Living in an Egyptian Oasis: Reconstruction of the Holocene Archaeological Sequence in Kharga

Dachy, Tiphaine; Briois, François; Marchand, Sylvie; Minotti, Mathilde; Lesur, Joséphine; Wuttmann, Michel

doi:10.1007/s10437-018-9306-2

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…For the early Pleistocene, spring sites with hominin remains are found in Turkey (Kappelman et al, 2008;Lebatard et al, 2014;Vialet et al, 2012), the Syrian desert (Jagher et al, 2015), and in Tanzania with several sites throughout the 1.89 -1.30 Ma interval at Olduvai Gorge (Ashley et al, , 2014a(Ashley et al, , 2010a(Ashley et al, , 2010b(Ashley et al, , 2010c(Ashley et al, , 2009Barboni et al, 2010;Deocampo et al, 2002;Garrett, 2017;McHenry et al, 2007), and possibly at Peninj as Typha pollen is abundant (Dominguez-Rodrigo et al, 2001). During the Middle and Upper Pleistocene, there is recurrent evidence for human presence at spring sites in the Saharan desert belt (Churcher et al, 1999;Dachy et al, 2018;Foulds et al, 2017;Hill, 2001;Kleindienst et al, 2008;McCool, 2018;Nicoll et al, 1999;Smith et al, 2007Smith et al, , 2004Wendorf et al, 1993), in northeast Ethiopia (Benito-Calvo et al, 2014;Gossa et al, 2012;Williams et al, 1977), in Kenya (Beverly et al, 2015;Johnson et al, 2009;Johnson and McBrearty, 2012;Tryon et al, 2014Tryon et al, , 2012Van Plantinga, 2011), and South Africa (Butzer, 1973;Porat et al, 2010). In South Africa, the massive tufa fan deposits spanning the length of the Ghaap Plateau escarpment (the Buxton Limeworks at Taung, and the Groot Kloof and Gorrokop at Ulco) have resulted from the dischar...…”

Section: Hominin and Archeological Sites Cooccurring With Springs Sprmentioning

confidence: 99%

Springs, palm groves, and the record of early hominins in Africa

Barboni

Ashley

Bourel

et al. 2019

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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Highlights• Groundwater systems locally create wet and wooded microhabitats in arid Eastern Africa.• But, how important are groundwater-fed microhabitats to the early hominin record?• Geological context, vegetation, and microfossils from modern springs were analyzed.• Fossil springs were found associated with hominin remains in >50 different localities.• Groundwater systems play essential roles at the species and ecosystem levels. AbstractHominins evolved in Africa during a period of overall regional cooling, drying and increasingly variable climate. Despite prevailing regional aridity since the mid-Miocene, data show that early hominins Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Orrorin tugenensis, and Ardipithecus ramidus lived in environments made of mosaics of grasslands, mixed grasslands, woodlands, and forests, where wooded habitats were maintained by edaphic rather than regional (climatic) humidity. Groundwater systems (springs, seeps, shallow aquifers) and surface water (rivers, lakes), locally create wetter and more wooded environments in addition to that supported by precipitation alone. However, edaphically sustained woodlands are rare to missing in most published paleoeclogical interpretations of hominin archeological sites. To explore the importance of groundwater to the record of hominins in Africa, we provide newly acquired field data from spring sites in the Awash Valley, Ethiopia, and Lake Eyasi-Lake Manyara region, Tanzania, and re-evaluate published data from the Ardipithecus-bearing Aramis Member, Ethiopia.Results show that 1) in arid Eastern Africa, a wide variety of microhabitats such as groundwaterfed wetlands, Hyphaene palm woodlands, Phoenix reclinata palm woodlands, and structurally complex and species-rich forest patches exist due to local variability of geologic, topographic and hydrologic conditions. 2) These microhabitats carry some characteristic pollen and phytolith signals, that may be easily masked by the signal of surrounding grass-dominated shrublands and grasslands. 3) The Aramis Member (Awash Valley, Ethiopia), which is to date, the best documented paleo-groundwater ecosystem, is not a riparian habitat. It is one of > 50 examples (within 22 geographically distinct areas) in Africa and the Middle East where evidence of groundwater systems co-exist with hominin and/or archeological remains. Springs are commonly localized features of limited area within a landscape, but provide ecological continuity through time and diverse microhabitats, some of which may be densely forested.At the local scale, springs create microclimates, distinctive vegetation, and increase soil nutrients, species richness, structural complexity, and provide habitat for animals. At the landscape scale, they represent hydro-refugia favoring increased connectivity among animals and allowing migrations during dry periods. We conclude that in the East African Rift where low, highly seasonal rainfall and high evaporative demand limit vegetation growth in many areas, groundwater-fed zones create diverse microhabitats and play a m...

