Holocene playa deposits of Farafra Oasis, Egypt, and their palaeoclimatic and geoarchaeological...

Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, Vol. 16, No. 1, 29–46 (2001)� 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Holocene Playa Deposits of Farafra

Oasis, Egypt, and Their Palaeoclimatic

and Geoarchaeological Significance

F. A. Hassan,1 B. Barich,2 M. Mahmoud,3 and M. A. Hemdan4

1Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square,

London, WC1H OPY, United Kingdom2University of Rome “La Sapienza,” Rome, Italy3Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt4Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

Archaeological sites associated with the Holocene playas in Farafra Oasis were occupiedprimarily by foragers. Intensive utilization of wild sorghum, originally dated to 6700 yr B.P.,has now been pushed back to 7600 yr B.P. Sheep and goats, originating in the Levant, wereintroduced in Farafra Oasis ca. 6700 yr B.P. The playas were episodically sustained by surfacerunoff and wadi activity under wet/moist climatic conditions with frequent dry oscillationsfrom approximately 9650 to 6000 radiocarbon yr B.P. A shift toward drier climatic conditionsassociated with colluvial reworking of older cultural material is evident from 7300 to 6000 yrB.P. This shift precipitated a significant change in settlement strategy. The main phase ofplaya formation ended ca. 6000 yr B.P. under cold conditions and increasing aridity. � 2001John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

INTRODUCTION

Farafra Oasis (Figure 1) is situated in the middle of the Western Desert of Egypt(26�40� to 27�30� lat., 27�30� to 28�40� long.). The oasis is 200 km southeast ofBaharia Oasis and 300 km northeast of Dakhla Oasis. The main settlement in Far-afra is Qasr Farafra. In 1892, the population of the oasis was just 542 persons. By1960, the population had grown to 1010 persons. The inhabitants of the Oasis sub-sisted on the products of cultivation using water from 20 springs surrounding themain settlement. The population of the oasis has since increased immensely as aresult of immigrants from the Nile Valley following reclamation projects and theconstruction of a road that connects Farafra to Cairo. So far archaeological remainsin Farafra Oasis have been limited to an eighteenth dynasty site and a few Romansites. In 1850, the Sanusi religious order founded a zawiyah/mosque in Farafra.

The depression of Farafra extends over an area of 10,000 km2, the second largestdepression in the Western Desert of Egypt (Figure 2). It is bounded from north,east, and west by escarpments of the surrounding desert plateaus (270–300 m aslwith residual hills as high as 350 m asl). The eastern edge of the Great Sand Seaencroaches on the southwestern margin of the greater Farafra depression. Eolian

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Figure 1. Location of Farafra Oasis in Egypt.

sand deposits also extend along the eastern margin of the depression in the AinRajih–Bir Murr area. Ain Rajih is on the caravan route, which leads from Siwa viaFarafra to Assiut on the Nile Valley. The floor of the depression (76 m at QasrFarafra, where the width of the depression is 90 km) in the north is Maastrichtianchalk (Khoman Formation) and Maastrichtian/Danian Dakhla shale in the south(Figure 2). The elevation of the floor rises from north to south. The escarpmentsreveal a sequence of Landanian/Ypresian Esna Shale capped by Eocene Farafralimestone. The depression is rimmed by a series of pediments. There are severalkarstic [blind] wadis with swarms of residual pedestals. The depression may haveoriginated in a dynamic interplay between fluvial and karstic processes underchanging climatic conditions since the Miocene (Barich and Hassan, 1984–87).Fluvial activity is now lacking since rainfall is negligible.

THE PLAYA SEDIMENTS OF FARAFRA OASIS

Playa deposits in Farafra Oasis are situated at the footslope of the eastern es-carpment of El-Quss Abu Said Plateau (Figure 3). There are also a few small playas

HOLOCENE PLAYA DEPOSITS OF FARAFRA OASIS, EGYPT

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Figure 3. Location map of playas and archaeological sites at Farafra Oasis.



