THE ONLY READING THAT YOU ARE ALLOWED TO QUOTE OR REFERENCE ARE THE TWO ARTICLES THAT I HAVE ADDED FOR YOU ALONG WITH THE ASSIGNMENT.
YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE ANY OUTSIDE RESOURCES EXCEPT FOR THE TWO ARTICLES THAT I HAVE POSTED ALONG WITH THE ASSIGNMENT.
SO PLEASE NO OUTSIDE RESOURCES ARE NEEDED, I HAVE PROVIDED ALL THE REQUIRED RESOURCES YOU NEED TO FULFILL THE ASSIGNMENT.
In general, I’d like you to ponder how archaeological finds from Nabta Playa provide information about ancient cultural practices? For this activity, I want you to simply think of culture as “shared ideas.”
1. First, I would like you to find two examples of either artifacts or features; one example from Jordescka et al. 2013 and one example from Malville et al. 1998, that reflect cultural practices of any sort. You needn’t dwell too deeply on the details, just generally summarize the finds.
2. Then, comment on why your selections reflect shared ideas, and what those ideas might be.
Your post should be about 3-4 paragraphs long.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Hunter–Gatherer Cattle-Keepers of Early Neolithic
El Adam Type from Nabta Playa:
Latest Discoveries from
Site E–06–1
Maciej Jórdeczka & Halina Królik &
Mirosław Masojć & Romuald Schild
Published online: 3 August 2013
# The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract Further Neolithic encampments and settlements have been explored by the
Combined Prehistoric Expedition in the Nabta Playa Basin on the South–Western Desert
border around 100 km west of the Nile Valley. The perfectly preserved stratigraphic
setting of the new site, numerous hearths and traces of dwellings, rich cultural material
including pottery, radiocarbon dates and presence of bone remains render site E–06–1 an
exception on the map of settlements of El Adam communities.
Keywords Nile Valley. Nabta Playa . Early Holocene . El Adam . Settlement
Introduction
The Nabta Playa Basin is one of the largest palaeolakes of the playa type on the South–
Western Desert border, located around 100 km west of the Nile Valley (Fig. 1).
Remains of hundreds of Neolithic encampents and settlements have been found
around it and excavated by the Combined Prehistoric Expedition (Wendorf and
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
DOI 10.1007/s10437-013-9136-1
M. Jórdeczka (*)
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Branch Poznań, Poland
e-mail: jordeczka@iaepan.poznan.pl
M. Jórdeczka
e-mail: mjordeczka@gazeta.pl
H. Królik : R. Schild
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
H. Królik
e-mail: krolik@iaepan.edu.pl
R. Schild
e-mail: rschild@iaepan.edu.pl
M. Masojć (*)
Institute of Archaeology, Department of Archaeology of the Stone Age,
University of Wroclaw, Wrocław, Poland
e-mail: mirekmasojc@poczta.onet.pl
Schild 1980, 1998, 2001a; Banks 1984; Close 1987; Nelson et al. 2002). In 2006, a
research project commenced that aimed at examining various aspects of the Early
Fig. 1 Location of Nabta Playa and Kiseiba
254 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
Neolithic settlement, beginning with the identification of its earliest phase. An exten-
sive archaeological survey was carried out in the Nabta Playa Basin as part of that
project.
Fig. 2 Satellite photo of the Nabta area showing locations of studied sites
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 255
Fig. 3 Map of the Nabta area showing locations of studied sites
256 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
Evidence of El Adam horizon settlement at Nabta had previously been recorded at
three sites: E–75–9 (Wendorf and Schild 2001c), E–91–3 and E–91–4 (Close 2001).
All of these sites are situated close to each other in the central part of the basin
(Fig. 2). Exploration of a new site, E–06–1, located 600 m northwest of Site E–75–9,
provided extraordinary results. It was a seasonal encampment situated on an Early
Holocene phytogenic dune, at the edge of a seasonal playa lake appearing after
summer rains, probably for several months a year (Fig. 3). The Early Holocene rains
and subsequent seasonal lakes were the direct response of the considerable northward
shift of the monsoonal rain belt (e.g., Haynes 1987; Pöllath and Peters 2007).
Although partially truncated by recent wind erosion, the site is overlain by massive
mid-Holocene silt formation heralding a major arid phase (compare Schild and
Wendorf 2001), and preserved in an excellent state. So far, a dozen remains of
dwellings, several dozen hearths and rich artefact assemblages have been excavated,
including nearly 20,000 lithics, numerous bone remains, thousands of fragments of
ostrich eggshells and beads made from them, as well as fragments of decorated
ostrich eggshell containers. A discovery of eight potsherds, five of which were
embedded in dated archaeological features, is very important. The site’s complex
stratigraphy, including frequent overlapping hut basins, proves how attractive the
place was and testifies to the fact that the settlers returned seasonally many times.
Radiocarbon dates indicate that the huts were inhabited by a small group of people
between 9200 and 9000 uncal year BP, thus ca. 8400–8000 (cal BC).
Natural Environment at the Beginning of Holocene
The end of the Pleistocene in the Western Desert was marked by an arid period lasting
for tens of thousands of years. Climate changes from the end of the Last Glacial once
again made it possible, following a long break, to settle in the desert (Kuper and
Kröpelin 2006: 806).
During the humid interphase of the El Adam variant (ca. 9800/9500–8850 uncal year
BP), the climate was relatively dry and not as favourable as during the subsequent Holocene
optimum, yet summer rains (ca. 50–100 mm annually) were sufficient to fill seasonal lakes
forming in deflation basins as well as to allow the expansion of modest vegetation and
small- and medium-sized animals adapted to desert conditions (Wendorf and Schild 2006:
9). So far, very little information is available concerning the early Holocene flora. Scarce
data come from two sites, E–77–7 at El Gebal El Beid Playa, some 40 km northeast of
Gebel Nabta, and E–06–1, where botanical remains were recovered. At the former site, the
following floral macroremains were identified: charcoal of Tamarix sp. (Barakat 2001: 596),
charred seeds identified as wild millet (Panicum turgidum), a seed of a plant belonging to
Paniceae and four seeds belonging to two taxa, possibly Leguminosae (Close and Wendorf
2001: 69; Wasylikowa et al. 2001: 606). Site E–06–1 provided Tamarix sp., Citrullus
colocynthis and Echinochloa colona, while in one of the samples from Hearth 35, seeds of
Poaceae grass were found (Maria Lityńska-Zając, personal communication).
The recovered flora with tamarisk is the only tree species indicated by Barakat
(2001: 600); this suggests an environment similar to that of the extant small oases in
the deserts of southern Egypt. The recently identified flora from Site E–06–1 has not
changed this interpretation. Further to the south, however, at Selima, Oyo and El
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 257
Atrun, Sudan, elements of Sahelian flora appear in the pollen samples dated to the
lower early Holocene (e.g., Haynes et al. 1989).
Geomorphological and lithostratigraphic studies of the Kiseiba and Nabta Playa
Areas have yielded additional characteristics of the environment. In the Kiseiba Area,
the eponymous El Adam Playa contained the El Adam Sites E–79–8 and E–80/4 in
the center, partially buried in slightly clayey sands (Schild and Wendorf 1984: 28). El
Ghorab artifacts of the Lower Cultural Layer at Site E–79–4 were imbedded in
similar sand in the center of El Ghorab Playa (Schild and Wendorf 1984). In Nabta
Playa at Site E–75–6, a basin of a possible hut had cut into a phytogenic dune and
was covered by the eolian sands of the same dune in the site’s lower cultural layer,
assigned to the El Ghorab cultural/taxonomic variant (Schild and Wendorf 2001: 16). It
is the same dune in which the remains of Site E–06–1 have been buried.
Both geomorphology and lithology indicate that the early Holocene space/time units of
El Adam and El Ghorab are coeval with an environment in which the phytogenic dunes and
eolian processes were still active. The heavily sandy textures of lacustrine (playa) deposits of
this time suggest a lack of vegetation cover in the lands beyond playas and their shore zones.
