The Oasis Papers 2

Proceedings of the Second International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project

Marcia F. Wiseman

• Publisher: Oxbow Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781785705618
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

This volume of fourteen papers covers the environment, archaeology and conservation of the Dakhleh Oasis, as presented at the Second International Conference of this long-running project (held in Toronto, 1997). Four abstracts from papers not submitted to the published volume are also included, as is the original conference program.

The Quaternary Faunas of Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt

Charles S. Churcher, Maxine R. Kleindienst, Marcia F. Wiseman and Mary M. A. McDonald

Abstract1

Vertebrate and molluscan fossils have been recovered from deposits dated to the Pleistocene and Holocene of the Dakhleh Oasis. The horizons or sites were recognized by the authors, members of the Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP), while surveying the geology, archaeology and palaeontology of the oasis.

The Pleistocene deposits comprise a single horizon, tentatively dated as within the Middle-to-Late Pleistocene at between 400,000 and 200,000 yrs BP, and discontinuously fossiliferous in marly Calcareous Silty Sediments (CSS) laid down along the southern shores of ancient lakes (Palaeolakes Teneida [and Kellis]) which occupied the eastern and central oasis depressions, respectively. These deposits were first recognized as fossiliferous in 1996 (by C. S. Churcher [CSC], M. R. Kleindienst [MRK] and M. F. Wiseman [MFW]), and elements have been collected mainly from surface materials weathered from the marls, with some specimens recovered in situ. The elements comprise whole phalanges and metapodials, ends of longbones, fragments of teeth, and fragments of large longbones exhibiting green breaks.

The taxa tentatively identified on mainly fragmentary remains include [African elephant (Loxodonta africana)], camel (Camelus [cf.] thomasi), hippo[potamus] (Hippopotamus amphibius), warthog (Phacochoerus [aethiopicus]), African buffalo (?Pelorovis [and] Syncerus), hartebeest (?Alcelaphus or Damaliscus), antelope (size of impala, Aepyceros), gazelle (Gazella, size of Loder’s gazelle, G. leptoceros), small buck (size of dik-dik, Madoqua), extinct Cape zebra (Equus capensis); three birds – a wading bird the size of a heron (Ardea), a water fowl, possibly a medium-sized duck (Anas), and a small thrush-sized bird; a possible lizard; a [juvenile] small catfish ([cf.] Synodontis); two freshwater snails – Lymnaea stagnalis and [Planorbis planorbis]; and casts of stems, buds and leaves of [graminaceous] water plants, probably reeds. The freshwater snails and possible catfish indicate that the water was permanent and fresh, which correlates with the presence of hippo, buffalo and zebra which cannot exist far from potable water; water birds may be seasonal and may tolerate brackish or saline waters. The fauna and flora as known suggest a lakeshore environment with nearby savannah bush similar to that which exists in the East African [Rift] Valley today.

Associated and in situ with the bones are flakes from the manufacture of stone tools, but so far no tools.2 These [flakes] appear to belong to the Balat Unit (latest [Earlier] Stone Age) and suggest a broad range between 400,000 and 200,000 yrs BP. The bones vary in preservation, from well preserved with excellent structure and sharp edges [on] the breaks or facets, to very poor preservation with denatured bone collapsing when prepared with dilute acetic acid, whether the bones are large from hippo or small from antelope. Some bones or bone fragments [are found] in small clumps in which pieces are jumbled [and] seemingly not laid down by normal lacustrine or fluviatile processes. The presence of stone flakes, broken longbones with green breaks, and seemingly artificial clusters of bone fragments suggests the presence of early Homo.

The Holocene fossiliferous deposits are associated with Neolithic occupation sites and artefacts of the [Masara], Bashendi and Sheikh Muftah cultural units. [The bone and tooth specimens in Bashendi sites (e.g., [Locs 270, 271 or 385]), or mixed sites with some Bashendi cultural components (e.g., [Loc. 002 or] 33/390-D2-2 [Loc. 006]), are usually large fragments showing green breaks, but with few specimens intact enough to be useful mensurationally]. The [fauna associated with] Bashendi [artefacts] as recognized comprises ostrich (Struthio camelus), ?monkey (Cercopithecus) [a humerus subsequently identified as wild cat (Felis silvestris lybica?)], elephant (Loxodonta africana), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), hartebeest (?Alcelaphus), gazelle (of the size of G. dorcas or G. leptoceros), buffalo (?Syncerus caffer), [cattle (Bos primigenius or B. taurus)], and extinct Cape zebra (Equus capensis).

The Sheikh Muftah sites (e.g., 33/390-D2-2 [Loc. 006] and 31/420-F9-3 and D9-1 [Locs 092 and 072, respectively]) usually yield smaller fragments of bones or teeth than those which are found in the Bashendi sites. The ends of most longbones are destroyed, making faunal identification difficult, and thus the few horncores or lower jaws are important. The [fauna associated with] Sheikh Muftah [artefacts] so far comprises tortoise (Geochelone cf. sulcata), ostrich (Struthio camelus), Cape hare (Lepus capensis), a canid (size of C. lupaster, [Egyptian wolfjackal]), [African] elephant (Loxodonta africana), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), [bubal] hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), Loder’s gazelle (G. leptoceros), goat (Capra hircus), buffalo (?Syncerus caffer) or cattle [(Bos cf. primigenius [= Bos cf. taurus])], and extinct Cape zebra (Equus capensis). The freshwater molluscs Pila ovata and Gyraulus costulatus are also present and may have been endemic; the Nile oyster Etheria elliptica occurs and had to have been imported from the Nile Valley.