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Figure 4. Residual hills of the oldest playa deposits at Bir Nuss.

in the center of the depression, including a small playa east of Gebel Gunna El-Bahari, and an extensive playa in the Ain El-Wadi region as well as another exten-sive playa, Rajih playa, at the footslope of the eastern escarpment, near Bir Murr.A large playa, Bahr Playa, associated with Wadi Obeiyid is on the road to the AinDalla depression. In the latter depression, deposits consist of a sabkha flat withweathered, powdery chalk.

The playas in Farafra Oasis belong to several generations preserved in differentlocalities. The oldest playa deposits are now represented at Bir Nuss as small,residual conical hills (Figure 4). Degradation and deflation of the fine matrix of theplaya deposits accounts for a surficial layer of patinated lag gravel on the exposedbedrock where playa deposits have been totally removed. Sediments preserved inthe erosional remnants of the old playa consist of intercalations of fluvial graveland sand with yellowish brown (10YR 5/3) to brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) playamud (Figure 5). The mud has thin, gypsum crusts and iron oxide stains, suggestingintermittent desiccation and subaerial exposure of mud deposits under warm, aridconditions with somewhat higher rainfall than at present, sufficient to allow majorephemeral streams to flow at times.

The deposits from the next moist episode in Farafra are recorded at Ain Ramlwhere they are dated to 9650 � 190 yr B.P.1 They consist in this locality of very

1 All radiocarbon ages reported in the article are uncalibrated.

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Figure 5. Stratigraphic sections of playa deposits in Farafra Oasis.



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Figure 6. Residual hills (yardangs) in Bahr Playa, Wadi El-Obeiyid, Farafra Oasis. The yardangs are1.75–8 m high and 1.4–24.5 m long.

pale brown (10YR 8/3 to 7/4) playa mud at the top and very pale brown (10YR 7/4), very poorly sorted sand with a basal conglomerate of chalk, ferruginous nodules,and chert clasts at the base. The playa mud has desiccation cracks and is charac-terized by intercalations of white limestone-derived sand and thin reddish bandsof iron oxides, as well as oblique and vertical root cast tubes. Intercalations offluvial [wadi] sand and gravel were observed in several sections.

At Bahr Playa, in Wadi El-Obeiyid, the playa deposits are exposed in a series ofyardangs (Figure 6). They consist of a sequence of mostly white to very pale brown(10YR 8/2 to 10YR 8/4) playa mud interbedded with cross-laminated sand and fluvialgravel in the lower part (below a level marked by a hearth dated to 8080 � 60 yrB.P.). The middle unit of this sequence is dated on in situ charcoal to 7725 � 60to 7320 � 110 yr B.P. (Table I).

The youngest deposits at Bahr Playa are preserved at a rockshelter (Section GS-2) and consist of a 40-cm-thick layer of white (10YR 8/1), angular, chalk rubble ina friable, calcareous loam. Individual clasts are as big as 70 cm across. This layeris underlain, in turn, by a 10- to 30-cm-thick layer of white (10YR 8/1) subangularchalk clasts about 1–5 cm in diameter. The next layer is 10 cm thick and consistsof white (10YR 8/2), friable, calcareous sand with occasional corroded pebbles androot casts. This layer grades downward into a 50-cm-thick layer of compact, verypale brown (10YR 8/3), laminated calcareous silt, which is, in turn, underlain by a

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Table I. Radiocarbon ages determined on samples from Farafra Oasis.

Lab No. Site MaterialAge in

Radiocarbon yr B.P.