It is an ecological scenario well fitting a desert landscape with relatively large oasis-like,
seasonal playas with wide shores and tamarisk trees, shrubs and grasses along the shores.
Osteological material from the El Adam settlements identified such species of
animal as gazelle (Gazella dorcas and Gazella dama), hare (Lepus capensis), jackal
(Canis aureus), turtle (Testudo sp.), birds (Otis tarda and Anas querquedula), big
bivalve shells (Aspartharia rubens) of Nilotic origin and shells of snails (Bulinus
truncatus and Zootecus insularis) (Gautier 2001: 611; Wendorf and Schild 2001c:
656). The most interesting and controversial are the remains of cattle, which could not
really have survived in these conditions without human help.
Site E–06–1
New concentrations of burnt stones and a substantial number of artefacts were found
on the surface, and their analysis showed that they belong to the El Adam horizon.
Numerous bone remains indicated that the site was uncovered by wind a relatively
short time before. During four seasons (2006–2009) 178 m2 were excavated
altogether, which constitutes ca. 50–60 % of the site’s total area (Fig. 4).
The southwest part of the site was considerably deflated. The observed remains of
hearths were circular, dark–grey sand spots without any charcoal. The area abounded
in artefacts, which were present almost solely on the surface and probably represented
a palimpsest of several telescoped settlement horizons. The site’s northern portion
was a little better preserved, where the remains of hearths were visible as small
concentrations of burnt rock and overlapping objects indicated the multiphase char-
acter of settlement. Fills contained grey sand and fine charcoal as well as lithics,
fragments of animal bones, and ostrich eggshells together with beads made from the
latter. Distinct traces of human activity reached the depth of 50–60 cm.
However, the most interesting portions were the central and western parts of the site.
Hardly any artefacts were found on the surface, but after the layer of recent eolian and sheet
wash sand was removed, overlapping outlines of dwellings became visible at the depth of
15–20 cm. The exploration revealed four to five settlement phases, which manifested
themselves as dark grey, sometimes reddish layers, whose thickness varied between several
258 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
and a dozen centimetres, separated by several centimetre-thick layers of sterile sand (Fig. 5).
The layers, subsiding in the middle, probably constituted the floors of seasonal huts,
subsequently covered with eolian sand deposited after they were abandoned. Their fills
contained rather a modest number of artefacts, restricted to blanks, scant cores and tools
Fig. 4 Site E–06–1, scatter pattern of area of surface collection. Photo—Site E–06–1 before exploration
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 259
predominated by backed pieces and relatively big end scrapers. A few pottery fragments,
animal bone remains and ostrich eggshells (including the beads) were also found. They were
probably small huts of approximately oval outlines, whose diameters varied between 2 and
3.5 m. Inside each was at least one small hearth. In several features, the remains of post holes
and small pits for storing vessels were found. So far, 11 huts have been excavated, yet their
total number may be greater as the stratigraphy seems to indicate with a great degree of
probability that further huts may be waiting to be discovered at the site’s western and
southwestern edge, i.e., in the part totally or at least partially covered by younger beds of
lacustrine sediments.
The distribution of artefacts and post-consumption waste seems to indicate that
distinct concentrations of hearths and the accompanying movable archaeological
material found at the site are the remains of zones of economic activity situated
outside rather than inside those small and cramped dwellings (Fig. 6).
Fig. 5 Site E–06–1. Northern wall of squares BB-B/14. Cross section of El Adam huts (drawn by R.
Schild, photo by M. Jórdeczka)
Fig. 6 Site E–06–1. Hearths outside huts area with agglomeration of artifacts (photo by M. Jórdeczka)
260 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
Description of the Material
Lithics
The excavations provided nearly 14,000 flint artefacts, including 949 tools and 147
cores. The site’s complex stratigraphy and the differences between the material
collected from the surface and found in the layers situated below necessitated the
division of the material into three horizons. One was constituted by the surface and
the layers of contemporary, loose, drifting sand blown over by the wind (Horizon III).
Another horizon (II) comprised the layers located 0–10 cm below the surface, which
provided mixed material. Horizon I was made by layers situated more than 10 cm
below the site’s surface and reaching the floor of the cut and comprised the material
connected with the oldest phases of the site’s occupation.
In terms of blanks, Eocene flint decisively predominates over chert, quartz,
chalcedony, quartzite sandstone and basalt. The remaining raw materials, such as
sandstone, agate and petrified wood, play an insignificant role in the inventory
(Tables 1, 2 and 3). The analysis of blanks shows that, in all the horizons, the material
of flake proportions distinctly predominates with the constant contribution of blades
(Tables 1, 2 and 3). Similarly, flakes and blades from single–platform cores predom-
inate everywhere; however, their proportions are the greatest in the oldest layers (over
70 % of blades and flakes). Debitage from the remaining types of cores played a
considerably less significant role (Tables 1, 2 and 3).
Metric data for the debitage from Site E–06–1 are similar for all the horizons.
Blanks are microlithic and never exceed 3 cm in length and 2 cm in width. Only
blades from opposed platform cores are slightly bigger.
The site provided an overall number of 147 cores (Fig. 7). At all horizons, single
platform forms predominate over multiplatform and opposed platform cores as well
as the 90° specimens. The cores from the oldest settlement phase are characterised by
the smallest mean dimensions. Most cores carried no traces of preparation except for
striking platforms.
Site E–60–1 provided a rich collection of typical El Adam tools. As in the case of
debitage and cores, the material was divided into at least two phases (Horizon
I—older phase, Horizon II—mixed material, Horizon III—younger phase). In all,
949 tools or their fragments were recovered from the site. The greatest typological
diversification is displayed by the material from the surface, which provided the
majority, i.e., as many as 671 retouched artefacts.
The frequency of occurrence of individual types of tools from Site E–06–1 may be
seen in Tables 4, 5 and 6. Flint and chert distinctly predominate at all horizons,
reaching the highest proportions on the surface, 62.1 and 23.2 % respectively,
constituting together over 85 % of the assemblage.
The general typological structure within individual horizons is roughly the same,
with a distinct predomination of backed pieces, a great contribution of geometric
microliths and end scrapers and constant presence of microburin technique. The
differences manifest themselves in the presence of some types of tools (e.g., trapezes,
which are primarily found in younger layers) or the frequency of occurrence of
certain groups of tools, for instance the relatively great contribution of flakes and
denticulated or notched blades in the material from the site’s surface (Table 4).
