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Neolithic tombs in southwestern Sinai
Journal of Arid Environments 74 (2010) 829–841
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Neolithic tombs in southwestern Sinai A.E. Close*, T. Minichillo Department of Anthropology, Denny M32, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3100, United States
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 30 April 2008 Received in revised form 15 December 2008 Accepted 17 March 2009 Available online 28 May 2009
In the southern part of the plain of El Qa’ there is a group of previously unknown tombs, probably dating to within 500–600 years of 7000 BP. They are adjacent to a freshwater playa, and east of the first access to the Gulf of Suez south of Gebel Qabiliat. This paper describes the largest of the tombs, which was quite elaborate and included prestige grave-goods (turquoise). Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Sinai El Qa’ Tombs Pottery Neolithic
1. Introduction Sinai has been the only land-bridge between the Asia and Africa throughout the Quaternary, so that the prehistory of northern Sinai is quite well known (Bar-Yosef and Phillips, 1977; Gilead, 1981, 1984; Bar-Yosef, 1985; Gopher, 1985; Goring-Morris, 1987; Gilead and Bar-Yosef, 1993). Central Sinai has received less attention (Eddy and Wendorf, 1999), while southern Sinai, remains largely unknown and unexplored. Only two important projects of prehistoric survey and excavation have been carried out in southern Sinai. Research in the upper basin of the Wadi Feiran located a number of Holocene (Khiamian and PPNB) sites (Phillips, 1987, 1988; Phillips and Gladfelter, 1989, 1991; Gladfelter, 1990), but the primary focus was upon the Ahmarian (dated to before 30,000 BP). Bar-Yosef and colleagues investigated PPNB sites, which are common in southern Sinai. Their work was concentrated at Wadi Jibba simply because these were the first sites found in that ecological setting (Bar-Yosef in litt, 1994). Six sites were almost completely excavated (Bar-Yosef, 1981, 1983, 1984; Tchernov and Bar-Yosef, 1982; Dayan et al., 1986). Some of them yielded large faunal collections, all of wild animals. There was also a study of the nawamis, stone-built tombs of the fourth and early third millennium BC, which used for both primary and secondary burials (Bar-Yosef et al., 1977, 1983, 1986; Hershkovitz et al., 1985). There have also been a few smaller studies, usually
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 206 543 2078; fax: þ1 206 543 3285. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.E. Close). 0140-1963/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.03.005
confined to individual sites (Belfer-Cohen and Goldberg, 1982; BarYosef and Killebrew, 1984). Ujrat Suleiman, near El Tur, was found entirely by chance (Gopher, 1985). The survey of Rothenberg (Rothenberg, 1979) was primarily concerned with very late prehistoric and historic materials, and records only three (undescribed) sites, clustered in one spot in El Qa’. More recent work has shown that the area was inhabited by herders of caprines during the second half of the seventh millennium BP (Close, 2002). Most of the habitable area of southwestern Sinai is in the plain of El Qa’ (or Qaa) (Fig. 1), which extends from Wadi Feiran to the southern tip of Sinai, a distance of over 140 km. The plain is generally <100 masl, with a depression of 40–50 masl at El ’Awag. The northern part of the plain is drained by Wadi el ’Awag, ‘‘the crooked wadi’’. About 10 km north of El Tur, Wadi el ’Awag is joined by Wadi Araba, flowing from the west, and turns sharply eastward around the southern end of a line of remnants of Tertiary sediments. These low hills are the only important topographic feature within El Qa’. The wadi then turns south again, and then west, enclosing the deposits of a large Holocene playa (el-Hinnawi, 1994; Hassan, 1995) (Fig. 1 – mostly enclosed by the bend in Wadi el’Awag, south of the sites labelled ‘‘El ’Awag’’), indicating that during wetter phases of the Holocene, there was an extensive and probably seasonal lake. Even under modern aridity, some of the water which drains from the mountains into El Qa’ resurfaces to create a permanent oasis near El Tur (Greenwood, 1997, 49). There was considerably more water early in the Holocene (Goodfriend, 1999) and there would have been more vegetation-cover in El Qa’. The Tertiary hills overlook not only a seasonal lake, but also the southern end of Gebel Qabiliat, which is the first access to the Gulf
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Fig. 1. Map of southwestern Sinai.
