Neolithic occupation of an artesian spring: KS043 in the Kharga Oasis, Egypt

Briois, François; Midant-Reynes, Béatrix; Marchand, Sylvie; Tristant, Yann; Wuttmann, Michel; Dapper, Morgan De; Lesur, Joséphine; Newton, Claire

doi:10.1179/0093469012z.00000000018

Cited by 42 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Fish remains are extremely rare and the few clariid bones found may represent the remains of imports from the Nile Valley [65] . This connection is confirmed by other evidence, including artefacts that indicate possible contacts with the Nile Valley (approximately 200 km distant) [66] . The few domestic plant remains recorded are pieces of cleaned grains, that are considered unlikely to be from local agriculture, but are probably also imports from the Nile Valley (Newton in [66] ).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…This connection is confirmed by other evidence, including artefacts that indicate possible contacts with the Nile Valley (approximately 200 km distant) [66] . The few domestic plant remains recorded are pieces of cleaned grains, that are considered unlikely to be from local agriculture, but are probably also imports from the Nile Valley (Newton in [66] ). Similarly, the large bivalves collected at the site are thought to originate from the Nile Valley [65] .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

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New Archaeozoological Data from the Fayum “Neolithic” with a Critical Assessment of the Evidence for Early Stock Keeping in Egypt

et al. 2014

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Faunal evidence from the Fayum Neolithic is often cited in the framework of early stock keeping in Egypt. However, the data suffer from a number of problems. In the present paper, large faunal datasets from new excavations at Kom K and Kom W (4850–4250 BC) are presented. They clearly show that, despite the presence of domesticates, fish predominate in the animal bone assemblages. In this sense, there is continuity with the earlier Holocene occupation from the Fayum, starting ca. 7350 BC. Domesticated plants and animals appear first from approximately 5400 BC. The earliest possible evidence for domesticates in Egypt are the very controversial domesticated cattle from the 9th/8th millennium BC in the Nabta Playa-Bir Kiseiba area. The earliest domesticates found elsewhere in Egypt date to the 6th millennium BC. The numbers of bones are generally extremely low at this point in time and only caprines are present. From the 5th millennium BC, the numbers of sites with domesticates dramatically increase, more species are also involved and they are usually represented by significant quantities of bones. The data from the Fayum reflect this two phase development, with very limited evidence for domesticates in the 6th millennium BC and more abundant and clearer indications in the 5th millennium BC. Any modelling of early food production in Egypt suffers from poor amounts of data, bias due to differential preservation and visibility of sites and archaeological remains, and a lack of direct dates for domesticates. In general, however, the evidence for early stock keeping and accompanying archaeological features shows large regional variation and seems to be mainly dependent on local environmental conditions. The large numbers of fish at Kom K and Kom W reflect the proximity of Lake Qarun.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

New Archaeozoological Data from the Fayum “Neolithic” with a Critical Assessment of the Evidence for Early Stock Keeping in Egypt

et al. 2014

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“…However, there is yet no evidence of such an early distribution in the archaeological record of Northeastern Africa. It is possible that the dog was also among the domesticated animals used by people, although archaeological remains of domesticated dogs are reported only from the 7 cal kyr BP at Kharga and Badari (Flores 2003;Briois et al 2012). Pigs are instead reported from the Fayum and the Delta again from ca.…”

Section: The Greater Nile Valleymentioning

confidence: 92%

Holocene Supra-Regional Environmental Changes as Trigger for Major Socio-Cultural Processes in Northeastern Africa and the Sahara