[All faunal remains associated with Masara,] Bashendi and Sheikh Muftah [artefacts] suggest bushveld savannah with permanently available water in which hunting, herding and gathering lifestyles would be possible. The [Masara and] Bashendi peoples appear not to have possessed cattle or goats, while the Sheikh Muftah peoples apparently did.3

Introduction

Vertebrate and molluscan fossils have been recovered from deposits dated to the Pleistocene and Holocene of the Dakhleh Oasis. The horizons or sites were recognized by the authors and other members of the Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP) while surveying the geology, archaeology and palaeontology of the oasis. The original expectation of the project as conceived by Anthony J. Mills and Geoffrey Freeman, the originators of the project, was that Quaternary fossils would be discovered within the oasis region and would provide a faunal status quo ante against which materials recovered from Neolithic, Pharaonic, Ptolemaic and Romano-Byzantine midden faunas could be compared. While Neolithic and historic debris was present, no earlier Quaternary fossil deposits were located between 1977 and 1996, when the first mid-Pleistocene horizon was located by the first three authors (see Churcher et al. 1999). Consequently, this account has two major foci: the mid-Pleistocene Palaeolithic or older Middle Stone Age and the mid-Holocene Neolithic cultures and their associated faunas.

Sites from which materials have been recovered are catalogued in two systems: the DOP Grid-based Reference System, explained in Mills (1979; 1999), and the Archaeological Locality List published in DOP Monograph 2 as Appendix III (Kleindienst et al. 1999b). This report will refer to these sites by Locality or Localities, abbreviated to ‘Loc.’ or ‘Locs,’ and individual sites will be identified by three figure numbers.

The appellation of names for wild animal species and their derivatives where applicable follows the ruling of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (Opinion 2027, March 2003) as listed by Gentry et al. (2004).

Geology

The geology of the oasis is dominated by the Libyan Escarpment with its five major Late Cretaceous formations, from bottom to top: terrestrial Taref Formation (Fm.) sandstone with few shale lenses; estuarine Mut Fm. (= Quseir Fm.) which is divisible into lower, massive Red Clay or Muds and upper, layered papery Variegated Shales unit; near-shore, shallow-water marine Duwi Fm. phosphorites with hard phosphoritic beds in a laminated clay section; and deep-water marine Dakhla Fm. of blackto-light-grey shales. Chalks of the complex Palaeoceneto-Eocene Tarawan Group cap the section (Churcher 1999; Kleindienst et al. 1999a). The present floor of the oasis that is occupied by cultivation is formed in aeolian-eroded Mut Fm. deposits. Evidently, as the floor of the oasis was lowered by aeolian erosion caused by the prevailing northerly winds descending from the Escarpment, the Mut deposits were exposed by the removal of the overlying lower Duwi shales, and palaeolakes came to lie on the Mut clays and red muds, with shores against the rising Taref sandstones to the south, and also against them to the north where the Taref Fm. rises in an anticline, or is up-faulted.

The mid-Pleistocene fossiliferous deposits are part of a single shoreline horizon within two palaeolake basins, termed Palaeolakes Teneida and Kellis. These lakes were fed by internal drainage, with much water draining from a past incarnation of the Libyan Escarpment and bringing in a load of lime (CaCO3). Lake levels probably fluctuated through the seasons and climatic cycles and may have coalesced as Palaeolake Balat, with lime content varying markedly. The palaeolakes would become supersaturated with lime during the dry seasons, and some would precipitate onto the bed as a colloidal marl. This deposit, which may attain >6 m thickness, forms capping Calcareous Silty Sediments (CSS) which lie unconformably over lower Mut shale or red mud, or over weathered Taref sandstone surfaces. In places run-off over weathered-sandstone surfaces removed sandstone particles and iron oxides and deposited them in the palaeolake as interfingering Ferruginous Sandy Sediments (FSS). Such deposits are uncommon, but are present on the flanks of the Tawil Anticline in both Palaeolakes Kellis and Teneida, and near the southern Tawil sandstone oasis rim south of the entrance to the oasis on the Kharga road (Churcher et al. 1999, figure 1).

It is from the CSS marls that vertebrate bones and mollusc shell specimens, together with Balat Unit material (Kellis Palaeobasin, Loc. 353) and older Middle Stone Age artefacts (Teneida unit, MSA), are derived, many of which are obtained as weathered specimens lying on the surface. Many of the localities that have yielded specimens are south and south-east of Teneida in Palaeolake Teneida, with other localities along the southern shoreline of Palaeolake Kellis from Sheikh Muftah to Mut aerodrome. The localities (Locs 211, 361, 374, 391 and 392) lie mainly north-west of a modern dry-pan basin (El-Akoulah) and include the fossil Iron Balls Spring vent and Loc. 357 to the west, near the dry pan we have termed Camel Thorn Basin. The first productive fossiliferous locality discovered, Loc. 348, which to date has yielded only 2 small indeterminate artefacts in situ, is atop a prominent hill (El-Hajir Hill) south-east of the modern village of Ezbet el-Hajir. Other and less fossiliferous sites lie on the crests of yardanged sandstone gebels in a NE-SW line between the main find sites (Locs 350, 351, 352, 355, and 356). Vertebrate fossils and some flakes have been found on the crests of these yardangs and associated with the CSS that ‘ices’ the sandstone, or with the surface that predates CSS deposition. At all these localities, the CSS overlies weathered Taref sandstone on what appears to be the margin of a palaeolake. Pristine Teneida unit flakes and tools, some in situ, have been obtained at the Iron Balls Spring (Loc. 374). Well-preserved vertebrate materials are from Locs 211NE and 211E in that vicinity.

The fo...