Dating the End of the Neolithic in an Eastern Sahara Oasis: Modeling Absolute Chronology
| Autor: | Michel Wuttmann, Béatrix Midant-Reynes, François Briois, Tiphaine Dachy |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire (IFAO), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
Archeology [SHS.STAT]Humanities and Social Sciences/Methods and statistics [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory 060102 archaeology Artesian aquifer Context (language use) 06 humanities and the arts Structural basin 01 natural sciences Archaeology law.invention Prehistory [SPI]Engineering Sciences [physics] law General Earth and Planetary Sciences 0601 history and archaeology Radiocarbon dating Pottery ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS Geology Holocene 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Chronology |
| Zdroj: | Radiocarbon Radiocarbon, University of Arizona, 2012, 54 (3-4), pp.305-318 |
| ISSN: | 1945-5755 0033-8222 |
| Popis: | The Neolithic site KS043, excavated by the Institut français d'archéologie orientale (IFAO), is situated in the southern basin of the Kharga Oasis (Egypt). It is one of the very few stratified prehistoric sites of the eastern Sahara. The archaeological remains were found near artesian springs that provided water for pastoralists during the dry Middle Holocene. In situ settlement features provided well-preserved material (charcoal, ashy sediment, ostrich eggshell) sufficient to perform radiocarbon dating in the IFAO laboratory in Cairo by the conventional liquid scintillation method. In 2 cases, ostrich eggshell and charcoal within the same in situ context gave significantly different results of, respectively, ∼600 and ∼1200 yr younger dates for the ostrich eggshells. The strong discrepancy is here highlighted for the first time and we suggest that it may be linked with postdepositional phenomena in the vicinity of the artesian springs. A thorough review of 14C dates available for the Holocene in eastern Sahara shows that ostrich eggshells have been widely used. They seem slightly more prone to be discarded than other material but were never the object of a particular study in this context. Bayesian modeling shows that the Neolithic occupation at site KS043 spans a range from 5000 to 3950 cal BC (and concentrated around 4600–4350 cal BC). Characteristic flint tools and pottery relate this occupation to the end of the Neolithic and show links with the Tasian culture, confirming the timing of the presence of this cultural complex in the desert before its appearance in the Nile Valley. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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