Gatto

Zerboni

2015

Afr Archaeol Rev

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This contribution presents the environmental changes that occurred over the last ten millennia in a vast region of North Africa, encompassing the Central Sahara, the Greater Nile Valley and the Horn of Africa. These areas are of particular significance in the continent because of the early socioeconomic transformations that occurred there. An up-to-date review of palaeoclimate research is proposed with the aim to highlight new theoretical approaches, analytical methods and innovative techniques. Results of recent research on high-resolution and well-dated palaeoenvironmental archives for proxy data have been used to understand the climatic variability at different scales of resolution. We trace the regional changes in Holocene palaeohydrology, mostly regulated by monsoonal precipitation, and their effects on the landscape, and highlight the occurrence of short-term climatic events, arid or humid that may have had disruptive consequences on human communities. The contribution also discusses the cultural dynamics that occurred in those regions because the latter were exploited by hunter/ gatherer groups from the onset of the Holocene until historical times. A reconstruction of patterns of human adjustment to climatic variability is here presented, focusing on key processes such as the origin of food production, social complexity and power, and the rise and fall of complex polities and interregional networks.Résumé Cette contribution présente les changements environnementaux survenus au cours des dix derniers millénaires dans une vaste région de l'Afrique du Nord, englobant le Sahara Central, la vallée du Nile, et la Corne de l'Afrique. Ces zones sont Afr Archaeol Rev (2015) 32:301-333 d'une importance particulière, car ce sont là que les processus de développement socio-économiques se sont initialement produits sur le continent. Une revue à jour de la recherche paléoclimatique est proposée dans le but de mettre en évidence de nouvelles approches théoriques, méthodes analytiques et techniques innovantes. Les résultats de recherches récentes sur des archives paléoenvironnementales à haute résolution et bien datées ont été utilisées pour comprendre la variabilité climatique à différentes échelles, traçant les changements régionaux dans la paléohydrologie de l'Holocène, principalement régis par les précipitations de mousson, et leurs effets sur le paysage et soulignant l'apparition de courts événements climatiques, aride ou humide, qui ont pu avoir des conséquences perturbatrices sur les communautés humaines. Cette contribution aborde également les dynamiques culturelles qui ont eu lieu dans ces régions depuis qu'elles ont été exploitées par des groupes de chasseurs/cueilleurs du début de l'Holocène aux périodes historiques. Une reconstruction des schémas d'adaptation humaine aux variations climatiques est présentée ici, en se concentrant sur des processus clés, tels que l'origine de la production alimentaire, la complexité sociale et le pouvoir; ainsi que sur l'essor et la chute de systèmes politiques complexes et de ...

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“…The combination of density, accessibility, growth rate, and fuel value suggests why tamarisk was the primary fuel source at all three locations over a span of 3000 years. Tamarisk is additionally the most common wood type among many prehistoric and Predynastic charcoal assemblages from archaeological assemblages in Egypt, including the Western (Barakat, 1996;Briois et al, 2012;Cottini and Castelletti, 2014;Neumann, 1989aNeumann, , 1989bTomczynska, 1989) and Eastern Deserts (Marinova et al, 2008;Vermeersch et al, 2015), as well as the Predynastic Nile Valley (Newton, 2005;Newton and MidantReynes, 2007). It continued to be a common fuel wood in the Fayum through the Roman era (Marston, unpublished data).…”

Section: Reconstructing Woodland Ecology and Wood Use In The Early-anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early- and middle-Holocene wood exploitation in the Fayum basin, Egypt

Marston

Holdaway

2017

The Holocene

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The early and middle Holocene of North Africa was a time of dramatic climatic and social change, including rapid shifts in vegetation communities and the introduction of domesticated plants and animals. Recent research from the Fayum basin of Egypt, which holds archaeological evidence for early use of domesticates, aims to place inhabitants of that region within their contemporary environmental setting. We present here results of wood charcoal analysis from three early-and middle-Holocene deposits on the north shore of the Fayum and reconstruct both contemporary woodland ecology and patterns of anthropogenic wood use. In total, three woodland communities likely existed in the area, but inhabitants of this region made heavy use of only the local lakeshore woodland, emphasizing tamarisk (Tamarix sp.) for fuel. While seasonally watered wadi woodlands were not harvested for fuel, more arid locations on the landscape were, evidencing regional mobility between ecological zones. Results indicate that wood was locally abundant and that inhabitants were able to select only preferred species for fuel. This study provides further evidence for low-level food production in the Fayum that preserved critical ecosystem services, rather than dramatic niche construction to promote agriculture as seen elsewhere in middle-Holocene Southwest Asia.

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Neolithic occupation of an artesian spring: KS043 in the Kharga Oasis, Egypt

Cited by 42 publications

References 20 publications

New Archaeozoological Data from the Fayum “Neolithic” with a Critical Assessment of the Evidence for Early Stock Keeping in Egypt

New Archaeozoological Data from the Fayum “Neolithic” with a Critical Assessment of the Evidence for Early Stock Keeping in Egypt

Holocene Supra-Regional Environmental Changes as Trigger for Major Socio-Cultural Processes in Northeastern Africa and the Sahara

Early- and middle-Holocene wood exploitation in the Fayum basin, Egypt

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