100th century BCE
Western Desert, Egypt
Bir Sahara and Bir Terfawi are western Egyptian desert archaeological localities preserving Middle Palaeolithic occupations in former spring-fed lakes and depressions. Bir Sahara contains five successive Mousterian horizons dominated by denticulate and notched tools, while Bir Terfawi preserves Aterian horizons associated with concentrated animal bones and butchery evidence. The sites document changing occupations linked to alternating aridity, springs, shallow lakes, and wetlands.
Continue exploring
The Story
Bir Sahara and Bir Terfawi are situated in what is now one of the most desolate parts of the western Egyptian desert. Their Middle Palaeolithic deposits accumulated in lacustrine and shore settings within depressions fed by springs. The sequence follows an earlier phase of aridity that dried the springs used by Acheulian populations, after which renewed water availability supported Mousterian and Aterian occupations.
Bir Sahara preserves five successive Mousterian horizons. The sites are large, homogeneous occupation areas with many artifacts, but no specialized working or activity zones could be distinguished. Denticulate and notched tools strongly predominate, placing the assemblages within the Denticulate Mousterian tradition; one site also contains a component of Typical Mousterian forms that may reflect functional differences.
At Bir Sahara, associated bone waste indicates that humans occupied the area alongside white rhinoceros, an extinct camel, wild ass, and giant buffalo. Two dates are reported as older than 41,500 BP and 40,750 ± 3,270 BP. At Bir Terfawi, upper lacustrine sediments contain three Aterian horizons, including one with clustered animal bones across roughly 6,000 square metres, suggesting that animals were killed and butchered in shallow lake water.
Bir Terfawi’s fauna includes large and small gazelles, warthog, jackal, and ostrich, in addition to animals also represented at the Mousterian locality. One assemblage contains many denticulate pieces, while another has more Typical Mousterian forms together with bifacial foliates and rare tanged pieces. A date of 44,190 ± 1,380 BP is associated with the same stratigraphic unit, though the extract cautions that some dates may lie beyond the reliable limits of radiocarbon dating.
100th century BCE
Western Desert, Egypt
Bir Sahara and Bir Terfawi are western Egyptian desert archaeological localities preserving Middle Palaeolithic occupations in former spring-fed lakes and depressions. Bir Sahara contains five successive Mousterian horizons dominated by denticulate and notched tools, while Bir Terfawi preserves Aterian horizons associated with concentrated animal bones and butchery evidence. The sites document changing occupations linked to alternating aridity, springs, shallow lakes, and wetlands.
Continue exploring
The Story
Bir Sahara and Bir Terfawi are situated in what is now one of the most desolate parts of the western Egyptian desert. Their Middle Palaeolithic deposits accumulated in lacustrine and shore settings within depressions fed by springs. The sequence follows an earlier phase of aridity that dried the springs used by Acheulian populations, after which renewed water availability supported Mousterian and Aterian occupations.
Bir Sahara preserves five successive Mousterian horizons. The sites are large, homogeneous occupation areas with many artifacts, but no specialized working or activity zones could be distinguished. Denticulate and notched tools strongly predominate, placing the assemblages within the Denticulate Mousterian tradition; one site also contains a component of Typical Mousterian forms that may reflect functional differences.
At Bir Sahara, associated bone waste indicates that humans occupied the area alongside white rhinoceros, an extinct camel, wild ass, and giant buffalo. Two dates are reported as older than 41,500 BP and 40,750 ± 3,270 BP. At Bir Terfawi, upper lacustrine sediments contain three Aterian horizons, including one with clustered animal bones across roughly 6,000 square metres, suggesting that animals were killed and butchered in shallow lake water.
Bir Terfawi’s fauna includes large and small gazelles, warthog, jackal, and ostrich, in addition to animals also represented at the Mousterian locality. One assemblage contains many denticulate pieces, while another has more Typical Mousterian forms together with bifacial foliates and rare tanged pieces. A date of 44,190 ± 1,380 BP is associated with the same stratigraphic unit, though the extract cautions that some dates may lie beyond the reliable limits of radiocarbon dating.
Continue the journey
Other paths related to this story.