil-Bearing Deposits in the Atbara Valley, Sudan

• Applicants: Faysal Bibi, Ph.D.; Professorin Dr. Sumiko Tsukamoto
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2017 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 387794796

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The African fossil record is known largely from sites in eastern and southern Africa, but large parts of the continent remain unexplored. This is particularly the case for the Nile River Basin, which covers a large area, but whose geological and fossil history are poorly known. Between 2018 and 2022, we conducted four rounds of fieldwork along the banks of the Atbara River in eastern Sudan. Previous work had documented the presence there of sediments, fossils, and stone artifacts dating to the Pleistocene epoch. Our work succeeded in discovering a large and diverse assemblage of fossils, excavating a well-preserved stone tool site, and collecting a large number of geological samples for environmental and chronological analysis. This project has provided a new reference for the Middle to Late Pleistocene terrestrial record of evolution in the Nile Basin and in Africa.

Publications

• New Late Pleistocene fossil rodent remains from the middle Atbara, Sudan. 81st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (online).
  B. Kraatz, O. Bedri, R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, A. Eisawi, I.A. Lazagabaster, M. Mohammednoor, J. Müller, K. Salih, S. Tsukamoto & F. Bibi
  
• Luminescence chronology of fossiliferous fluvial sediments in the upper Atbara River, Sudan. - German Luminescence and ESR Dating Meeting, 27.-29.11.2020; online
  S. Tsukamoto, R. Bussert, M. Richter, M. Alamin Mohammednoor, O. Bedri, B. Kraatz, J. Müller, K. Salih, A. Eisawi & F. Bibi
  
• Die pleistozänen Sedimente des Paläoatbara im Ostsudan als Archiv für die Entwicklung des Nil-Flusssystems. 40. Jahrestagung der Afrikagruppe deutscher Geowissenschaftler (AdG) 2021
  Robert Bussert, Mosab Mohammednoor, Faysal Bibi, Anne Delagnes, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Omar Bedri, Brian Kraatz, Ignacio Lazagabaster, Johannes Müller, Khalaf Salih & Ali Eisawi
  
• Luminescence Chronology of Fossiliferous Fluvial Sediments in the Middle Atbara River, Sudan. 16th International Luminescence and Electron Spin Resonance Dating conference (LED2021)
  Tsukamoto, S., R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, M. Richter, M. Mohammednoor, O. Bedri, B. P. Kraatz, I. A. Lazagabaster, J. Müller, K. A. O. Salih, A. Eisawi & F. Bibi.
  
• New Mid to Late Pleistocene Fauna and Lithics from the Middle Atbara, Sudan. 18th Conference of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists (EAVP), online.
  F.Bibi, R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, S. Tsukamoto, Omar Bedri, B. Kraatz, I. A. Lazagabaster, M. Mohammednoor, J. Müller, K. Salih & A. Eisawi
  
• New Mid to Late Pleistocene fauna and lithics from the Middle Atbara, Sudan. 81st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (online). 2021
  Faysal Bibi, Robert Bussert, Anne Delagnes, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Omar Bedri, Brian Kraatz, Ignacio Lazagabaster, Mosab Mohammednoor, Johannes Müller, Khalafallah Salih & Ali Eisawi
  
• Paleoclimate reconstruction using Pleistocene paleosols along the middle Atbara River in Eastern Sudan. 2nd DGGV Early Career Sedimentologist Meeting (Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft).
  M. Mohammednoor, R. Bussert, S. Tsukamoto, M. Richter, O. El Bedri, B. Kraatz, K. Salih, J. Müller, A. Eisawi & F. Bibi
  
• The Pleistocene sediments of the Palaeoatbara in eastern Sudan as an archive for the evolution of the Nile river system. GeoKarlsruhe 2021 (Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft)
  Robert Bussert, Mosab Mohammednoor, Faysal Bibi, Anne Delagnes, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Omar Bedri, Brian Kraatz, Ignacio Lazagabaster, Johannes Müller, Khalaf Salih & Ali Eisawi
  
• A new Late Acheulean assemblage from the Middle Atbara, Sudan. 16th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies, Zanzibar (Tanzania), 7-12 Aug 2022.
  A. Delagnes, O. Khaleel, X. Muth, R. Bussert, S. Tsukamoto, O. Bedri, B. Kraatz, J. Müller, K. Salih, A. Eisawi & F. Bibi
  
• Luminescence chronology of fossiliferous fluvial sediments along the middle Atbara River, Sudan. Quaternary Geochronology, 71, 101312.
  Tsukamoto, S.; Bussert, R.; Delagnes, A.; Richter, M.; Mohammednoor, M.; Bedri, O.; Kraatz, B.; Müller, J.; Salih, K.; Eisawi, A. & Bibi, F.
  
• Paleoclimate reconstruction using middle to late Pleistocene alluvial paleosols of the middle Atbara River in Eastern Sudan. Deutsche Quartärvereinigung- German Quaternary association (DEUQUA) Conference. September, 2022. Poster
  Mohammednoor, Mosab; Bussert, Robert; Tsukamoto, Sumiko; Bedri, Omer; Kraatz, Brian; Müller, Johannes; Salih, Khalafallah; Struck, Ulrich; Eisawi, Ali & Bibi, Faysal
  
• The evolutionary history of an unexplored region: Luminescence dating of fluvial sediments in the Atbara Valley, Sudan. Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics Seminar (online, oral), 28.06.2022
  Bibi. F., Tsukamoto, S. & Atbara project members
  
• Establishing a robust chronology for faunal and human evolution in the middle Atbara Valley, Sudan. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome (International Union for Quaternary Research). 2023
  S. Tsukamoto, R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, B. Kraatz, K. Salih, A. Eisawi & F. Bibi
  
• Faunal and Human Evolution in the Middle to Late Pleistocene of Sudan. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome (International Union for Quaternary Research). Keynote presentation. 2023
  F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, O. Bedri, J.-R. Boisserie, M. Brasil, R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, J. Müller, S. Önder Özkurt, A. Souron, S. Tsukamoto, K. Salih & A. Eisawi
  
• Middle to Late Pleistocene alluvial paleosols in eastern Sudan as indicators of palaeoclimate. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome (International Union for Quaternary Research). 2023
  Mosab Mohammednoor, Robert Bussert, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Omer El Badri, Aisha Hessen, Brian Kraatz, Johannes Müller, Khalafallah Salih, Ulrich Struck, Ali Eisawi & Faysal Bibi
  
• Quaternary alluvial paleosols of the Atbara River, eastern Sudan: description and paleoenvironments. Journal of Quaternary Science, 39(1), 102-118.
  Mohammednoor, M.; Bibi, F.; Eisawi, A.; Tsukamoto, S. & Bussert, R.
  
• The Mid to Late Pleistocene Atbara River basin in eastern Sudan as a habitat for hominins. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome (International Union for Quaternary Research). 2023
  Robert Bussert, Mosab Mohammednoor, Ali Eisawi, Omer El Badri, Anne Delagnes, Brian Kraatz, Khalafallah Salih, Sumiko Tsukamoto & Faysal Bibi