Preliminary Lithic Analysis from Open-Air Sites in the Gwoza Hills, Borno State

The Mandara Mountains and their southern extensions in Borno State harbour numerous open-air lithic scatters that have attracted intermittent archaeological attention but remain poorly integrated into regional syntheses of Nigerian prehistory. This study presents a preliminary lithic analysis from three open-air site localities in the Gwoza Hills, recovering and classifying surface artefacts through systematic collection along parallel transects. The total assemblage of four hundred and twelve pieces was classified using a standardized lithic attribute scheme covering raw material, reduction stage, platform type, dorsal scar patterning, and retouch mode. Raw materials are predominantly locally available quartzite and fine-grained sandstone, with a small proportion of imported chert that suggests raw material exchange or mobility across the hill zone. The technological signature includes a mixture of Levallois-like prepared core reduction and a blade-based component that finds parallels in published Later Stone Age assemblages from northeastern Nigeria and northern Cameroon. Retouched pieces include backed bladelets, denticulates, and notched pieces, suggesting a functionally versatile toolkit consistent with a generalist forager-pastoralist adaptation. The study situates findings within recent discussions of the forest-savanna transition in human technological evolution, noting that the Gwoza Hills would have offered a refuge habitat during arid periods. Future work including OSL dating of sediments and more extensive excavation is strongly recommended. Keywords: lithic analysis, Gwoza Hills, Borno State, Later Stone Age, open-air sites.