The Nabta Playa-Kiseiba region is an area in the eastern Sahara desert in Egypt (also called the Western Desert of Egypt), where cultures predating the pre-dynastic period in Egypt arose about 10,000 years ago. Among the innovations that arose in this part of the country are the domestication of cattle and pearl millet; the first pottery in Africa; astronomical observatories; and the beginnings of elaborate burials which foreshadow the advances of the predynastic period.
The region of Nabta Playa is a large internal drainage basin, in the driest part of the desert, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Abu Simbel and 30 km (20 mi) north of the Egyptian/Sudanese border. It was first inhabited at least 11,000 years ago, by nomads who relied on oases to support them when they were away from the Nile. During the Early Holocene, when the region was first occupied, a lake graced the region; today there are only numerous ephemeral ponds and lakes amid sand dunes.
Archaeological research in the Nabta Playa-Kiseiba region is ongoing, conducted by a joint Polish-American project run by Romuald Schild and Fred Wendorf since the 1970s. They have discovered and excavated within the region several dozen sites, including Nabta Playa, Bir Kiseiba, El Adam Playa, Bir Eid, Ramlah Playa, Bir Nakhlai, and Gebel Ramlah, among many others.
Chronology of the Nabta Playa Region
- Early Neolithic El Adam phase, 10,800-9800 cal BP
- abandoned during period of aridity 9800-9600 cal BP
- Early Neolithic El Ghorab phase
- abandoned between 9200-9100 cal BP
- Middle Neolithic 8300-7600 cal BP
- Late Neolithic 7,500-6,200 cal BP
The earliest excavated occupations in the Nabta Playa Region are dated about 11,000 calendar years ago (cal BP), and are described as small scatters of stone wasteflakes and fossil bones around small hearths. No evidence of houses, storage pits or wells are known from this period, and the people are believed to have been transient hunter-gatherers, who survived on wild millet and legumes as well as hunting gazelle.
El Adam Phase
The first settlements in the Nabta Playa-Kiseiba Region date to the El Adam phase, ca 10,800-9800 cal BP. El Adam phase settlements are sites with hut foundations with central hearths. The sites are characterized by a lithic tool kit dominated by bladelets, perforators, and large endscrapers made from Egyptian flint, the source of which is located about 75 km north of Nabta Playa. Animal bone found at El Adam sites include cattle, gazelle, hare, jackal, turtle, rodents and birds. El Adam cattle are likely wild, although some scholars believe that the process of domestication began during this period.
Pottery fragments found at El Adam sites represent the oldest discovered in Africa to date. The earliest is from site E-79-08 at El Adam Playa, within a feature radiocarbon-dated to 9820+-380 RCYBP (calibrated to 10,000-8800 cal BP). Called the El Adam type, the potsherds have also been found at several other sites within the Nabta Playa Kiseiba region. The sherds are from bowls of various sizes and depths, made of a local clay with coarse granite and micaceous sand added as a tempering agent. The bowls have wall thicknesses of between 4.5-10 mm (.2-.5 inches), and are decorated with simple impressions or rocker stamping. The pottery is grey in color, with a grey to black core; some reddish pottery has also been identified.
Several pottery disks with notched or serrated edges were found at several sites in the region, and scholars believe these were used to make the rocker stamp impressions.
El Ghorab Phase (9600-9200 cal BP)
The region was abandoned during an arid spell between 9800-9600 BP, and afterward, people returned to Nabta Playa. During this phase, houses were oval and slab-lined; however, storage pits and water wells are not known for the El Ghorab phase, and it is believed that the houses were abandoned during the driest seasons. Animal bones in the El Ghorab phase are gazelle and hare, but also wildcat, hedgehog, birds, porcupine and a few wild cattle.
El Nabta Phase (9100-8900 cal BP)
After another abandonment, during the El Nabta phase, people lived in small settlements, built of both large oval huts and small round huts, numerous bell-shaped storage pits and large deep wells with adjacent basins. These are considered permanent settlements, and the basins were built for the purpose of watering cattle. Stone tools include backed blades, perforators, burins, and denticulates. Bone points and pottery have been found at these sites; most of the pottery sherds are from small globular jars with constricted rims. Animals in the faunal collections including gazelle and hare, and an occasional cow; plants represented include a wide range of grasses, legumes, fruits and tubers.
The largest El Nabta Phase community is at E-75-6, where at least 15 huts were identified, arranged in two or perhaps three parallel lines along the edge of what would have been a lake. Only about half were occupied at any one time; the huts were apparently rebuilt over time. One house type is a long oval structure, 6 meters (20 feet) long and 2.5 m (8 ft) wide; another is a small round structure, 3-4 m (10-13 ft) in diameter. They were simple brush or mat-covered huts with central hearths. Three water wells and several large storage pits are connected to the houses.
Middle Neolithic at Nabta Playa (8300-7600 cal BP)
By the Middle Neolithic, domestication of cattle is in evidence. Faunal assemblages include a huge range of animals, as the people added lizards, squirrels, rats, hyena, and oryx to the standard gazelles, hares and cattle. Around 8000 cal BP, domestic goat or sheep was added, undoubtedly introduced from southwest Asia. Numerous, large bell-shaped storage pits and grinding stones indicate plants remained an important part of local diets, although plant remains have not been identified.
Houses during the Middle Neolithic in the region were round and dug partially into the earth (called semi-subterranean). The walls are often slab-lined or wattle and daub, with sloping entryways. Most of the settlements were only one or two houses, although several villages with a half-dozen or more houses have been found. A midden of smore than 2 m (6 ft) in depth is located on a dune near Nabta Playa.
Late Neolithic (7500-6200 cal BP)
By the late Neolithic, the settlements were larger, with numerous stone-lined hearths, new pottery related to the early Baderian and Abkan Neolithic types. Settlements such as E-75-8 are extensive, with many houses, and a distinctive ceremonial center, including what has been described as an astronomical observatory.
Nabta-Playa Archaeological Sites
Nabta Playa, Bir Kiseiba, El Adam Playa, Bir Eid, Ramlah Playa, Bir Nakhlai, and Gebel Ramlah, all in Egypt.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the guide to the Neolithic, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Johnson AL. 2002. Cross-Cultural Analysis of Pastoral Adaptations and Organizational States: A Preliminary Study. Cross-Cultural Research 36(2):151-180.
Jórdeczka M, Królik H, Masoj M, and Schild R. 2011. Early Holocene pottery in the Western Desert of Egypt: new data from Nabta Playa Antiquity 85(327):99-115.
Malville JM, Schild R, Wendorf F, and Brenmer R. 2008. Astronomy of Nabta Playa. In: Holbrook JC, Urama JO, and Medupe RT, editors. African Cultural Astronomy. Netherlands: Springer. p 131-143.
Wasylikowa K, Mitka J, Wendorf F, and Schild R. 1997. Exploitation of wild plants by the early Neolithic hunterâ€"gatherers of the Western Desert, Egypt: Nabta Playa as a case-study. Antiquity 71(274):932-932.
Wendorf F, and Schild R. 1994. Are the early Holocene cattle in the eastern Sahara domestic or wild? Evolutionary Anthropology 3(4):97-123.
Wendorf F, and Schild R. 1998. Nabta Playa and Its Role in Northeastern African Prehistory. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 17:97â€"123.
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