R-2006 RJH Ostrich eggshell 5380 � 110R-2232 Bahr 5c (shelter), fireplace, 25–

35 cmCharcoal 6050 � 75

R-2231 Bahr 4d, fireplace, 15 cm Charcoal 6550 � 75R-2235 Bahr 5a, fireplace, 15 cm Charcoal 6160 � 100Gd-9629 HV-VG96E/3 Charcoal 6190 � 270Gd-7819 HV-VG96F/1 Charcoal 6710 � 40Gd-7820 HV-VG96F/1 Charcoal 6710 � 40R-1901 Bahr 5d, surface Ostrich eggshell 6730 � 60Gd-7823 HV-VG96E/4 Charcoal 6750 � 50Gd-11281 HV-VG96F/1 Charcoal 6930 � 60Gd-11277 HV-VG96E/4 Charcoal 7030 � 70Gd-11279 HV-VG96E/3 Charcoal 7040 � 90Gd-10505 HV-VG96F/1 Charcoal 7130 � 100R-2234 Bahr 2a, hearth, 10–15 cm Charcoal 7725 � 60R-2236 Hidden Valley Bahr Playa, Hut 1,

level 2A, 40–45 cmCharcoal 7320 � 110

R-1895 FA IV Ostrich eggshell 6670 � 95R-1895 FA II Ostrich eggshell 6950 � 60R-1909 AD XIIIb Ostrich eggshell 7000 � 410R-1902 Bahr 2e, fireplace Charcoal 8080 � 60R-1983 AR exc Charcoal 9650 � 190

massive 40-cm-thick bed of very pale brown (10YR 8/4), friable carbonate powder(Figure 7). The section shows progressive coarsening upward. Charcoal from ahearth within the compact, laminated silt yielded a radiocarbon age of 6050 � 75yr B.P. Other ages from the seventh millennium B.P. at Bahr Playa include 6160 �100 yr B.P. on charcoal, 6550 � 75 yr B.P. on charcoal, and 6730 � 60 yr B.P. onostrich eggshell (Table I).

Playa deposits are also recorded at Rajih, in the eastern part of the depression.The playa deposits are white, very pale brown and yellowish light brown sandy,desiccated mud and sandy silt with root casts, interbedded with lenses of cross-laminated fluvial sand and gravel. The age of these sediments is uncertain. Theymay be contemporaneous with the top part of Bahr Playa. A surface collection ofostrich eggshell yielded a radiocarbon age of 5380 � 110 yr B.P. The eggshell maybe related to human occupation postdating the deposition of the playa sediments(Alessio et al., 1992).

The youngest playa in our study area is located at Bir Nuss. It is a large playawith a flat clayey surface covered in places by small patches of tufa. Unlike otherplayas in the area, the playa surface has not been dissected into yardangs. Itsrelatively young age is also inferred from its stratigraphic relationship and geo-morphic setting relative to other playa sediments in the region. This playa wasapparently formed during a moist episode, probably synchronous with the moist



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Figure 7. The youngest playa silty deposits at Bahr Playa grading upward into calcareous sand, whichgrades, in turn, upward into angular chalk rubble (inset depicts a close-up of rubble). Hearthstones inthe foreground are eroding from a hearth dated to 6050 yr B.P.

phase at Kharga Oasis, dated from ca. 5900 to 5000 yr B.P., where spring activitywas pronounced (Haas and Haynes, 1980). Climatic conditions were perhaps coolerthan today, favoring more effective precipitation which, in turn, would have pro-moted spring discharge and tufa development. At Bir Nuss, the playa would havebeen fed by a now inactive spring. At present, palm trees and tamarix in the areasuggest that the water table is not very deep. The formation of the tufa in associ-ation with the youngest playa is also consistent with the formation of widespreadtufa deposits at the foot of Gebel Nagashush in Sudanese Nubia dated to ca. 5800–5400 yr B.P. The tufa deposits are attributed to surface flow from a groundwaterreservoir (Pachur and Hoelzmann, 1991)

DEPOSITIONAL HISTORY AND PALAEOCLIMATE

The sequence of late Quaternary deposits in Farafra Oasis begins with an initialepisode of wadi activity (Bir Nuss Old Playa) associated with ponds and ephemerallakes. This was followed by an erosional episode, which was followed in turn byan episode of playa deposition. The playa was fed by wadi wash as indicated bylenses of fluvial sand and gravel. Following another erosional episode, playa dep-

