A reconstruction of Quaternary pluvial environments and human occupations using stratigraphy and geochronology of fossil‐spring tufas, Kharga Oasis, Egypt

Geoarchaeology - An International Journal - Tập 19 Số 5 - Trang 407-439 - 2004
Jennifer Smith1, Robert Giegengack2, Henry P. Schwarcz3, Mary M. A. McDonald4, Maxine R. Kleindienst5,6, Alicia L. Hawkins7, Charles S. Churcher8,9
1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, Campus Box 1169, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130
2Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
3School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
4Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
5Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada
6Department of Near Eastern and Asian Civilizations, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada
7Anthropology Unit, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada
8Department of Palaeobiology, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada
9Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G5, Canada

Tóm tắt

AbstractWe carried out a geologic survey and a preliminary archaeological survey of four fossil‐spring tufa localities in Kharga Oasis, Egypt, to constrain the timing of pluvial episodes in the Western Desert, and to document prehistoric occupation contemporaneous with times of increased rainfall. Uranium‐series dating of the tufas confirms that at least five episodes of tufa deposition are represented in Kharga, although not every event is represented at each locality. Across the region studied, tufas were most frequently deposited as part of a fluvial barrage system, characterized by terraced, vegetated pools impounded by arcuate tufa dams and separated by small waterfalls. Available water resources during pluvial phases would have included not only spring‐fed streams but also small freshwater lakes. While Earlier Stone Age (ESA) and Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic artifacts may be found either as surficial lags on tufas, or, less commonly, encased within tufas, Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic artifacts are generally found in or on silts within surface deflation depressions in the tufas, principally at Wadi Midauwara. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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