Chapter 7 - Efficiency of the magnetic method in surveying desert sites in Egypt and Sudan: Case studies

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This chapter describes research results, obtained using the magnetic method, of selected sites located in the desert in Egypt and Sudan. Most of the sites lie on the so-called low desert—a desert plain up to several kilometers wide, adjacent to farming areas in the Nile Valley. Some sites are located on the edge of the high desert—a desert plateau cut by the Nile Valley. Presented in this chapter are also sites that had undergone the process of desertification following the departure of local communities and the lack of irrigation. The case studies are divided into the following categories of archeological sites: villages and cities, palatial centers, workers’ settlements, monastic settlements, cemeteries and cult places, and production centers. The ability of the magnetic method to observe paleolandscape changes is also presented. The registration of ancient architectural remains was made possible due to high magnetic susceptibility of the basic building material in the Nile Valley—the Nile mud. In some cases, architecture deprived of magnetic properties was recorded as negative anomalies, due to the increased susceptibility of the surrounding and covering layers. The presented results were obtained using the fluxgate gradiometer measuring the vertical gradient of magnetic field intensity.