Pleistocene Deposits in the Southern Egyptian Sahara: Lithostratigraphic Relationships of Sediments and Landscape Dynamics at Bir Tarfawi

The sedimentological and lithostratigraphic record from north-central Bir Tarfawi documents the presence of Pleistocene basin-fill deposits. Three topographic basins were created as a result of deflation during climate episodes associated with lowering of the local groundwater table. In each case, the three deflational basins or topographic depressions were subsequently filled with sediments; these basin aggradations coincided with changes from arid climate conditions to wetter conditions and a rise in the groundwater table. The oldest and highest sedimentary remnant is associated with Acheulian artifacts and may reflect spring-fed pond and marsh conditions during a Middle Pleistocene wet climate episode. Lithofacies for a lower stratigraphic sequence (the “White Lake”) documents deposition in a perennial lake that varied in extent and depth and is associated with Middle Paleolithic artifacts. A third episode of deflation created a topographic low that has been filled with Late Pleistocene sediments that are associated with Middle Paleolithic artifacts and fossil remains. Lateral and vertical variations in the lithofacies of this basin-fill sequence and the sediments of the “grey-green” lake phases provide a record of changing hydrologic conditions. These hydrologic conditions appear to reflect variations in water-table levels related to groundwater recharge and, at times, local rains

The African Chapter in the Scientific Life of Professor Michał Kobusiewicz

I met Michał for the first time in the spring of 1959 while recruiting young archaeologists to work on the excavation of the Final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic camps of Rydno Complex, a Stone Age red ochre quarry and socio-economic centre. A fresh MA in archaeology, I was then working as a field manager for Stefan Krukowski, an unorthodox prehistorian, directing work in the very significant Rydno Project in Central Poland. During the project, young Kobusiewicz turned out to be a competent, eager student and a good field companion. We spent the next field season together on a foot-survey along the Late Glacial left bank Vistula terrace between Włocławek and Płock in central Poland. We slept in farmers’ barns, cooked one-dish meals in a pot that we carried fastened to our backpacks, and duly recorded many, today classic, Mesolithic sandy sites. Since these early years of our acquaintance, our professional, as well as private lives, became closely intertwined. We worked jointly in many Combined Prehistoric Expedition (CPE) missions in Egypt and at several sites in his cherished ‘prehistoric Arcadia’, or the Wojnowo Region in Western Poland

The Western Desert during the 5th and 4th millennia BC. The Late and Final Neolithic in the Nabta-Kiseiba Area

Wendorf Fred, Schild Romuald. The Western Desert during the 5th and 4th millennia BC. The Late and Final Neolithic in the Nabta-Kiseiba Area. In: Archéo-Nil. Revue de la société pour l'étude des cultures prépharaoniques de la vallée du Nil, n°14, 2004. L’Égypte et ses voisins aux 5e et 4e millénaires. pp. 13-30

Pleistocene deposits in the Southern Egyptian Sahara: lithostratigraphic relationships of sedimentsand landscape dynamics at Bir Tarfawi

The sedimentological and lithostratigraphic record from north-central Bir Tarfawi documents the presence of Pleistocene basin-fill deposits. Three topographic basins were created as a result of deflation during climate episodes associated with lowering of the local groundwater table. In each case, the three deflational basins or topographic depressions were subsequently filled with sediments; these basin aggradations coincided with changes from arid climate conditions to wetter conditions and a rise in the groundwater table. The oldest and highest sedimentary remnant is associated with Acheulian artifacts and may reflect spring-fed pond and marsh conditions during a Middle Pleistocene wet climate episode. Lithofacies for a lower stratigraphic sequence (the “White Lake”) documents deposition in a perennial lake that varied in extent and depth and is associated with Middle Paleolithic artifacts. A third episode of deflation created a topographic low that has been filled with Late Pleistocene sediments that are associated with Middle Paleolithic artifacts and fossil remains. Lateral and vertical variations in the lithofacies of this basin-fill sequence and the sediments of the “grey-green” lake phases provide a record of changing hydrologic conditions. These hydrologic conditions appear to reflect variations in water-table levels related to groundwater recharge and, at times, local rains

Saharan exploitation of plants 8,000 years BP

Sorghum and millets are among the world's most important food crops and, for the inhabitants of the semi-arid tropics, they are the main sources of protein and energy. Little is known about the history of these crops; their domestication is thought to have occurred in the African savannah, but the date and precise location are unknown1,2. Excavations at an early Holocene archaeological site in southernmost Egypt, 100 km west of Abu Simbel, have yielded hundreds of carbonized seeds of sorghum and millets, with consistent radiocarbon dates of 8,000 years before present (BP), thus providing the earliest evidence for the use of these plants. They are morphologically wild, but the lipid fraction of the sorghum grains shows a closer relationship to domesticated than to wild varieties. Whatever their domestic status, the use of these plants 8,000 years ago suggests that the African plant-food complex developed independently of the Levantine wheat and barley complex