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osition resumed. Deposits from this episode are well represented at El-Bahr Playain Wadi El-Obeiyid. The lower part of these deposits was formed when the wadiwas active, as indicated by cross-laminated fluvial sand and gravel. After ca. 8000yr B.P., fluvial activity was less pronounced. Deposition came mostly from colluvialslopewash. The climate toward the end of this phase became progressively drier.The presence of white subangular chalk rubble overlying playa deposits dating toca. 6050 yr B.P. indicates severe mechanical weathering under subaerial conditionsduring the mid-Holocene. Temperature variations coupled with freezing of moisturetrapped in fissures would have been sufficient to produce angular clasts and lime-stone blocks. The white color of the deposits indicates that temperature and rainfallwere sufficiently low to mobilize iron oxides. There is no evidence for the formationof salt or gypsum, indicating a rapid drop of the water table following the termi-nation of playa deposition.

The youngest playa deposits, postdating the 7th millennium B.P., were fed byspring discharge and are overlain by a top layer of tufa, marking a moist, coolphase. Water is still accessible in this area at Bir Nuss (“Bir” means “well” in Ara-bic).

In sum, the sequence of playa deposits at Farafra Oasis indicates that the mainperiod of deposition from ephemeral freshwater lakes began at some time beforeca. 9650 yr B.P. and ended ca. 6000 yr B.P. The playas were initially fed by surfacerunoff, and wadis. Younger playas, however, received most of their water fromspring discharge. The sequence of deposits indicates not only significant millennialchanges in climatic conditions but also frequent short-term oscillations.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL OCCURRENCES

The oldest Holocene archaeological sites in the Farafra area (Barich and Hassan,1984–87; Barich et al., 1991) are dated to 9650 � 190 yr B.P. They represent ephem-eral and temporary encampments by hunter-gatherers equipped with Terminal Pa-laeolithic tools (Barich et al., 1991), which can be compared to the El-Ghorab unitin the Western Desert, first identified south of Farafra in the Bir Kiseiba region(Wendorf et al., 1984). The area where those early sites are located encompassesmore than 10 km2 and includes Ain Raml, Ain Kiffrein, and Abu Kasseb. The ar-chaeological remains at Ain Raml are scattered over an area wider than 200 m2.Test excavations were limited to 25 m2 and revealed an in situ layer with hearths,not more than 10–15 cm deep. At Ain Raml and nearby sites, lithic artifacts areassociated with pottery. However, it is not certain that these sherds are associatedwith the Epipalaeolithic assemblage. The sherds are intensively weathered withvestiges of comb-impressed decoration, recalling Saharan examples.

The beginning of occupation at El-Obeiyid dates to 8080 � 60 yr B.P., contem-porary with the main Nabta moist phase farther south (Haynes, 1980; Wendorf etal., 1998). The assemblage at El-Obeiyid is dominated by Epipalaeolithic blade andbladelet technology.

Sites dating from the 7th millennium B.P. are common in Farafra. One of the



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areas where those sites are located is at Qasr el-Farafra. The remains in this area,however, are meager. Two sites (FA II and FA IV) yielded two ages of 6950 � 60yr B.P. and 6670 � 95 yr B.P. on ostrich eggshell. There is little variety in thedebitage products, which show a predominance of blades and a significant numberof burin spalls. The type list includes limited numbers of denticulates, notches,side-scrapers, and a few end-scrapers. Some rare projectile points and two exam-ples of tranchet-axes were also identified.

The majority of the archaeological occurrences at Bahr Playa date from ca. 6700to 6000 yr B.P. They are contemporaneous with sites in association with playa de-posits at El-Heiz in Baharia Oasis, north of Farafra (Hassan, 1986). The sites clearlyindicate a continuity of occupation in one locality with a shift in the location ofresidential encampments. A total of five occurrences with numerous artifact con-centrations were recognized over an area of approximately one square kilometer.The artifact assemblage from Ain Dalla and Bahr Playa consists mainly of scrapers,bifacial tools, bifacial projectile points, gouges, perforators, and drills (Figure 8).The tools also include bifacial “daggers”, bifacial sickles, and grinding stones.

