Reconstructing Prehistoric Waterscapes and Human Mobility during MIS 5 in North Africa

The spatial organization of early Homo sapiens populations in North Africa during Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS 5) remains a key question for understanding past demographic and cultural dynamics. Climatic fluctuations during this period produced alternating humid and arid phases, reshaping suitable habitats and influencing potential movement corridors. Previous studies have emphasized the importance of hydrographic networks for human dispersal, yet the extent to which climate-driven hydrological changes structured regional connectivity across MIS 5 substages remains poorly understood. This study integrates downscaled paleoclimate simulations, hydrological modelling, GIS-based optimal-path analyses, and archaeological site distributions to reconstruct patterns of human mobility during MIS 5. We model paleohydrographic networks for each MIS 5 substage and evaluate how precipitation variability influenced freshwater availability and landscape connectivity. Our results reveal spatio-temporal shifts in hydrographic networks and identify river corridors that likely facilitated movement between coastal North Africa and the Central Sahara. These findings provide new insights into the role of waterscapes in structuring human mobility and contribute to broader discussions of Late Pleistocene human dispersal in Africa.