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 261
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262 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
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2
8
0
1
4
0
1
4
5
11
2
3
2
6
4
1
,1
9
7
6
7
.6
3
T
o
ta
l
7
0
6
4
2
5
2
1
4
1
9
0
1
3
5
6
1
3
3
4
2
1
7
7
0
1
0
0
%
3
9
,8
8
2
4
,0
1
1
2
,0
9
1
0
,7
3
7
,6
3
3
,4
5
1
,8
6
0
,2
3
0
,1
1
1
0
0
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 263
T
a
b
le
3
S
it
e
E
–
0
6
–
1
;
H
o
ri
zo
n
I;
F
re
q
u
en
ci
es
o
f
d
eb
it
ag
e
ty
p
es
b
y
ra
w
m
at
er
ia
l
F
li
n
t
C
h
er
t
C
h
al
ce
d
o
n
y
Q
u
ar
tz
Q
u
ar
tz
it
ic
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
B
as
al
t
S
an
d
st
o
n
e
F
er
ru
g
in
o
u
s
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
Ja
sp
er
A
g
at
e
P
et
ri
fi
ed
w
o
o
d
A
ll
m
at
er
ia
ls
N
%
%
P
ri
m
ar
y
fl
ak
e
4
2
0
2
2
9
6
6
6
7
3
8
.9
0
11
.4
6
P
ri
m
ar
y
b
la
d
e
3
4
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
.5
6
F
la
k
e
fr
o
m
si
n
g
le
p
la
tf
o
rm
co
re
8
1
1
0
7
6
9
3
2
2
7
5
2
2
1
1
1
1
3
4
7
4
2
.3
2
5
2
.6
8
F
la
k
e
fr
o
m
o
p
p
o
se
d
p
la
tf
o
rm
co
re
2
2
1
5
0
.6
1
F
la
k
e
fr
o
m
9
0
°
co
re
9
6
4
2
2
1
2
.5
6
F
la
k
e
fr
o
m
m
u
lt
ip
le
p
la
tf
o
rm
co
re
3
1
0
3
2
1
1
9
2
.3
2
U
n
id
en
ti
fi
ab
le
fl
ak
e
8
5
2
5
4
4
1
2
4
0
4
.8
8
B
la
d
e
fr
o
m
si
n
g
le
p
la
tf
o
rm
co
re
8
0
7
9
6
9
1
3
4
1
1
2
4
7
3
0
.1
2
3
2
.4
4
B
la
d
e
fr
o
m
o
p
p
o
se
d
p
la
tf
o
rm
co
re
2
3
5
0
.6
1
B
la
d
e
fr
o
m
9
0
°
co
re
1
2
3
0
.3
7
B
la
d
e
fr
o
m
m
u
lt
ip
le
p
la
tf
o
rm
co
re
4
1
5
0
.6
1
U
n
id
en
ti
fi
ab
le
b
la
d
e
2
1
3
6
0
.7
3
C
o
re
-t
ri
m
m
in
g
el
em
en
t
4
5
2
11
1
.3
4
3
.4
1
B
u
ri
n
sp
al
l
1
1
2
0
.2
4
L
am
e
à
cr
êt
e
7
3
3
1
1
4
1
.7
1
C
o
re
ta
b
le
t
1
1
0
.1
2
S
u
b
to
ta
l
2
0
8
2
5
1
1
9
2
6
1
4
6
1
6
4
1
1
1
1
2
8
2
0
(1
0
0
)
2
7
.7
2
%
2
5
.3
7
3
0
.6
1
2
3
.4
1
7
.4
4
5
.6
1
1
.9
5
5
.0
0
0
.1
2
0
.1
2
0
.1
2
0
.1
2
C
h
ip
s
an
d
ch
u
n
k
s
6
3
2
5
8
3
5
0
2
2
3
0
1
4
2
2
2
1
4
5
6
2
2
,1
3
8
7
2
.2
8
T
o
ta
l
8
4
0
8
3
4
6
9
4
2
9
1
1
8
8
3
8
5
5
6
7
3
2
2
,9
5
8
1
0
0
%
2
8
.4
0
2
8
.1
9
2
3
.4
6
9
.8
4
6
.3
6
1
.2
8
1
.8
6
0
.2
0
0
.2
4
0
.1
0
0
.0
7
1
0
0
264 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
Among microliths (Figs. 7, 8 and 9), segments constituted the group predominating
quantitatively at the deepest layers (typology according to Tixier 1963). The 15–20-cm
layer provided a single specimen of trapeze. Trapezes are proportionately rare at El
Fig. 7 Site E–06–1, Horizon III. Cores and retouched tools (drawn by M. Puszkarski)
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 265
T
a
b
le
4
S
it
e
E
–
0
6
–
1
;
H
o
ri
zo
n
II
I;
F
re
q
u
en
ci
es
o
f
re
to
u
ch
ed
to
o
l
ty
p
es
R
aw
m
at
er
ia
l
A
ll
m
at
er
ia
ls
F
li
n
t
C
h
er
t
C
h
al
ce
d
o
n
y
P
et
ri
fi
ed
w
o
o
d
A
g
at
e
Q
u
ar
tz
Q
u
at
rz
it
ic
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
S
an
d
st
o
n
e
F
er
ru
g
in
o
u
s
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
B
as
al
t
U
n
id
en
ti
fi
ab
le
N
%
1
.
S
in
g
le
en
d
sc
ra
p
er
o
n
fl
ak
e
1
3
1
0
2
3
2
8
4
4
4
.1
7
6
.5
6
2
.
E
n
d
sc
ra
p
er
o
n
re
to
u
ch
ed
fl
ak
e
2
1
1
4
0
.6
0
5
.
D
en
ti
cu
la
te
d
en
d
sc
ra
p
er
1
1
0
.3
0
7
.
E
n
d
sc
ra
p
er
o
n
n
o
tc
h
ed
p
ie
ce
2
2
0
.3
0
8
.
S
in
g
le
en
d
sc
ra
p
er
o
n
b
la
d
e
5
1
6
0
.8
9
11
.
D
o
u
b
le
en
d
sc
ra
p
er
2
1
3
0
.4
5
1
6
.
D
o
u
b
le
–
b
ac
k
ed
p
er
fo
ra
to
r
2
2
2
0
.3
0
0
.3
0
1
7
.
D
ih
ed
ra
l
b
u
ri
n
1
1
2
8
0
.3
0
1
.1
9
1
8
.
D
ih
ed
ra
l
an
g
le
b
u
ri
n
2
1
3
0
.4
5
1
9
.
A
n
g
le
b
u
ri
n
o
n
b
re
ak
1
1
0
.1
5
2
0
.
M
u
lt
ip
le
d
ih
ed
ra
l
b
u
ri
n
1
1
0
.1
5
2
7
.
M
u
lt
ip
le
m
ix
ed
b
u
ri
n
1
1
0
.1
5
4
2
.
F
ra
g
m
en
t
o
f
b
ac
k
ed
b
la
d
e
1
1
1
0
.1
5
0
.1
5
4
5
.
S
tr
ai
g
h
t
b
ac
k
ed
an
d
p
o
in
te
d
b
la
d
el
et
(S
B
P
B
)
3
1
7
5
1
1
4
5
1
9
4
6
.7
1
2
8
.9
1
4
6
.
S
B
P
B
w
it
h
ro
u
n
d
ed
b
as
e
3
1
1
5
0
.7
5
5
3
.
A
ig
u
il
lo
n
d
ro
it
1
1
0
.1
5
5
6
.
A
rc
h
-b
ac
k
ed
b
la
d
el
et
2
8
1
7
8
2
1
5
6
8
.3
5
266 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
T
a
b
le
4
(c
o
n
ti
n
u
ed
)
R
aw
m
at
er
ia
l
A
ll
m
at
er
ia
ls
F
li
n
t
C
h
er
t
C
h
al
ce
d
o
n
y
P
et
ri
fi
ed
w
o
o
d
A
g
at
e
Q
u
ar
tz
Q
u
at
rz
it
ic
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
S
an
d
st
o
n
e
F
er
ru
g
in
o
u
s
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
B
as
al
t
U
n
id
en
ti
fi
ab
le
N
%
5
8
.
A
rc
h
-b
ac
k
ed
b
la
d
el
et
w
it
h
tr
u
n
ca
te
d
b
as
e
1
1
2
0
.3
0
6
3
.
P
ar
ti
al
y
b
ac
k
ed
b
la
d
el
et
1
1
0
.1
5
6
4
.
S
h
o
u
ld
er
ed
b
la
d
el
et
2
2
0
.3
0
6
6
.
F
ra
g
m
en
t
o
f
b
ac
k
ed
b
la
d
el
et
4
2
2
1
6
1
4
1
7
5
11
.1
2
6
7
.
B
lu
n
t
b
ac
k
ed
b
la
d
el
et
3
3
6
0
.8
9
7
0
.
O
u
ch
ta
ta
b
la
d
el
et
1
1
0
.1
5
7
4
.
N
o
tc
h
ed
fl
ak
e
1
8
8
2
1
1
2
3
2
1
0
1
4
.7
7
1
5
.0
5
7
5
.
