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7. A Neolithic Nomad from Dakhleh Oasis
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96 7 d A Neolithic Nomad from Dakhleh Oasis Jennifer L. Thompson Individual Profile Site: Sheikh Muftah, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt Location: 25° 28.99’north, 29° 06.53’east Cultural Affiliation: Sheikh Muftah Cultural Unit, Predynastic Date: ca. 3200–2000 B.C., radiocarbon dates on charcoal from hearths at several Sheikh Muftah sites (McDonald et al. 2005) Feature: 365-2 Location of Grave: Northwest corner of Spring Mound, southwest of presentday village of Ezbet Sheikh Muftah Burial and Grave Type: Single primary inhumation with legs tightly flexed Associated Materials: Copper pin Preservation and Completeness: Fair preservation, some skeletal elements highly fragmentary, cranium largely complete, long bones fairly complete Age at Death and Basis of Estimate: 40–45 years, based on dental wear and pubic symphysis morphology Sex and Basis of Determination: Male, based on skull and pelvic morphology and overall size and robusticity Conditions Observed: Peripheral enthesopathies, degenerative joint disease, cervical vertebral fracture, caries, antemortem tooth loss Specialized Analysis: None Excavated: 1998, 1999, Dakhleh Oasis Project, Anthony Mills, director, and under the auspices of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities Archaeological Report: Thompson 2002, forthcoming; Thompson and Madden 2003, 2006 Current Disposition: Curated, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt A Neolithic Nomad from Dakhleh Oasis · 97 When thinking about ancient Egypt, most people envision the massive pyramids and pharonic tombs of the dynastic period. But people lived in, and journeyed through, Egypt for millennia before this. Predynastic Neolithic people were not pyramid builders. Instead, they were hunter-gatherers and nomadic pastoralists. It was only fairly recently, during the mid-to-late Holocene, that dramatic climate change resulted in a massive diaspora out of the expanding desert and into the Nile Valley. This influx of people into the Nile Valley is thought to have precipitated the development of the first dynasties in Egypt and culminated in an agricultural revolution. While this scenario is largely correct, it implies that all people migrated to the Nile Valley and became settled agriculturalists and that the desert was completely abandoned. It is now clear that some people remained in the Western Desert oases, and it is likely that some trade and movement persisted between these outlying areas and the Nile region until pharonic times, when regular, frequent travel was more common. Since 1977 archaeologists, geologists, physical anthropologists, geomorphologists , botanical and faunal experts, and a host of other scientists have been investigating prehistory and history here, from the mid-Pleistocene to Roman times, as part of the Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP). Through the study of individuals from the cemetery at Kellis (also known as Ismant el-Kharab), a Roman period site (ca. A.D. 100–450) at Dakhleh, we know details of the people who lived here in historic times (Cook et al. 1988; Fairgrieve and Molto 2000; Molto 2000, 2002; Tocheri et al. 2005; Dupras and Tocheri 2007). And we know a great deal about the predynastic people who lived in and near the Nile Valley (Starling and Stock 2007; Zakrzewski 2007). But far less is known about the lives and health status of the earlier, predynastic people who lived at Dakhleh and the other outlying oases. How different were their lives from those in agricultural settlements of the Nile region, and how much contact was there with the Nile Valley? Were they still nomadic pastoralists, or did they grow crops? How did they cope with climate change? Seven Neolithic skeletons have been recovered from Dakhleh Oasis. One of these is the focus of this chapter, and his osteobiography allows us to address some of these questions. People and Climate at Dakhleh Oasis Dakhleh Oasis is in the Western Desert of Egypt, roughly 800 km south and west of Cairo and 250 km west of Luxor (figure 7.1) (Mills 1979). One of five major oases in the Western Desert, Dakhleh spans about 100 km east to west and 25 km from north to south (Cook et al. 1988). To the north and east there is a limestone-capped escarpment, rising about 1,000 feet above the terrain and [44.202.128.177] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 15:30 GMT) 98 · Jennifer L. Thompson providing an impressive backdrop for the region. To appreciate the impact climate has had on this region, it is important to understand how conditions have changed over time. Today about 75,000 people live in Dakhleh Oasis—a vast, sandy sea dotted with small agricultural villages, cultivations, and palm groves, creating splashes of greenery here and there, connected by a main...