Other sites occur approximately 130 km northeast of Qasr Farafra, around AinDalla. The artifacts are associated with sabkha and are extraordinarily rich. Theassemblage, dating to 7000 � 410 yr B.P., is distinctive and differs from that ob-served in Qasr Farafra. The raw material is also different at Ain Dalla, consistingof dark brown, shiny chert.

Sites were also located at Rajih-Bir Murr area, approximately 80 km east of QasrFarafra, along the eastern side of the depression. The assemblage from the Rajihsites dates to 5380 � 110 yr B.P., and is characterized by a particular type of laminarprojectile point with unifacial retouch (Ounan-Arif type). The presence of thin-walled pottery with impressed decoration, quite different from other examplesknown from the depression, is significant. Both the ceramic and lithic industriesshow affinities with the Bashendi B archaeological complex in the Dakhla Oasis,which was dated to the 7th to 6th millennia B.P. (McDonald, 1996:94).

PALAEOCLIMATE, SUBSISTENCE, AND CULTURE CHANGE

The occupational history at Farafra Oasis was closely linked to the changingclimatic conditions and associated modifications of the desert landscape. Archae-ological evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers with ephemeral and transient en-campments inhabited the Farafra region during the early Holocene from 10,000 to8000 yr B.P. However, most occupations appear to date after 6900 yr B.P. andresemble those at Dakhla Oasis farther south (McDonald, 1993, 1996). There is alsoevidence for increasingly sedentary occupation in Farafra during the 7th millen-nium B.P. Recent archaeological discoveries (Barich, 1996) at Hidden Valley Playa,a small playa in a depression at a higher elevation in the proximity of Bahr, includean aligned series of at least 10 slab-lined circular huts at the edge of a small playa(Figure 9). The slabs are embedded in a stratified sequence of playa and colluvialdeposits and date between ca. 7300 and 6200 yr B.P. The main in situ occupation

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Figure 8. Lithic artifacts from the Bahr Playa-Ain Dalla area: 1 gouge; 2, 8 scrapes; 3, 6 drill bits; 4, 7,10 bifacial projectile point; 5 double backed perforator; 9 bifacial foliate; 11 bifacial tool.



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Figure 9. Architectural remains of a dwelling from a series of huts aligned at the edge of the HiddenValley Playa, Farafra Oasis. The hearth in the foreground yielded a radiocarbon date of 6700 yr B.P.

with hearths dates to 6750–6700 yr B.P. Colluvial deposits, containing reworkedolder cultural material and charcoal, are represented below and above that level(Barich and Hassan, in press). The hearths provided evidence for intensive utili-zation of wild sorghum (Barakat and Fahmy, 1999). Bone fragments of domesticovicaprids (identified by A. Gautier, University of Ghent) were recovered from thisoccupation. In 1999, abundant remains of wild sorghum were found in an oldercontext dating to 7600 yr B.P.

A karstic cavern in the cliff-face overlooking a high pediment above the HiddenValley was also discovered. The entrance to the cavern was filled with wind blownsand. Charcoal at the base of the eolian sequence, 170 cm below the surface, pro-vided an age of ca. 7000 yr B.P. Charcoal from the middle of the unit at 110 cmbelow the surface yielded an age of 4460 yr B.P. Pollen extracted from sheep andgoat coprolites from the lower part of the eolian unit (7000–4500 yr B.P.) andidentified by E. Schultz (University of Wurzburg) included vegetation typical ofcuestas and sandy plains. Rock art from this cavern consists of engravings of agazelle, a kind of mufflon, a boat with oars (?), and hammered round depressionsidentified as “lion foot” motifs in the front and middle galleries. In the rear gallery,numerous “negative” hand prints are painted on the wall and toward the ceiling(Barich et al., 1996b). The eolian deposits clearly indicate a significant transition

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to eolian transport and deposition by 7000 yr B.P., at a time when playas were inthe last millennium of their existence as a major feature of the depression.