of Suez south of Wadi Feiran. They are thus strategically located relative to water, both fresh and salt. Late prehistoric appreciation of this is manifested in the form of almost twenty tombs, mostly simple mounds of stone, scattered around and within the hills (Fig. 2). On the eastern flanks of the low hills and adjacent to the western edge of the playa were four large tombs. Two of these were simple stone tumuli, one with a small subsidiary mound at its eastern edge. The other two were large mounds inside walled enclosures, one subrectangular, which we named El ’Awag 1, and one subcircular, El ’Awag 2 (Fig. 3). In light of their location and the expenditure involved in their creation, it seemed probable that the tombs of El ’Awag reflected an assertion of control over access to the playa and to the Gulf. To investigate this farther, we excavated part of El ’Awag 1, the largest and best preserved of all the tombs. It had been looted (perhaps more than once), but still retained considerable structural and architectural integrity. 2. Excavation of tomb El ’Awag 1 The tomb of El ’Awag 1 consists of a central mound of stones, surrounded by a subrectangular enclosure (Fig. 4). The enclosure is defined primarily by a line (broken on the southwest) of large upright stones. There is also a dense scatter of somewhat smaller stones adjacent to, and almost always inside, the enclosure. The surface of the interior also showed scattered fragments of fragile bone, most of which appeared to be human. Four areas of the site were excavated: the Northern and Southern Trenches (L–P, 10–11 and C–G, 10–11, respectively), each of which extended from outside the wall to the edge of the mound; the Central Mound
itself (J–K, 8 þ H–K, 9–13); and the Western Trench (L13 þ F–L, 14– 16 þ M, 15–16), extending from the wall to the edge of the mound. The walls were constructed of large stones set upright, for which the nearest source is the wadis on the eastern side of El Qa’. Most stones were about 50–60 cm tall altogether, but the largest (on the southern side) were >1 m tall. The stones tended to lean inward, and this may have been an original feature, since their bases were braced by other quite large stones on the interior side of the wall only. Medium-sized stones were densely scattered immediately inside the wall over almost all of the perimeters of El ’Awag 1 (Figs. 5–7). The distance of the scatter was about 2 m on the southern and western sides, about 1 m on the northern side and (but investigation here was less complete) <1 m on the eastern side. On the northern (Fig. 8) and southern sides, the scatters of stones ended abruptly at 20–25 cm below the modern surface, suggesting that this was the surface onto which they fell. At the same horizontal level, a clear, hard, whitish horizon (perhaps enriched in CaCO3) appeared to the north, south and east of the central mound (and less clearly to the west). Throughout the areas in which it was exposed by excavation, this provided an absolutely clean and featureless surface between the outer wall and the central mound (Fig. 9, Layer 2a), and may well have been the original surface. The large stones that define the enclosure are today blackened by pollution from the adjacent main road. However, some of the wadis on the eastern side of El Qa’ are regularly flushed out by torrents of water descending from the central massif of Sinai. The beds of the wadis include many large
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Fig. 2. Topographic map of the low hills and stone-built tombs at El ’Awag playa. Elevation assumed (prepared by T. Allen).
stones that are strikingly vibrant in colour, especially blues and pinks. The tomb of El ’Awag 1 may originally have been very different from the drab structure that exists today. The western side of the tomb was a little different. Adjacent to and inside the westernmost part of the wall was a small (ca. 1 m in diameter), circular area completely devoid of stone (Figs. 6 and 7, in Row K, spanning the 15–16 border). This was not expected immediately adjacent to the wall, but excavation showed that the same
area (shifted very slightly to the east) was without stone to a depth of about 50 cm below the surface, where undisturbed, gravelly sand was encountered. The clear area contained only soft, aeolian sand with no cultural remains whatsoever; its nature remains enigmatic but a pure fill of soft aeolian sand is consistent with its having been robbed and left open by the robbers. At El ’Awag 7, a tomb looted within the previous few months of our fieldwork in 1998 (Kilani, pers. comm. 1998), the robbers’ attention was focused upon the
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Fig. 3. Surface map of El ’Awag 2.