D
en
ti
cu
la
te
d
fl
ak
e
1
4
11
1
1
2
1
3
0
4
.4
7
7
6
.
N
o
tc
h
ed
b
la
d
e
3
4
3
1
11
1
.6
4
7
7
.
D
en
ti
cu
la
te
d
b
la
d
e
1
3
6
1
9
2
.8
3
7
9
.
N
o
tc
h
ed
o
r
d
en
ti
cu
la
te
d
p
ie
ce
w
it
h
co
n
ti
n
u
o
u
s
re
to
u
ch
7
2
9
1
.3
4
8
0
.
T
ru
n
ca
te
d
p
ie
ce
1
5
7
3
1
2
6
2
6
3
.8
8
3
.8
8
8
2
.
L
u
n
at
e/
se
g
m
en
t
3
5
1
7
7
2
6
1
1
2
7
9
.0
9
1
8
.9
3
8
6
.
T
ra
p
ez
e
w
it
h
o
n
e
co
n
ca
v
e
si
d
e
4
4
0
.6
0
8
7
.
T
ra
p
ez
e
w
it
h
tw
o
co
n
ca
v
e
si
d
e
1
3
1
1
4
2
.0
9
8
9
.
T
ra
p
ez
e
w
it
h
o
n
e
co
n
v
ex
si
d
e
7
1
1
9
1
.3
4
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 267
T
a
b
le
4
(c
o
n
ti
n
u
ed
)
R
aw
m
at
er
ia
l
A
ll
m
at
er
ia
ls
F
li
n
t
C
h
er
t
C
h
al
ce
d
o
n
y
P
et
ri
fi
ed
w
o
o
d
A
g
at
e
Q
u
ar
tz
Q
u
at
rz
it
ic
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
S
an
d
st
o
n
e
F
er
ru
g
in
o
u
s
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
B
as
al
t
U
n
id
en
ti
fi
ab
le
N
%
9
0
.
S
ca
le
n
e
tr
ia
n
g
le
7
7
1
1
1
6
2
.3
9
9
1
.
T
ri
an
g
le
w
it
h
o
n
e
co
n
ca
v
e
si
d
e
2
2
0
.3
0
9
2
.
T
ri
an
g
le
w
it
h
tw
o
co
n
ca
v
e
si
d
es
9
3
1
2
1
.7
9
9
5
.
E
lo
n
g
at
ed
sc
al
en
e
tr
ia
n
g
le
w
it
h
sm
al
l
sh
o
rt
si
d
e
2
5
1
8
1
.1
9
9
7
.
E
lo
n
g
at
ed
sc
al
en
e
tr
ia
n
g
le
w
it
h
co
n
ca
v
e
b
as
e
1
1
0
.1
5
1
0
2
.
M
ic
ro
b
iu
ri
n
5
9
6
2
2
2
1
7
2
9
2
1
0
.7
3
1
3
.7
1
1
0
3
.
K
ru
k
o
w
sk
i
m
ic
ro
b
iu
ri
n
1
2
3
3
2
2
0
2
.9
8
1
0
4
.
S
ca
ll
ed
p
ie
ce
1
1
2
7
1
0
.3
0
1
0
.5
8
1
0
5
.
P
ie
ce
w
it
h
co
n
ti
n
u
o
u
s
re
to
u
ch
8
3
11
1
.6
4
1
0
6
.
S
id
es
cr
ap
er
6
1
8
1
1
6
2
.3
9
1
0
7
.
O
u
n
an
p
o
in
t
3
3
0
.4
5
1
1
2
.
V
a
ri
a
3
4
3
1
1
3
9
5
.8
1
1
5
0
.
P
ro
je
ct
il
e
p
o
in
ts
5
5
5
0
.7
5
0
.7
5
T
o
ta
l
N
4
1
7
1
5
6
4
8
1
4
1
9
1
9
3
1
1
2
6
7
1
1
0
0
%
6
2
.1
5
2
3
.2
5
7
.1
5
0
.1
5
0
.6
0
2
.8
3
2
.8
3
0
.4
5
0
.1
5
0
.1
5
0
.1
5
1
0
0
268 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
T
a
b
le
5
S
it
e
E
–
0
6
–
1
;
H
o
ri
zo
n
II
;
F
re
q
u
en
ci
es
o
f
re
to
u
ch
ed
to
o
l
ty
p
es
R
aw
m
at
er
ia
l
A
ll
m
at
er
ia
ls
F
li
n
t
C
h
er
t
C
h
al
ce
d
o
n
y
A
g
at
e
Q
u
ar
tz
Q
u
at
rz
it
ic
sa
n
d
st
o
n
e
S
an
d
st
o
n
e
B
as
al
t
U
n
id
en
ti
fi
ab
le
N
%
1
.
S
in
g
le
en
d
sc
ra
p
er
o
n
fl
ak
e
2
2
1
0
1
.9
4
9
.7
1
2
.
E
n
d
sc
ra
p
er
o
n
re
to
u
ch
ed
fl
ak
e
1
2
3
2
.9
1
5
.
D
en
ti
cu
la
te
d
en
d
sc
ra
p
er
1
1
0
.9
7
7
.
E
n
d
sc
ra
p
er
o
n
n
o
tc
h
ed
p
ie
ce
1
1
0
.9
7
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in
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en
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la
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b
la
d
e
1
1
2
1
.9
4
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 269
T
a
b
le
5
(c
o
n
ti
n
u
ed
)
R
aw
m
at
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A
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F
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d
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Q
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Q
u
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it
ic
sa
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S
an
d
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as
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ab
le
N
%
7
9
.
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tc
h
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d
en
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la
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p
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w
it
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ti
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1
1
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7
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ru
n
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u
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3
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4
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5
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9
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lo
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at
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g
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ic
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b
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n
5
2
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1
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K
ru
k
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i
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2
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4
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7
1
0
0
270 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
T
a
b
le
6
S
it
e
E
–
0
6
–
1
;
H
o
ri
zo
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to
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p
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R
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ar
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ly
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1
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1
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lu
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t
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2
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0
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6
1
8
.2
9
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 271
T
a
b
le
6
(c
o
n
ti
n
u
ed
)
R
aw
m
at
er
ia
l
A
ll
m
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d
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Q
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Q
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it
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d
st
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an
d
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id
en
ti
fi
ab
le
N
%
8
6
.
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ra
p
ez
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w
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h
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n
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co
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v
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1
1
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ca
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it
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co
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1
1
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9
5
.
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lo
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.
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lo
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.
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ic
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b
u
ri
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1
4
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2
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1
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6
1
0
3
.
K
ru
k
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w
sk
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m
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b
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2
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9
1
0
5
.
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w
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re
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1
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6
.
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id
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.
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a
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a
3
2
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2
3
3
1
7
9
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T
o
ta
l
N
8
6
3
1
3
4
1
0
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3
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1
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%
4
9
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4
1
7
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1
1
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3
5
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1
5
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1
1
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1
0
.5
7
1
0
0
272 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
Adam sites, though they are encountered at most of them. The second most numerous
group of geometric microliths were triangles, represented mainly by scalene forms.
As at the remaining El Adam sites, backed pieces constituted one of the most
important and undoubtedly one of the most numerous categories of tools. They were
characterised by a high level of manufacturing and a considerable typological diversity.
At site E–06–1, two types—backed pieces with straight or arched backs—predominate
decisively in all horizons.
Truncations are present in all horizons and comprised 5.7 % of tools from older
layers, 4.8 % at Horizon II and 3.8 % on the surface. The microburin technique,
Fig. 8 Site E–06–1. Horizon III (A-O) & II (Q-T). Retouched tools (drawn by M. Puszkarski)
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 273
predominating at site E–06–1, was used to produce backed pieces, truncations and
geometrical tools.
