The Predynastic lithic industries of Badari, Middle Egypt: New perspectives and inter‐regional relations

Holmes, Diane

doi:10.1080/00438243.1988.9980057

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Occasional axes and worked tabular slabs also occur (Figs 5 and 6). Our field observations essentially accord with a recent reassessment of the Badarian lithic industry based on Brunton and CatonThompson's collections in the Petrie Museum (Holmes 1988;.…”

Section: Condition Of Sitessupporting

confidence: 87%

Survey and Test Excavations in the Badari Region, Egypt

Holmes

Friedman

1994

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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More than 70 years ago an early Predynastic culture was discovered in the Badari region near Asyut. It was named the Badarian and it represents the oldest known agricultural tradition in the Nile Valley of Upper Egypt. However, much remains to be learned about the Badarian as well as subsequent Predynastic developments in the region which may be expected to throw light on the adoption of agriculture in the Nile Valley and the rise of the Egyptian state. Consequently, new field investigations were initiated in 1989. A large part of the area was field surveyed and test excavations were carried out at the site of Hemamieh, originally excavated by Gertrude Caton-Thompson in the 1920s and famous for its stratified sequence of Predynastic levels.During the 1989 season, the authors visited 42 sites, the majority of which have Predynastic remains. Most of the Predynastic occurrences date to the Badarian or Gerzean phases. Very little material was seen that could be assigned to the intervening Amratian phase, raising the possibility that elements of the Badarian culture remained prevalent in the Badari region at a time when only the Amratian was represented elsewhere in Upper Egypt. Our test excavations at Hemamieh revealed a stratigraphy similar to that described by Caton-Thompson with cultural deposits sandwiched between a surface scree layer and a cemented Limestone gravel deposit or ‘breccia’. The pottery recovered shows a continuous sequence beginning with the Badarian and ending with the Gerzean. Four radiocarbon dates were also obtained. Two of these are on samples from levels with Badarian ceramics and provide calibrated age estimates spanning c. 4400–4000 BC.

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Section: Condition Of Sitessupporting

confidence: 87%

Survey and Test Excavations in the Badari Region, Egypt

Holmes

Friedman

1994

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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“…Other sophisticated punch and hammer techniques were applied to fine and medium quality flints, which were available on a regional scale through exchange networks or direct procurement. Examples of these flints include Biancone and Scaglia variegata types (Barfield 1999); silicified limonite and the volcanic "honey" type (Skourtopoulou 1999; see also Holmes 1988;Gatsov 2000). Specialized production centers have not yet been identified with certainty (Ammerman 1985:65), and so little can be said about the organization of production and exchange systems in the Neolithic.…”

Section: Neolithic (7000/6500-3200/3000 Bc)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lastly, pièces esquillées (or splintered pieces, see Figure 8.3.12) are commonly found in all periods (Runnels 1985a). Other tool groups of limited distribution include the "Çayönü" tools (Anderson and Formenti 1996; see Figure 8.3.13) and flaked axes or adzes, mainly limited to the Levant and Egypt (Coqueugniot 1983;Holmes 1990;Rosen 1997; see Figure 8.3.14). Although widely known in pre-industrial times (Pearlman 1984;Kardulias and Yerkes 1998;Whittaker 1999;Karimali in press), the use of threshing-sledges (tribuli, doukani) in prehistory still remains under investigation (Anderson and Inizan 1994;Shakun 1999).…”

Section: Tool Types (Seementioning

confidence: 99%

Lithic Technologies and Use

Karimali¹

2005

The Archaeology of Mediterranean Prehistory

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“…In general, desert industries, the Nagadian, and the Badarian at Hemamieh yield a macrolithic flake/blade technology characterized by retouched blades, notches, denticulates, endscrapers and some points (Barich & Hassan 1987;Caton-Thompson 1952, 174, 185-86;Holmes 1988;1989, 325-27;Klees 1989b, 228-29;McDonald 1982;1992;Simmons 8c Mandel 1986, 134;Wendorf & Schild 1980, 192-98;1984, 428). There are, however, indications that the data do not support Hassan's model.…”

Section: Overall Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Tarifian they labelled the final, ceramic phase of an Epipalaeolithic tradition (1982, 101;Ginter & Kozlowski 1984, 253). It is significant that Predynastic lithic assemblages vary on a site by site basis (Holmes 1988), which may obscure correlations such as these; the gap between the Tarifian and the Predynastic may also be inflating the differences between the industries. Speaking generally, Ginter and Kozlowski may well be accurate in noting general connections with the Badarian, but the meaning of these is presently unclear.…”

Section: Evidence For Local Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Reassessment of the Origins of the Predynastic in Upper Egypt

Tangri

1992

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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Recent arguments about the origins of the Predynastic in Upper Egypt have posited connections between the lithic industries of that region and those of the Western Desert. It has been further claimed that a mid-Holocene arid period may have led the inhabitants of the desert regions to migrate to the Nile Valley. This essay argues that the evidence of stone tools, as well as ceramic evidence from Dakhla Oasis, fail to support the ‘desert migration’ model, at least as it applies to Dakhla Oasis.

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The Predynastic lithic industries of Badari, Middle Egypt: New perspectives and inter‐regional relations

Cited by 10 publications

References 9 publications

Survey and Test Excavations in the Badari Region, Egypt

Survey and Test Excavations in the Badari Region, Egypt

Lithic Technologies and Use

A Reassessment of the Origins of the Predynastic in Upper Egypt

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