Prehistoric occupation of Late Quaternary landscapes near Kharga Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt

Abstract

A systematic geoarchaeological survey conducted north of Kharga Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt recorded all prehistoric sites in eight transects over a total area of 30 km2. The survey focused on the entire range of landscapes along the fringe of the Libyan Plateau, an area previously assumed by researchers to be uninhabitable. Our objective was to determine the distribution and cultural affiliations of prehistoric sites in relation to different geomorphic settings in this hyperarid environment. The results of the survey reveal temporal and spatial patterns in the record of prehistoric occupation. During the Lower Paleolithic, wadis at the foot of the Plateau escarpment attracted people, as did springs on the floor of the Kharga Depression. During Middle Paleolithic pluvials, wadis and springs were occupied by people, but the archaeological record suggests that human occupation shifted towards small depressions, or pans, on the Libyan Plateau, an area considered uninhabitable by previous researchers. Most of the Middle Paleolithic, Terminal Paleolithic, and Neolithic cultural deposits are associated with the pans. Reduced variability in the geomorphic setting of sites during the Terminal Paleolithic/Neolithic compared to the Middle Paleolithic may reflect reduced effective precipitation during the early Holocene. It is likely that monsoonal summer rains of central Africa periodically penetrated at least as far north as Kharga during the Terminal Paleolithic and Neolithic, supplying water to the pans and wadis. Hence, while wadis and many springs became dry during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition (∼10,000 yr B.P.), the pans remained seasonal ponds with sufficient vegetation to attract game and people to a region that was otherwise a desert. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.