Among other tools, end scrapers on flakes were decisively dominating and, typical
for El Adam, some of them were made on collected Middle Palaeolithic blanks—-
most frequently made of quartzitic sandstone (Fig. 8). Burins were present at most El
Adam sites (they did not occur at E–77–7, E–91–3 and E–91–4), yet they did not play
a significant role, with the frequency of their occurrence varying between 1 and 3 %.
At Site E–06–1, they occurred at all settlement horizons, but the collection acquired
Fig. 9 Site E–06–1. Horizon I. Cores and retouched tools (drawn by M. Puszkarski)
274 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
on the surface was the most numerous and diversified. Apart from the tool forms
discussed above, the assemblage contained perforators, notched and denticulated
pieces, as well as blades with discontinuous retouch.
Macrolithic Tools
The remaining archaeological material did not display significant typological differ-
ences between individual settlement horizons. The site provided six fragments of flat,
basin-like matates made of sandstone, five complete forms and 33 fragments of hand-
stones (manos), usually flat or discoid, and less frequently cube-shaped. The grinding
stones were usually quite precisely made from carefully selected raw material (sand-
stone or quartzitic sandstone). The excavations also provided 18 hammerstones.
Fig. 10 Site E–06–1. Sandstone calibrators (a) and polisher (b) (photo by M. Jórdeczka)
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 275
An interesting group is constituted by polishers used for polishing objects made of
stone, horn, bone, eggshell or wood. A characteristic feature is the presence of a flat,
slightly convex (sometimes concave), rough working surface. The surface bears
traces of characteristic scratches or polishing, as well as the remains of raw material.
At Site E–06–1, the polishers were made of sandstone; however, most of them
survived only in fragments. The only complete specimen is a flat, flaked slab, whose
working surface is a shallow, elongated groove running across almost the entire slab
(Fig. 10b).
Tools known as calibrators were manufactured from very carefully selected raw
material (fine-grained, relatively soft sandstone). Seven such calibrators were found
at Site E–06–1, but they are known from several other sites (Connor 1984: 239; Close
1984: 346). Their common feature is the presence of at least one (sometimes several)
ideally straight, groove-like, polished working surface of parallel edges,
8–15-mm wide, whose depth usually exceeds 4 mm (Fig. 10a). They were probably
used to manufacture beads from ostrich eggshell (Connor 1984: 239), whose form
and dimensions fit the calibrators’ working surfaces. Their use at the final stage of
production—to polish a chain of linked, previously perforated beads—yielded a
highly standardised final product. Such an interpretation is corroborated by the
presence of hundreds of beads and their initial forms from various stages of processing
at the site (Fig. 11). Similar tools are used by contemporary San from the Kalahari Desert
in Namibia and Botswana (Lee 1984).
Pottery
One of the significant results of excavations at Site E–06–1 was finding in situ
fragments of ceramic vessels (Jórdeczka et al. 2011). Pottery must have had varying
and not only utilitarian significance, constituting an important identifying element of
the traditions of individual human communities. Its presence in assemblages from El
Adam is important also because it is a component of a new tradition observed in the
Sahara whose origins still remain unknown.
According to Close (1995), pottery appeared in societies depending on aquatic
resources and cereals, probably in the region spreading between the Nile and the
Hoggar Mountains. Håland prefers to see its origin in the Nile Valley (2007: 170). For
Huysecom et al. (2009): 915), pottery may have been invented in the present-day
Fig. 11 Site E–06–1. Ostrich eggshell beads and their initial forms (photo by M. Jórdeczka)
276 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
Sahel–Sudanese belt, while Jesse (2003: 35) indicates the southern Sahara, Sahel and
Hoggar Mountains.
The El Adam variant of pottery is known in the Nabta Playa–Kiseiba basins from
six sites: E–75–9 (Wendorf and Schild 2001b: 109); E–77–7 (Close and Wendorf 2001:
68); E–79–8 (Connor 1984: 239–44); E–80–4 (Close Close 1984: 346); E–91–3 (Close
2001: 79); and E–06–1 (Jórdeczka et al. 2011; Fig. 12).
The pottery from Site E–06–1 is characterised by the reddish colour of the exterior
and high proportion (30–50 %) of relatively coarse mineral temper. Zedeño, who did
extensive studies of the production technology of pottery in the Nabta–Kiseiba
region, found that the Early Holocene pottery was made from locally available
material (Zedeño 2002; Nelson 2002a). Vessel forms from the southern region of
Egypt’s Western Desert were highly standardised at that time. They were solely bowls
of various sizes and depths with varying wall thickness (Nelson 2002a: 2). Only one
rim was found at Site E–06–1; it was a part of a bowl ca. 38 cm in diameter
(Jórdeczka et al. 2011: 106, fig. 9). All the vessel fragments (n=8, five of which
were in situ) acquired so far from Nabta Playa Site E–06–1 display the same surface
treatment. The patterns consist of lines, parallel to the rim and located at the same
distance to one another (ca. 6–9 mm measuring from the centre of the line), which
differ in the composition and shape of impressions. Bigger sherds show that the
impression pattern repeats itself every four lines, which may mean that the potter had
Fig. 12 Site E–06–1, wheel
stamp pottery in situ (photo by
M. Jórdeczka)
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 277
at least four tools (toothed disks?—compare Jórdeczka et al. 2011) for making
impressions. An almost identical character of patterned impressions is visible on a
pottery sherd from Site E–77–7 at El Gebal El Beid Playa (Close and Wendorf 2001:
68) and E–75–9 (Schild and Wendorf 2001: 109, Nelson 2002b: fig. 3).
Faunal Remains
Results of zooarchaeological analyses, carried out by Marta Osypińska from the
Polish Academy of Science, confirm the data acquired at other El Adam culture sites.
Wild mammals were the basic source of meat for local communities. Osteological
materials showed that the highest contribution of bone fragments was from the dorcas
gazelle (Gazella dorcas—295 fragments, 63 %). The second most numerous group of
the excavated remains was the Cape hare (Lepus capensis—106 fragments, 22.6 %).
The contributions of the remaining two species—dama gazelle and cattle, whose
subspecies have not been precisely determined, did not exceed 10 % (Gazella
dama—38 fragments, 8.1 %; Bos spp.—29 fragments, 6.2 %). Most of the Bos spp.
remains (24) came from the surface of the site, but some of them (4) were found within
one of the huts (Feature 6). Additionally, several shells of landsnail (Zoothecus) were
also identified. A great number of ostrich eggshells were found at the site (>80 % of all
the faunal remains), which was also characteristic for most Early Holocene sites in the
Western Desert. Typically, the bones of the ostrich itself were absent.
The bones of large bovids present in several excavated Early Holocene sites have
caused animated discussion on the domestication of Bos primigenius in the eastern
Sahara (e.g., Gautier 1984, 1987, 2001, 2007; Smith 1984, 1986, 1992, 2005;
Clutton-Brock 1993; Wendorf and Schild 1994, 2003; Wendorf et al. 1987;
Muzzolini 1993; Close 1996; Schild and Wendorf 2001; Marshall and Hildebrand
2002; Wengrow 2003; Schild and Wendorf 2010). The hypothesis of domestication
was published for the first time in 1976 (Wendorf et al. 1976: 106). It was based on a
small number of bones from the not yet very precisely dated Neolithic sites in Nabta
Playa. A more detailed description of the finds appeared a few years latter (Gautier
1980: 332). The report contained osteometric data implying domestication as well as
the suggestion that the very low carrying capacity of the area precluded the possibility
that it was inhabited by large wild ungulates. No such assemblages containing
aurochs have ever been reported from pre-Neolithic Africa. Even the hartebeest, a
faithful companion of auroch in the Nile Valley, was not present in the South-Western
Desert (cf. Gautier 2001: 629), although its tolerance of aridity is greater than that of
cattle (Kingdon 1982), as cattle need to drink water every other day. This reasoning
led to the proposition that the early Neolithic bovids of Nabta could have been
introduced to this inhospitable environment through human practice. Further work
at Nabta Playa, especially between 1990 and 2003, yielded additional material
pertaining to large bovid remains. Osteometric data indicate that the early Neolithic
bovids appear to cluster in the size ranges of smaller aurochs studied in the Upper
Egyptian Nile Valley and Lower Nubia (Gautier 2001: 628). On the other hand, the
middle and late Neolithic cattle show a further shift to smaller sizes beyond the range
of wild cattle in the Nile Valley. According to Gautier (2001: 628), this slow decrease
in size of the early cattle is the same as that demonstrated by Helmer (1994) for early
cattle in the northern Levant.