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Section: Hominin and Archeological Sites Cooccurring With Springs Sprmentioning

confidence: 99%

Springs, palm groves, and the record of early hominins in Africa

Barboni

Ashley

Bourel

et al. 2019

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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“…In recent years, there have been several scholarly investigations that have concentrated on the restoration of paleoclimatic variations in the Western Desert of Egypt [1,1,7,25,34,38,39,41,42,[44][45][46]. The aforementioned researches have employed various metrics such as radiocarbon dating of human habitation, geomorphological scrutiny encompassing the detection of lacustrine deposits, and the scrutiny of plant macro remains to reconstruct the crucial ecological circumstances that support human sustenance.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, studies related to the Kharga's prehistory were still at an early stage compared to the rest of the Western Desert. Recent research by the Institut français d'archéologie orientale (IFAO) in Kharga has collected new evidence, allowing the proposal of a renewed archaeological sequence for human occupation in the Kharga Oasis [40,42,43].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Echoes of the Past: Unveiling the Kharga Oasis’ Cultural Heritage and Climate Vulnerability through Millennia

Ismael,

Abbas,

Ghaly

et al. 2023

Heritage

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The civilization and tangible cultural heritage of the Kharga Oasis has a historical precedence over that of the old Nile Valley civilization. Approximately 12,000 years ago, a significant prehistoric migration occurred from the Kharga Oasis to the Nile Valley. This event was motivated by climate change and the southward shift of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which caused a shift in Egypt’s savannah forests from abundant vegetation to an extremely dry desert. The present study investigates the progressive deterioration of the tangible cultural and civilized legacy of the Kharga Oasis over the course of several millennia, positing that this phenomenon can be attributed to the area’s vulnerability to paleoclimatic fluctuations. The evaluation of the Kharga Oasis’ susceptibility to climate change was predicated on the scrutiny of petroglyphs that were unearthed at different sites within the Oasis. This analysis was reinforced by paleoclimate information and radiocarbon dating (C14). The utilization of an interdisciplinary approach yielded significant insights into the dynamic climate patterns and their effects on the Kharga Oasis across temporal scales. The results illustrated a noteworthy alteration in climate, which caused the conversion of the Oasis terrain from being heavily wooded to becoming arid, mainly due to extended periods of drought. The present research postulates a novel and alternate hypothesis concerning the archaeological chronology of human habitation in the Kharga Oasis from ancient eras, predicated on the analysis of pictorial depictions on rock surfaces. The findings of this study made a noteworthy contribution to the current corpus of knowledge regarding the vulnerability of the ancient Egyptian society to the impacts of climate variability. Moreover, the petroglyphs’ depictions provided a distinctive viewpoint on the climatic fluctuations that occurred in the Sahara and North Africa throughout the Holocene epoch, as well as the fundamental causative factors.

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“…Interestingly, some degree of replacement between the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic populations is probable at el-Barga on the basis of skeletal and dental morphology between the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic individuals (Benoiston et al, 2018;Crevecoeur, Desideri, Chaix, & Honegger, 2012), which corresponds well with distinct differences in labret styles recorded between Sudanese Mesolithic and Neolithic sites summarized here (Table 3). Labrets, defined on stylistic grounds, rather than association with burials or dental wear, are frequently documented in archaeological contexts within the Nile Valley (e.g., Arkell, 1949;Bobrowski, Jórdeczka, Sobkowiak-Tabaka, & Binder, 2016;Chłodnicki & Kabaci nski, 2015;Dachy et al, 2018;Fernández, Jimeno, & Menéndez, 2003;Geus & Lecointe, 2003;McDonald, 2016), and elsewhere in Africa (Gaussen & Gaussen, 1962;MacDonald, 1999), and largely reinforce the temporospatial distribution presented here on the basis of labret-induced wear and labrets associated with burials.…”

Section: Contemporaneous With Early and Middle Mesolithic Examples Frommentioning

confidence: 99%

Biocultural diversity in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Africa: Olduvai Hominid 1 (Tanzania) biological affinity and intentional body modification

Willman

Hernando

Matu

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: The dentition of Olduvai Hominid 1 (OH1) exhibits an anomalous pattern of dental wear that was originally attributed to either intentional cultural modification (filing) or plant processing behaviors. A differential diagnosis of the wear and assessment of the biological affinity of OH1 is presented.Materials and Methods: Macroscopic and microscopic observations of all labial and buccal tooth surfaces were undertaken to assess wear patterns. A multivariate analysis of mandibular morphology of OH1 compared to other Late Pleistocene, Holocene, and recent modern humans was used to ascertain biological affinity. Results:The morphological variation of the OH1 mandible is closely aligned with variation in penecontemporaneous fossils from Africa and outside that of recent humans. The concave wear facets exposing dentin on the labial surfaces of all three preserved mandibular incisors is confirmed. Substantial loss of labial/buccal surfaces was documented on the surfaces of all in situ maxillary and mandibular canines, premolars, and molars ranging from distinct facets with well-defined edges, to blunting or "polishing" around areas of maximum buccal curvature. The wear on both the anterior and postcanine teeth closely resemble that caused by adornments ("labrets") worn in lower-lip and buccal facial piercings known from bioarchaeological and ethnographic contexts. The wear pattern suggests that the OH1 wore three facial piercings-two buccal/lateral and a medial one in the lower lip.Discussion: Our findings suggest that the expression of social identities through intentional body modification is more diverse than previously documented elsewhere in Africa during the Late Pleistocene (i.e., ablation) and Early Holocene (i.e., ablation, chipping, and filing).

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Living in an Egyptian Oasis: Reconstruction of the Holocene Archaeological Sequence in Kharga

Cited by 17 publications

References 29 publications

Springs, palm groves, and the record of early hominins in Africa

Springs, palm groves, and the record of early hominins in Africa

Echoes of the Past: Unveiling the Kharga Oasis’ Cultural Heritage and Climate Vulnerability through Millennia

Biocultural diversity in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Africa: Olduvai Hominid 1 (Tanzania) biological affinity and intentional body modification

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