mound and upon a small area within the western part of the enclosure. This is hardly conclusive evidence of a widespread pattern, but it could suggest that the empty circle at El ’Awag 1 is more than merely apparent. The southwestern part of El ’Awag 1 was marked by an unusually dense scatter of smaller stones (Fig. 4), which was excavated in its entirety. Neither the small stones on the surface, nor the underlying somewhat larger stones showed any patterning (Fig. 9). In addition, the large stones of the enclosure were missing or had been moved in this area, and the imaginative eye can see that some stones may have been arranged into small structures (Compare Figs. 4–6, especially the grid-area F–G, 14–16.) This is the only part of the site to have some quantity (although still not high) of flaked stone artefacts (including bladelets), and the refittings among them (see below) suggest that they were flaked in situ. Given their association with possible disturbance of El ’Awag qua tomb the artefacts most probably result from a later and less reverent episode of activity. The Central Mound initially appeared to be simply a jumble of medium-to-large stones in aeolian sands. A small area of very soft sand at the top of the mound bore witness to very recent robbing. Careful excavation of the northern half of the mound revealed that the impression of a ‘‘jumble’’ was correct. No real structure or patterning appeared until the excavation had reached the approximate level of the modern ground-surface (Figs. 7 and 10). Here, an outer basal course of large stones on the northern and western sides suggested that the mound had originally been subrectangular in plan (as is the enclosure). Above this, the stones were piled haphazardly within partly loose (very recent) and partly consolidated (older) aeolian sands. Very small (usually <2 mm in maximum dimension), angular fragments of high-grade turquoise occurred in both the loose and consolidated sands in the centre (only) of the mound. Most of the pieces are too small to be used or to have much value. They are likely to be no more than indicators of larger pieces of turquoise removed by looters. However, the very recent looting did not penetrate far into the mound and the
turquoise chips also occur in more consolidated sands among the jumbled rocks. It is, thus, likely that there was also an older episode of looting at this site. The lower part of the mound (below modern ground level) appeared to have more integrity, particularly on the western side, in that stones were much more densely packed (Fig. 11). The centre of the mound revealed a stone ‘‘burial-box’’, or cyst, which was rather shallow, but was probably only the surviving lower part of the original. The cyst was small: only about 1 m2, as excavated, with a remaining depth of 20–30 cm. It contained parts of the skeletal remains of at least three individuals, two adults and a child (Fig. 12). All parts of the skeleton, except the pelvis, are represented to some (but not full) extent. None is in true anatomical articulation, and the very size of the cyst means that these cannot have been primary burials. The remaining bones survived by virtue of being crammed among the stones. They were fragmentary and most were more fragile than the matrix in which they were encased. It was, therefore, impossible to lift them intact. A thin scatter of bones, some of them certainly human, throughout the overlying levels of the mound indicates that the burials were significantly disturbed by the looters, as does also the essential lack of grave-goods (limited to a stone bead and 22 fragments and specks [<1 mm in maximum dimension] of turquoise) still associated with the burials. Flecks of charcoal closely associated with the bones (Fig. 12) yielded radiocarbon dates of: 6255 60 BP (AA33715), 6980 65 BP (AA33716) and 7410 75 BP (AA33717). When calibrated (using the University of Washington software CALIB 4.0, based on Stuiver et al., 1998), these are equivalent, respectively, to 5358–5077 BC, 5991–5720 BC and 6428–6079 BC (2s ageranges). The dated samples were spatially separated (Fig. 12) and the flecks were too small for identification (Barakat, personal communication, 1998); it is therefore difficult to account for their differences in age. The younger dates might result from contamination (during the tomb-robbing?), or the older dates might reflect the ‘‘old-wood problem’’, or, since there is no overlap at the 2s-range, perhaps both. If both, then the age may be about 7000 BP. The bones lay upon a thin, artificial pavement of stones (Fig. 12). Below this, instead of the gravelly sand occurring elsewhere at the same level, was a relatively clean sand. This might indicate a continuation of the funerary structure to a deeper level, or might have been part of the preparation for laying the paved floor of the burial chamber. Limited time prevented the additional excavation which might have resolved this matter. At the level of the base of the mound, there were small fragments of marine shell. A nearby and substantial tomb (Tomb 9 in Fig. 2) had been very recently looted, and the looters’ spoil-heap yielded marine shell, and bones of fish and sheep or goat (Gautier in litt, 1999). This looted tomb has not been dated, but all indications of location and style of construction suggest that its age would be similar to that of El ’Awag 1.