278 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
It has been implied that the early Neolithic South-Western Desert bovids might
well be African buffalo (Smith 1984: 319; see also Grigson 2000). However, con-
sidering the harsh environmental conditions in the region and the sizable water
requirement of African buffalo, one would have to assign domestic status to the
beast. Grigson (2000), on the other hand, postulated that the osteometric and ecolog-
ical data were weak because the available samples were too small. But more recent
osteomorphic studies of the new materials recovered between 1990 and 2003 promp-
ted Gautier (2001: 627; 2007: 78) to reaffirm his original assignment of the
Nabta/Kasiba bovid remains to taurine cattle.
In more recent periods, a number of new data provided by DNA studies suggest an
independent African center of early cattle domestication (e.g., Bradley et al. 1996;
Hanotte et al. 2002; Edwards et al. 2004; Beja-Pereira et al. 2006) on one hand,
and/or support the idea of one Near Eastern center of the taurine cattle domestication,
on the other. A possibility of local introgression from wild aurochs (compare summary
in Achilli et al. 2008) has also been considered.
Studies in linguistic stratigraphy of Nilo-Saharan languages by Ehret (1993, 2001,
2006) indicate a very early appearance of words pertaining to cattle pastoralism in the
eastern Sahara, perhaps before 8500 BC. It preceded the emergence of words relating
to sorghum cultivation. A precise dating of root words, however, can be deceptive
and often has been criticized (e.g., cf. Bechaus-Gerst 2000; Gautier 2007: 81). If the
words relating to sorghum cultivation are indeed younger than those linked to cattle
keeping, one would estimate their age as preceding the El Nabta/Al Jerar Humid
Interphase in the South-Western Desert, dated to between ca. 8050 uncal. BP and ca.
7300 uncal. BP, and identified with the Holocene climatic optimum in that desert
(Schild and Wendorf 2001; Wendorf et al. 2007:211). At Nabta Playa, that was the
time of large organized settlements with multifamily huts and bell-shaped storage
pits. Nabta Site E–75–6 yielded over 20,000 macrofloral remains (seeds, rhizomes,
etc.) belonging to at least 129 species, and 21 taxa identified to the level of species
(Wasylikowa et al. 2001: 349). The seed assemblages found in particular huts formed
four discrete units dominated by certain taxa: sorghum; gramineae; and mixed
assemblages (Wasylikowa et al. 2001: 576). The assemblages suggest a broad-
spectrum mass gathering of food plants with a preference for sorghum. Although
Fig. 13 Radiocarbon ages of El Adam Sites E–77–7, E–06–1 and E–79–8
Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284 279
palaeoecological causes for sorghum predominance over other grasses have not been
made clear, this phenomenon may be best explained by the proposition that sorghum
could have been cultivated (compare Wasylikowa et al. 2001: 591; Schild and
Wendorf 2001: 660).
Recently, Chaix and Honegger (2011) and Linseele and Chaix (2011) reported the
discovery of domestic cattle just about 350 km northwest of the Nabta Playa/Kiseiba
basins in Wadi el-Arab, Kerma Area, Northern Sudan. The site presents a long
sequence of archaeological beds firmly placed between about 8200 and 6500 cal.
years BC. In the sequence, the first domestic cattle remains appear about 7200 cal.
years BC. These dates would place the Kerma Area finds of the taurine cattle
somewhere in the very end of the El Adam occupation of the South-Western Desert
and/or in the subsequent dry Post-El Adam Arid Phase, certainly before the appear-
ance of the El Ghorab settlers in the same area (Schild and Wendorf 2001: 52). These
dates are largely similar to those accepted for the early domesticated cattle in the Near
East. To Linseele and Chaix (2011), the discovery of early domestic cattle near the
Third Cataract confirms the possibility of local cattle domestication in the
Kiseiba/Nabta Areas. It seems that often contradicting interpretations of the DNA
complex lineages and early dates for more or less putative domestic cattle in Northern
Africa open doors to a great number of scenarios of repetitive external introduction of
cattle, local aurochs domestication and cross breeding (cf. e.g., Chaix and Honegger
2011; Gautier 2007: 82).
Chronology
Excavations at Site E–06–1 provided five radiocarbon dates, which fit the chrono-
logical brackets outlined for the El Adam horizon on the basis of excavations at other
sites (Fig. 13). One of them (9020±140 BP) was determined on the basis of a charcoal
sample retrieved in a stratigraphic trench at a depth of 85 cm. The youngest date
(8980±70 BP) comes from the hearth denoted as H13, from the horizon ca. 10–15 cm
below the contemporary surface. The hearth was connected with or covered one of
the younger phases of occupation at the site. The remaining dates, from a short period
of time, between 9210±50 and 9170±50 uncalibrated BP years, are directly connected
with the recovered dwellings (Fig. 5).
Conclusions
The perfectly preserved stratigraphic setting of the site, numerous hearths and traces
of dwellings, rich cultural material including pottery, radiocarbon dates and the
presence of several large bovid remains, presumably of early domestic cattle, render
Site E–06–1 an exception on the map of settlements of El Adam communities. It
opens new perspectives for the study of Early Holocene colonisation of the Western
Desert by the first hunter–gatherer–cattle-keepers. Analysis of technology and stylis-
tic features of the inventories from the discussed entity prove that its roots should be
searched in the Arkinian—a Late–Palaeolithic complex from Lower Nubia, from
the flooded village of Arkin, situated ca. 80 km southeast of Nabta Playa
(Schild et al. 1968). Its oldest horizon is dated to the period of 10,900–
280 Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:253–284
10,400 cal BC (Wendorf et al. 1979), while its younger, identified phases have not yet
been radiocarbon dated. It is true that no pottery has been found at the Arkin sites, yet the
absence may have resulted from a very limited range of excavations. There is, however,
an important link between the El Adam and the Arkinian populations. Today, it appears
that it was in the Nile Valley that the first attempts were made to domesticate/tame the
aurochs.
Acknowledgments The authors are grateful for research permission granted by the Antiquities Services
of the Republic of Egypt.
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and
the source are credited.
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- Hunter–Gatherer Cattle-Keepers of Early Neolithic El Adam Type from Nabta Playa: Latest Discoveries from Site E–06–1
Abstract
Introduction
Natural Environment at the Beginning of Holocene
Site E–06–1
Description of the Material
Lithics
Macrolithic Tools
Pottery
Faunal Remains
Chronology
Conclusions
References
Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 199
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letters to nature
488 NATURE | VOL 392 | 2 APRIL 1998
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Megaliths and Neolithic
astronomy in southern Egypt
J. McKim Malville, Fred Wendorf*, Ali A Mazar†
& Romauld Schild‡
Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado,
Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
* Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas,
Texas 75275, USA
† Egyptian Geological Survey, Cairo, Egypt
‡ Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences,
00-140 Warsaw
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The Sahara west of the Nile in southern Egypt was hyperarid and
unoccupied during most of the Late Pleistocene epoch. About
11,000 years ago1 the summer monsoons of central Africa moved
into Egypt, and temporary lakes or playas were formed. The Nabta
Playa depression, which is one of the largest in southern Egypt, is
a kidney-shaped basin of roughly 10 km by 7 km in area2– 4. We
report the discovery of megalithic alignments and stone circles
next to locations of Middle and Late Neolithic communities at
Nabta, which suggest the early development of a complex society.
