The Egyptian Palaeolithic record is found in two main areas: the Nile Valley and the western desert; fresh water is scarce in the Red Sea Hills of the eastern desert and this greatly restricted human habitation there. The valley appears to have been occupied almost continuously from about 500 kya, but the western desert was only used during those times when its hyperaridity was broken by intervals of significant rainfall during which people were able to live there.
The Egyptian Lower Palaeolithic (700/500-250 kya) is taken to begin with the emergence of the Acheulian industry. The five different flows of ancient rivers cut eight terraces in the rocky cliffs of the eastern and western shores. The sixth terrace from the top is Prenile and has yielded Acheulian handaxes. In Egypt no human remains have been found in association with Acheulian artefacts but finds elsewhere in Africa suggest that these tools were made by Homo erectus.
Acheulian handaxes can still be found on the surface of the deserts of the Nile Valley, although not in their original context. From this it can be assumed that Homo erectus passed through the valley, leaving his handaxes at various sites. Several locations in Nubia containing large numbers of handaxes, choppers and debitage have been identified as quarries or workshops. In the western desert the Kharga and Dakhleh oases are classified as Late Acheulian (300 kya). Bir Sahara is regarded as Final Acheulian (200 kya). Acheulian assemblages have also been found near Bir Tarfawi and Bir Safsaf.
The Egyptian Middle Palaeolithic (250-50 kya) is characterised by the introduction of the Levallois technique (cores carefully prepared so that a single blow produces a flake of designated shape). In Europe the associated culture is called Mousterian and the use of this name has been extended to include the similar cultures in Egypt and Nubia.
During the Early Middle Palaeolithic (200-150 kya) a special Nubian knapping technique was introduced for the production of pointed flakes (presumably used for hunting). Although present in both Nubia and Egypt, the finds in Nubia are better preserved. Sites at Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara have revealed a sequence of five Middle Palaeolithic wet intervals over the period 175-70 kya.
During the mid-Middle Palaeolithic (150-80 kya) at sites such as Nazlet Khater and Taramsa in the Nile Valley, groups searched for raw materials, mainly chert cobbles, which were removed from terrace deposits via pits and open trenches. At Nazlet Khater-4 (40-35 kya), chert was obtained by using underground galleries. At such quarry sites, tools are rarely found because it was intended that they be moved to living sites, probably on the Nile floodplain. In the Red Sea Hills of the eastern desert the Sodmein Cave has provided archaeological levels going back to 118 kya.
During the Late Middle Palaeolithic (80-50 kya) the Nubian technique began to disappear. At the same time there is a diversification of local industries. Flake and blade production dominated. At living sites, burins and denticulates (multiple-notched tools) were being used. Meanwhile, the climate had changed from arid to hyperarid. The deserts were abandoned and people moved to the Nile Valley. At Taramsa-1, an extraction and production site near Qena, the burial of an anatomically modern child was found, dating to 55 kya.
Very few sites of the Upper Palaeolithic (50-24 kya) have been found in Egypt. This fits with climatic and environmental data that suggest that the eastern Sahara was experiencing extreme desiccation during this period. The Aterian industry (43-30 kya), named after the type site Bir el-Ater in Algeria, is found in North Africa from the Atlantic to the Nile. The Khormusan industry (41-33 kya), consists of five sites located near Khor Musa near the second cataract. The Halfan industry (40-18kya), first discovered near Wadi Halfa, stretched from the second cataract to the Kom Ombo plain in Upper Egypt. The Shuwikhatian industry (25-22 kya) is represented by a number of sites near Qena and Esna.
Although many sites of the Late Palaeolithic (24-10 kya) have been discovered in Upper Egypt, none have been found in Middle and Lower Egypt. This is thought to be due to a very low water level in the Mediterranean during this period resulting in the valley being more deeply cut, resulting in a surface covered by later alluvia.
The Fakhurian industry (21-19.5 kya), named after Deir el-Fakhuri near Esna in Upper Egypt, was based entirely on microlithic tools. Although the Kubbaniyan industry (19-16.5 kya) was defined at Wadi Kubbaniya near Aswan, sites have been found near Esna and Edfu. The Silsilian industry named after Gebel el-Silsila on the Kom Ombo plain is so similar to the Ballanan industry, named after Ballana in lower Nubia, that the two are usually combined (16-15 kya).
At the end of the Ice Age around 13-12 kya there were exceptionally high floods. One of the sites out of reach of the inundations of this ‘Wild Nile’ stage was Makhadma-4, evidently linked with the Afian industry (12.9-12.3 kya), named after the village of Thomas Afia near Esna.
The Isnan industry (12.7-11.5 kya), named after Isna (=Esna) in Upper Egypt, has been found at several sites between Wadi Kubbaniya to the Dishna plain. The most widespread Late Palaeolithic industry is the Sebilian (12.5 kya), named after Sebil on the Kom Ombo plain and found between Wadi Halfa and Qena.
The Qadan industry (14-12.5 kya), named after Qada in Lower Nubia, is distributed between the second cataract and southern Egypt. Its main interest is that it is associated with three cemeteries. Gebel Sahaba produced fifty-nine skeletons, twenty-four of which showed signs of violent death. Almost opposite, on the other side of the Nile, there is a smaller cemetery where no evidence of violent death was found on the bodies. At Tushka, 250 km south of Aswan, twenty-one graves were uncovered. For North Africa the term Epipalaeolithic (12-7.5 kya) is used to refer to the period when microlithic tools were being used, i.e. between the end of the Late Palaeolithic and the beginning of the Neolithic. The Arkinian industry (9.5 kya) is named after Arkin in Lower Nubia. The Quarunian industry (8.1-7.2 kya), a renaming of the Faiyum B culture, is named after Lake Qarun in the Faiyum depression southwest of Cairo. Campsites at El-Kab in Upper Egypt are the type sites for the Elkabian industry (8.4-8 kya). The Shamarkian industry (8-7 kya) is found in a number of sites in Lower Nubia.
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