3. Artefacts 3.1. Flaked stone There are outcrops of flint at the southern end of Gebel Qabiliat and these provided (almost) all of the raw material at the site. However, the outcrops are at a high elevation, so that the combined effects of time and gravity mean that there were large quantities of naturally occurring flint, usually thermally fractured, throughout the site. There were also numerous older artefacts (including handaxes and Levallois flakes) derived from the higher levels of the
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Fig. 4. Map of the surface of El ’Awag 1 in the areas later excavated.
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Fig. 5. Map of Layer 1 (ca. 0–10 cm) of El ’Awag 1. Key: as in Fig. 4.
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Fig. 8. Eastern profile of Northern Trench. Key: 1a. Light yellowish brown compact sand. 1b. As 1a, with small angular gravel. 2. Light yellow-brown gravelly silty sand. 3. Yellowish brown unconsolidated aeolian sand. 4. Light yellowish brown horizontally bedded silty sand. 5. Very light yellowish brown consolidated silty sand. 6. As 2.
Tertiary remnants. At times, this made identification of the later artefacts somewhat problematical. All of the recognisable post-Middle Palaeolithic artefacts are local flint. The only core was a thermally fractured remnant of a large core (currently 134 92 50 mm) lying on the surface of the Central Mound. There was an attempt to flake heat-fractured flint in the Southern Trench (C–G, 10–11), resulting in a small group of refitting, but very irregular, flakes. Ancient flakes were re-used as cores in both the Western and Southern Trenches. Most flaking was carried out in the southern part of the Western Trench (G–K, 13–16), where two different flints yielded numerous refits (Fig. 13, where are also indicated additional, but unrefittable, flakes of the same analytical nodules [Larson and Kornfeld, 1997]). The de´bitage-types found at the site are given in Table 1 and indicate an unremarkable technology, although there was some success in flaking bladelets. Fig. 14 summarises data on the size of the de´bitage. It is generally rather small and the distribution of length/width ratios does not indicate a desire for relatively elongated pieces. The retouched tools (Table 1) are generally non-diagnostic. The denticulated endscraper is made on a very aeolised Levallois flake. Both perforators have well-formed bits made on small (13 13 6 mm and 14 10 5 mm), aeolised chips. The notched flake is large (55 52 19 mm) with a large retouched notch on the distal end. The only distinctive tool is a large (95 62 17 mm) primary flake with obverse retouch on the distal end and left side, inverse retouch on the proximal end and bifacial retouch on the right side (Fig. 15). It may be a ‘‘tabular scraper’’ or a rough-out of a celt (Rosen, 1997). It was found at a depth of 8 cm below the surface in Square H11 – the western side of the Central Mound. It was associated with two refitting (notch-) spalls and so was apparently being shaped or reshaped in
situ. Like the other artefacts, it seems not to be associated with El ’Awag 1 qua tomb. 3.2. Stone bead A polished stone bead was found among the human bones in the central mound (Fig. 12). It is circular in plan and the outer edges are biconvex in cross-section. The outer diameter is 5.5 mm and the inner diameter about 3 mm. The stone is white and very finegrained but could not be identified in the field (before permanent curation by the Supreme Council of Antiquities). 3.3. Turquoise Numerous (about 120) pieces of turquoise were recovered from the surface of the Central Mound and from the excavation, where they were concentrated in Squares J11–12, in and above the burial and associated with the fill of the robbers’ trench(es). All the pieces are angular, sometimes with patina on one face, and none shows signs of having been worked. However, most appear to be fragments from larger pieces and we do not know what has been removed from the site. The largest piece measures 8 6 6 mm (from the surface) but the great majority are considerably smaller; only 22 are >4 mm in maximum dimension. Most are of good quality and colour. 4. Discussion The tombs at El ’Awag, particularly El ’Awag 1, represent an investment of resources, both in construction and in the former presence of semi-precious grave-goods (turquoise). Their locations are also significant in social and economic terms. The four largest tombs are aligned along the edge of the playa, which was the
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Fig. 9. Southern profile of Western Trench along the line G/H. Key: 1. Light brownish yellow sand (with some silt), soft and unstructured, includes root-casts and many large disordered stones. 2. Light brownish yellow sand, soft and horizontally bedded, with some black gravels in the western half of Row 15. 2a. As 2, with many small white flecks (CaCO3?).