The southward shift of the monsoons in the Late Neolithic age
rendered the area once again hyperarid and uninhabitable some
4,800 radiocarbon years before the present (years BP). This well-
determined date establishes that the ceremonial complex of
Nabta, which has alignments to cardinal and solstitial directions,
was a very early megalithic expression of ideology and astronomy.
Five megalithic alignments within the playa deposits radiate
outwards from megalithic structures, which may have been
funerary structures. The organization of the megaliths suggests
a symbolic geometry that integrated death, water, and the Sun. An
exodus from the Nubian Desert at ,4,800 years BP may have
stimulated social differentiation and cultural complexity in pre-
dynastic Upper Egypt.
Pastoralists seem to have entered the Nabta region (Fig. 1 inset)
during the summer rainy season beginning ,10,000 years BP. Most
of the early sites at Nabta consist of small concentrations of artefacts
with one or more hearths, evidence of repeated summer occupation
by small family groups. In addition to bones of gazelles, hares,
jackals, and small mammals, most of the sites also contain bones of
cattle, which may have been used for milk, blood, and transport5,6.
There were three major moist periods in the Holocene epoch in
the Eastern Sahara, each of which is documented by massive silt
deposits in the seasonal playas, for which we have over 100 radio-
carbon dates7. These three playa episodes of the Early, Middle, and
Late Neolithic ages were separated from each other by periods of
hyperaridity, at 7,300–7,100 years BP and 6,700–6,500 years BP, when
the water table was lowered to the same or lower levels than those of
today. The preceding playa silts were extensively eroded and in some
instances sand dunes filled the hollows. The alignments, megalithic
structures and sandstone circles were placed in sediments that
probably accumulated between 7,000 and 6,700 years BP, at the
end of the Middle Neolithic.
These Neolithic settlements reveal repeated occupation over
several millennia during the summer rainy season, when there
was enough water in the playas for large groups and their animals.
At 8,100–8,000 years BP in the Early Neolithic, dates that are well
established by a cluster of radiocarbon dates from charcoal and
ostrich eggshells, larger communities appeared. One village (E-75-
6) contained more than 18 houses, arranged in two (possibly three)
straight lines, and deep walk-in wells, which required significant
labour investment and control3,8. One well that we excavated was
4 m in width and 3 m deep; the existence of this well may have made
it possible for some people to live in the desert throughout the year.
The construction of the wells may be the first indication of emerging
social control that later made the design and execution of the
megalithic complex of the Late Neolithic possible.
Although primarily attracted to the playa for its water and forage,
these nomadic groups must have engaged in a variety of activities
during summer occupation, such as social bonding, marriage,
trade, and ritual. The abundance of cattle remains in the Middle
and Late Neolithic settlements is consistent with the ritual tradi-
tions of modern pastoralists, who may slaughter cattle to mark
socially important events. We excavated two types of cattle tumuli
at Nabta. The most common type consists of unshaped blocks
of sandstone containing disarticulated bones of one or more
cattle. One such tumulus (E-96-1) has yielded a date of
5; 500 years BP 6 160 years, from charcoal in a hearth. The second
type of cattle tumulus (E-94-1), which may have marked a place and
an event of considerable ideological significance for the group,
consisted of an articulated skeleton of a young cow buried in a
roofed, clay-lined chamber, which was covered with unshaped
sandstone blocks. Wood from the roof of the chamber yielded a
radiocarbon date of 6;470 6 270 years BP.
Oval clusters of large recumbent slabs constitute the megalithic
structures (Fig. 1), which we initially thought might mark high-
status burials. However, no firm evidence of human burials was
found in any of these features. Although churning clay vertisol
would probably have destroyed all buried material except large
rocks, the structures may have served primarily as proxy tombs for
high-ranking individuals who died on the trail. Excavation and
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NATURE | VOL 392 | 2 APRIL 1998 489
drilling of five of the structures showed that each one was built over
a modified table rock, which perhaps functioned symbolically as a
cenotaph. We obtained a radiocarbon date of 4; 800 years BP 6 80
from one of the smaller structures (E-96-1; structure E).
Beneath the surface slabs of the largest megalithic structure
(E-96-1; structure A) we found a sculptured rock, which has
some resemblance to a cow. It was standing upright with its
base 2 m below the surface, and its long axis was oriented a few
degrees west of north. The rock had been blocked into place by
two smaller slabs. Further beneath it, at a depth of 4 m, the
shaped table rock had a similar northward orientation.
Excavations of the megaliths contained in the alignments reveal
that they are not bedrock material. These slabs, typically measuring
2 m by 3 m, were brought from exposed sandstone, over distances of
0.5 km or more, and then embedded during the Late Neolithic in
playa deposits. Megalith 0, with an exposed length of 1.05 m, is
shown in Fig. 2 and is the northernmost stone of alignment II.
Numerous deflated hearths and Late Neolithic pottery9, all of which
appear to be contemporaneous with the megalithic alignments,
surround the megaliths and cattle tumuli.
The longest series of standing megaliths (megalithic alignments I,
II and III; Fig. 1) was originally interpreted2 as a single line of
megaliths orientated approximately 108 east of north. Our re-
evaluation of the alignment indicates that the slabs are organized
into three separate lines, which radiate outwards from the largest
of the megalithic structures, E-96-1 structure A, with azimuths
of 24.38, 258, and 288. During the 1997 season, we combined
theodolite and differential global positioning system measurements
to map the megaliths, and established the centre of structure A at
228 309 29.70 N, 308 439 31.20 W. We discovered two additional
megalithic alignments, which also radiate out from the vicinity of
structure A, with azimuths of 90.028 and 1268. We have not
Figure 1 A plan of the stone structures found in the western portion of the
Nabta Playa (scale in metres). A map of Egypt, giving the location of the Nabta
Playa, is shown as an inset. True geographic north is indicated. A indicates
the largest megalithic structure; E is a smaller megalithic structure.
Figure 2 Megalith 0, the northernmost stone of alignment II (Fig. 1).
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490 NATURE | VOL 392 | 2 APRIL 1998
excavated the bases of these megaliths, but they appear to be
similarly embedded in playa deposits.
The circle (E-92-9) of small upright and recumbent slabs, with a
diameter slightly less than 4 m (Fig. 3a–c), contains four sets of
upright slabs, which may have been used for sighting along the
horizon. The circle is too small to have functioned as a precise
sighting device. The centre lines of the two windows have azimuths
of 3588 and 628. Taking into account refraction, we estimate the
azimuth of the first gleam of the summer solstice Sun 6,000 years
before the present to have been 63.28, which would have been visible
through the slots of the circle. The location on the horizon of the
rising Sun close to the summer solstice may have acquired additional
significance because of Nabta’s proximity to the Tropic of Cancer. At
this latitude, the Sun crosses the zenith on two days, approximately
three weeks before and after the summer solstice. Vertical structures
cast no shadows under the zenith Sun, and within the tropics the day
of the zenith Sun is often regarded as a significant event10.
In addition to the north–south sight-line in the calendar circle,
other suggestions of the importance of cardinality are provided by
the east–west megalith alignment that extends from structure A and
the isolated monolith (Fig. 3d), which lies 1.88 east of north from
megalithic structure A. The exposed and buried slabs of structure A,
as well as many of the exposed slabs in the other megalithic
structures, were also aligned with their long sides approximately
north –south.
Although no star was visible at the north celestial pole during
most of the occupation of Nabta, north directionality would have
been important for nomadic groups navigating across the Sahara.
The standing megaliths would have been apt devices to acknowledge
the zenith Sun near the onset of the rainy season. Placed in playa
deposits, the megaliths would have been partly submerged in the
rising waters of the summer monsoon, and they may have been
considered to be ritual markers of the onset of the rainy season. The
megalithic complex may have been an expression of interconnec-
tions between the Sun, water, death, and the fertile Earth. The
unusual standing monolith, either chosen for its shape or inten-
tionally sculptured, is a suggestive symbol of male fertility.