It thus appears that, at the earliest, evidence of sheep or goats at Farafra datesto ca. 6700 yr B.P., but there is no direct evidence of domestic cattle, which appearearlier farther south at Nabta (Wendorf et al., 1987). The evidence at Nabta Playaof intensive utilization of wild sorghum and other seeds and tubers at 8000–7900yr B.P. (Wendorf et al., 1998) also predates the earliest date for this practice inFarafra Oasis. Moreover, until now only a few potsherds have been found at Far-afra. By contrast, at Nabta, the period from ca. 7800 to 7500 yr B.P. (Al Jerar phase)is characterized by much pottery together with hundreds of houses and storagepits (F. Wendorf, personal communication).

FARAFRA OASIS: PEOPLE AND CLIMATE IN TRANSITION

Changing climatic conditions and an arid spell ca. 7200–7000 yr B.P. (docu-mented across North Africa [Hassan, 1996, 1997]) stimulated population move-ments as well as a rapid dispersal of sheep and goats from the southern Levantinto Egypt (Hassan, 1988, 2000). The oldest recorded ovicaprids in Africa date to7000 yr B.P. in the Red Sea Hills, Egypt (Vermeersch et al., 1996). Also, the climaticoscillations between 7200 and 6100 yr B.P. may have been associated with a changein seasonality with incursions of winter rain in the Farafra depression (as indicatedby the presence of Mediterranean poppies [A. Fahmy, personal communication]).At Nabta, farther south, the failure of summer monsoon rains (ca. 6600 yr B.P.)might have encouraged some groups to move northward to take advantage of win-ter rain whenever it fell. This would explain the density of occupations at Dakhlaand Farafra, between 6500 and 6000 yr B.P. (McDonald, 1998) and the similarity intool types between Dakhla/Bashendi and Farafra/Bahr Playa assemblages, wheredepressions with large catchment areas represent favorable locations for aggre-gation both for the local inhabitants and others who might have wandered north.Ovicaprids, which are more adaptable to desert conditions than cattle, would havebeen adopted at that time by the Saharan communities. Domestic cattle, as far ascurrent evidence suggests, do not appear in Farafra but are known from Dakhla inphase B of the Bashendi assemblages dated from 6500 to 5500 yr B.P. (McDonald,1996:95). This might have been the northernmost occurrence of cattle in the Egyp-tian Sahara, probably because the catchment areas of ephemeral lakes in Dakhlawere larger than those in Farafra (Brooks, 1989). Dakhla Oasis probably benefitedfrom both winter and summer rains because it lies at the fringe of the expandingMediterranean regime and the retreating monsoonal front. Desert conditions atFarafra, even with occasional [winter] rain showers, were apparently not suitablefor herding cattle. Instead, sheep or goats were added there to a subsistence regimethat emphasized hunting gazelle and other desert game (including ostrich), as notedby Gautier (personal communication) in his preliminary observations.

Desertification during the 7th millennium B.P. and thereafter would have en-couraged some inhabitants of Farafra and Dakhla, as well as those farther south

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222024517_Early_Holocene_basinal_sediments_of_the_Dakhleh_Oasis_region_south_central_Egypt?el=1_x_8&enrichId=rgreq-c4fa411598227c42269647bb10af9653-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzIzODM1MDc4NztBUzoxNTcxNDU4NzgyNDUzNzZAMTQxNDQ3NzkwNTI4Mw==



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at Nabta, to search for pastures. The evidence from Farafra clearly indicates fre-quent oscillations in climate from 7300 to 6000 yr B.P., with a prevalence of dryand apparently cold conditions by the beginning of the 6th millennium B.P. In theNile Valley, the earliest food producing communities date to 6100–5900 yr B.P. atMerimde Beni Salama, west Delta and 5500 yr B.P. at Badari, Middle Egypt. Thesites contain artifacts analogous to those from the Eastern Sahara dating to 6800–6500 yr B.P. (Hassan, 1986, 1988; Barich, 1993; Barich et al., 1996a; McDonald, 1996;Kuper, 1996). Spells of aridity during the period from 7300 to 5900 yr B.P. couldhave thus encouraged some desert dwellers to settle on the banks of the Nile.

