Abstract
Abstract. The current state of research about ancient settlements within the Nile Delta allows the hypothesizing of fluvial connections to ancient settlements all over the Nile Delta. Previous studies suggest a larger Nile branch close to Kom el-Gir, an ancient settlement hill in the northwestern Nile Delta. To contribute new knowledge to this little-known site and prove this hypothesis, this study aims at using small-scale paleogeographic investigations to reconstruct an ancient channel system in the surroundings of Kom el-Gir. The study pursues the following: (1) the identification of sedimentary environments via stratigraphic and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analyses of the sediments, (2) the detection of fluvial elements via electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and (3) the synthesis of all results to provide a comprehensive reconstruction of a former fluvial network in the surroundings of Kom el-Gir. Therefore, auger core drillings, pXRF analyses, and ERT were conducted to examine the sediments within the study area. Based on the evaluation of the results, the study presents clear evidence of a former channel system in the surroundings of Kom el-Gir. Thereby, it is the combination of both methods, 1-D corings and 2-D ERT profiles, that derives a more detailed illustration of previous environmental conditions which other studies can adopt. Especially within the Nile Delta which comprises a large number of smaller and larger ancient settlement hills, this study's approach can contribute to paleogeographic investigations to improve the general understanding of the former fluvial landscape.
Highlights
The Nile Delta (Fig. 1) has been settled and cultivated since the Neolithic period as the earliest known archeological remains within the delta from ca. 4530 BCE reveal (Butzer, 2002)
The connection of ancient settlements to former Nile branches is considered an essential factor for the vitality of a settlement to supply people and animals with fresh water, to irrigate fields, or as a connection to the transport system (Bietak, 1975; Lange et al, 2016; Schiestl, 2018; Ginau et al, 2019)
This study aims to explore the subsurface sediments in the surroundings of Kom el-Gir (KeG) to obtain a comprehensive view of the paleoenvironmental conditions in this area
Summary
The Nile Delta (Fig. 1) has been settled and cultivated since the Neolithic period as the earliest known archeological remains within the delta from ca. 4530 BCE reveal (Butzer, 2002). 2, 3), presumably represents a favored place with a hypothesized connection to a larger former Nile branch (Schiestl, 2019) To prove this assumption, this study aims to explore the subsurface sediments in the surroundings of KeG to obtain a comprehensive view of the paleoenvironmental conditions in this area. This study aims to explore the subsurface sediments in the surroundings of KeG to obtain a comprehensive view of the paleoenvironmental conditions in this area In this context, core drillings are widely adopted for scientific investigations into paleoenvironmental reconstructions (Marriner et al, 2012; Pint et al, 2015; Morhange et al, 2016; Seeliger et al, 2018). In addition to core drillings, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) offers great opportunities for near-subsurface investigations in general (Toonen et al, 2018; Wunderlich et al, 2018) and was previously applied within the Nile Delta (El Gamili et al, 1994, 2001)
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