The symbolic richness and spatial awareness seen in the Nabta
complex of the Late Neolithic age may have developed from
adaptation by nomadic peoples to the stress of survival in the
desert. The ceremonial complex could not be more recent than the
onset of hyperaridity in the region around 4,800 years BP, suggesting
that the astronomy and ceremonialism of Nabta occurred before
most of the megalithic features of Europe, Great Britain, and
Brittany were established. Within some 500 years after the exodus
from Nabta, the step pyramid at Saqqara was constructed, indicat-
ing that there was a pre-existing cultural base, which may have
originated in the desert of Upper Egypt. An exodus from the Nubian
desert at ,5,000 years BP could have precipitated the development
of social differentiation in predynastic cultures through the arrival
in the Nile valley of nomadic groups who were better organized and
possessed a more complex cosmology. M
Received 14 August 1997; accepted 22 January 1998.
1. Wendorf, F. et al. in Egypt During the Last Interglacial (eds, Wendorf, F., Close, A. E. & Schild, R.) 552–
573 (Plenum, New York, 1993).
2. Wendorf, F., Close, A. E. & Schild, R. Megaliths in the Egyptian Sahara. Sahara 5, 7–16 (1992–1993).
3. Wendorf, F. & Schild, R. Prehistory of the Eastern Sahara (Academic, New York, 1990).
4. Close, A. E. (ed.) Prehistory of Arid North Africa (Southern Methodist Univ. Press, Dallas, 1987).
5. Gautier, A. in Prehistory of Arid North Africa (ed. Close, A. E.) 163–187 (Southern Methodist Univ.
Press, Dallas, 1987).
6. Close, A. E. & Wendorf, F. in Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory (eds Gebauer, A. B. & Price, T. D.)
63–72 (Prehistory, Madison, 1992).
Figure 3 Stone circle and monolith. a, b, Stone circle, E-
92-9. b, The outer eight standing stones that establish
sighting slots, in addition to the mix interior standing
stones, are shown in black. Recumbent stones are
shown in white. c, Southwest window of circle in a, b. d,
Standing monolith (height 1 m).
Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1998
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NATURE | VOL 392 | 2 APRIL 1998 491
7. Wendorf, F., Schild, R. & Close, A. Cattle Keepers of the Eastern Sahara (Publications in Anthropology,
Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, 1984).
8. Wendorf, F. & Schild, R. Nabta Playa during the Early and Middle Holocene. ANKH 4/5, 33–45
(1995–1996).
9. Banks, K. M. in Prehistory of the Eastern Sahara (eds Wendorf, F. & Schild, R.) 300–315 (Academic,
New York, 1990).
10. Aveni, A. F. Tropical archaeoastronomy. Science 243, 161–171 (1981).
11. Burl, A. From Carnac to Callanish: The Prehistoric Stone Rows and Avenues of Britain, Ireland, and
Brittany (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1993).
Acknowledgements. This paper is based upon research carried out by the Combined Prehistoric
Expedition, which is jointly sponsored by the Southern Methodist University, the Institute of Archaeology
and Ethnology, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Geological Survey of Egypt. Fieldwork was partly
supported by the grants from the US National Science Foundation. We thank the Egyptian Antiquities
Organization and A. Radwan for support and assistance.
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.M.M. (e-mail: malville@spot.
colorado.edu).
Inbreeding and extinction in a
butterfly metapopulation
Ilik Saccheri*, Mikko Kuussaari*, Maaria Kankare*,
Pia Vikman*, Wilhelm Fortelius† & Ilkka Hanski*
* Department of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Population Biology,
PO Box 17, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
† Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, 10900 Hanko, Finland
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It has been proposed that inbreeding contributes to the decline
and eventual extinction of small and isolated populations1,2. There
is ample evidence of fitness reduction due to inbreeding (inbreed-
ing depression) in captivity3 –7 and from a few experimental8,9 and
observational field studies10,11, but no field studies on natural
populations have been conducted to test the proposed effect on
extinction. It has been argued that in natural populations the
impact of inbreeding depression on population survival will be
insignificant in comparison to that of demographic and environ-
mental stochasticity12,13. We have now studied the effect of
inbreeding on local extinction in a large metapopulation14 of the
Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia)15. We found that
extinction risk increased significantly with decreasing hetero-
zygosity, an indication of inbreeding6, even after accounting for
the effects of the relevant ecological factors. Larval survival, adult
longevity and egg-hatching rate were found to be adversely
affected by inbreeding and appear to be the fitness components
underlying the relationship between inbreeding and extinction.
To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an effect of
inbreeding on the extinction of natural populations. Our results
are particularly relevant to the increasing number of species with
small local populations due to habitat loss and fragmentation16.
The Glanville fritillary metapopulation on the Åland islands in
southwest Finland is well suited to the study of factors affecting
population extinction15,17,18. This metapopulation consists of
numerous small, more-or-less isolated, local populations breeding
on dry meadows with one or both of the larval host plants, Plantago
lanceolata and Veronica spicata. The Glanville fritillary has a yearly
life cycle in northern Europe. Adult butterflies mate and females lay
eggs in June; caterpillars feed in conspicuous family groups of 50–
250 larvae, which facilitates large-scale censusing; caterpillars
diapause from August until March, continue feeding in the spring
and pupate in May. We have located about 1,600 suitable meadows,
ranging from 6 m2 to 3 ha in size, within an area of 3,500 km2.
Autumnal surveys have revealed that larvae were present in 524, 401,
384 and 320 meadows in late summer of 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996,
respectively. Local populations can be very small, often consisting of
just one sib-group of larvae, the offspring of one pair of butterflies.
Consequently, population turnover rate is high, with an average of
200 extinctions and 114 colonizations observed per year. The
number of local populations has declined during the study
period, probably because of a sequence of unfavourable summers.
Populations were characterized between 1993 and 1995 in terms
of size (number of larval groups) and isolation (distances to and the
sizes of neighbouring populations19). Female butterflies were caught
in June 1996 from 42 local populations across Åland (Fig. 1), chosen
to include relatively large ($5 larval groups), non-isolated popula-
tions (from which 5–10 females were sampled per population), as
well as small (,5 larval groups) and isolated populations (from
which two females were usually sampled per population).
Individual heterozygosity was determined at seven polymorphic
enzyme loci and one polymorphic microsatellite locus (see
Methods). The number of heterozygous loci per female was nor-
mally distributed, ranging from zero to seven. Heterozygosity
differed significantly among the populations (P ¼ 0:02). A signifi-
cant fraction (19%) of variance in heterozygosity among popula-
tions was explained by population size in 1993 and by longitude.
Heterozygosity was low in populations that had been small in 1993
and in those in eastern Åland. The latter effect apparently reflects
large-scale regional changes in abundance in the past18,20.
Accuracy of heterozygosity as a relative measure of inbreeding is
largely dependent on the number and degree of polymorphism of
markers used to estimate heterozygosity as well as the magnitude of
the differences in inbreeding being measured. The variance in
inbreeding among populations is expected to be high in this
metapopulation, because there is substantial gene flow in many
dense regional networks of local populations21, but also close
inbreeding in many local populations that are extremely small
and quite isolated. Thus, differences in average heterozygosity of
local populations, even if based on a limited number of poly-
morphic loci, should reflect real differences in the degree of
inbreeding.
Figure 1 Map of Åland in southwestern Finland showing the locations of the 42
local populations from which adult female butterflies were sampled in summer
1996 (large symbols). All known suitable meadows are shown as small circles,
with meadows in which Glanville fritillary larvae were present in autumn 1995
indicated by black circles (and large symbols), and unoccupied meadows by
white circles. Of the 42 local populations sampled, the 35 that survived to autumn
1996 (green circles) are distinguished from the seven that went extinct (red
triangles).
- Megaliths and Neolithic astronomy in southern Egypt
Acknowledgements
References