The desert, however, was not totally depopulated. The occupations at Rajih andthe late occupations at Dakhla suggest that inhabitants of the oases struggled untilca. 4500 yr B.P., which marks the onset of modern hyperarid conditions in theEgyptian Sahara. The artifact assemblages of these groups contain elements similarto those found in Predynastic contexts (Barich et al., 1996a; McDonald, 1996; Kuper,1996).

During the hyperarid late Holocene, occasional submoist intervals were sufficientto wet dunes and support some desert vegetation. Phytogenic dunes were formedwhere the water table was close to the ground. During cool moist intervals, perhapsrelated to the advance of winter rains into the Egyptian Sahara, a higher watertable would have supported phytogenic dunes and perhaps more spring discharge.At Dakhla, the presence of Old Kingdom (ca. 4000–3800 yr B.P.) sherds (Brooks,1989), as well as textual data, suggest that artesian wells were used for irrigation.Cultivation is also evident during the Graeco-Roman and Islamic periods. However,cultivation contributed to the formation of mounds and hills of eolian sand trappedby irrigation water around springs and wells. Dust from tilling as well as the ero-sional effects of farm animals and herds added to a rapid accumulation of wind-blown deposits in the wetted cultivation area. Trees, bushes, and other vegetationwould have also created sediment traps, accelerating the rate of eolian deposition.Ultimately, the accumulation of sand elevated the fields above the water table. Thisprocess accounts for the abandonment of cultivated fields in some areas (e.g., atAbu Minqar, in the southern end of Farafra).

The prehistoric cultural deposits embedded in older playa deposits were repeat-edly subjected to rill wash erosion during occasional thundershowers and deflationby wind (Barich et al., 1991). The survival of some playas was probably due to thepresence of a protective layer of limestone scree, since soft playa silt may be re-moved quite rapidly. Today, the final remnants of some playa deposits and theirinvaluable prehistoric record are vanishing because of such reclamation projectsthat have already claimed many areas where we carried out our early investigations,namely at Ain Raml and Bir Nuss. At present, the western part of the oasis, aroundBir Qarawin, is under reclamation.

In summary, our ongoing work in Farafra Oasis has established a rich and diversehistory of human occupation during the Holocene in association with small ephem-eral playas. These short-lived lakes were fed by local surface runoff and occasionalwadi flow under moist/wet conditions. The oldest occupations date to ca. 9650 yr



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B.P. and represent encampments by small, mobile groups. A change in climatebetween 7300 and 6000 yr B.P. seems to have brought about a new settlementstrategy. By 6700, ovicaprids, originally from the Levant, were also added to thesubsistence economy. However, there is so far no evidence for the introduction ofSaharan cattle. The change in climate between 7300 and 6000 yr B.P. was charac-terized by frequent oscillations with marked colluvial activity and a final phase ofincreasing cooler and drier conditions. The beginning of intensive wind erosion,transport and deposition dates to ca. 7000 yr B.P. By 6000 yr B.P. the main phaseof playa formation had come virtually to an end. Similarities between certain arti-fact types from Neolithic sites in the Nile Valley and older artifacts from FarafraOasis suggests that the dwellers of Farafra had contributed to the critical transitionfrom foraging to farming in the Nile Valley.

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Received March 8, 2000

Accepted for publication September 1, 2000

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Holocene playa deposits of Farafra Oasis, Egypt, and their palaeoclimatic and geoarchaeological...

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