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Fig. 10. Profile of the Central Mound along the line I/J. Key: 1. Soft, loose, light yellow sand. 2. Compact, very fine, light yellow sand (grades into ‘‘1’’ on the surface). 3. Slightly compact, medium yellow sand. 4. Compact sand with 15–25% gravel. 5. Compact, whitish layer. 6. Compact sand with flecks of charcoal (burial).
principal local water-source, and along the foot of the Tertiary remnants, which are the only important topographic landmark in El Qa’. Other tombs are scattered on the remnants themselves. The whole complex lies at the southern end of Gebel Qabiliat, which
blocks access to the Gulf of Suez from anywhere farther north in El Qa’ (Fig. 1). The tombs at El ’Awag occur in an area which is absolutely lacking in any other signs of post-Middle Paleolithic prehistoric
Fig. 11. Map of the Central Mound immediately above the burial.
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Fig. 13. Map of refitting artefacts. Key: Straight lines ¼ breaks. Curved lines ¼ sequences (order indicated by arrow-heads). Boxes enclose short-distance refits. Filled artefact-symbols ¼ pieces of the best represented minimum analytical nodule. Empty artefact-symbols ¼ pieces of the second-best represented minimum analytical nodule. Other symbols as in Fig. 4.
femur
+
Fig. 12. Maps of the area of the burial in the Central Mound. Above, the burial itself; below, the layer beneath the burial.
activity for a distance of at least 500 m in all directions (based on careful surface-surveys). They are therefore ‘‘formal cemeteries’’, as defined by Saxe (1970) and Goldstein (1981). The use of such cemeteries may indicate concern with asserting territorial claims and with maintaining access to vital but limited resources (Saxe, 1970; Goldstein, 1981). There are similar tombs – even ‘‘fields’’ of such tombs – along the eastern side of El Qa’, although all of those have obviously been thoroughly looted. The tombs on the eastern side of El Qa’ are usually on the highest terraces above the plain, often (but not always) at wadi mouths. This may indicate a concern with access to water, which is understandable in semi-arid Sinai, even during the moister phases of the Holocene. (A water-related concern of equal importance would be an elevation above the level of the flash-flooding of the wadis.) In contrast, there are very large tombs at the top of Wadi Sidri at the watershed between two major drainages. Such a placement could indicate broader territorial concerns (perhaps a boundary), or might be related to belief systems, or both. In the pharaonic period, Serabit el-Khadim, slightly North of El Qaa, was a vital source of copper and turquoise and records show
that some of it was shipped across the Gulf (Mumford, 1999, 722). Egyptian exploitation of these minerals probably began in the Predynastic (Mumford, 1999, 722) and First Dynasty pottery occurs in Early Bronze Age sites in the area (Beit-Arieh, 1983, 44), although associated with an overwhelming amount of Canaanite pottery. We have admitted that we as a species practise inequality ever since the discovery of the ‘‘pecking order’’ early in the twentieth century (De Waal, 2001: 46–48). This is also reflected by recent recognition that the ‘‘fierce egalitarianism’’ (Lee and DeVore, 1976: vii) of the hunter–gatherers of the southern
Table 1 Frequencies of types of flaked stone artefacts.
De´bitage Primary flakes Flakes from single-platform cores Flakes from ninety-degree cores Unidentifiable flakes Core-tablets Chips & chunks Total Retouched tools Endscraper on a flake Denticulated endscraper Perforators Notched flake Tabular scraper (?) Unidentifiable fragments Total
No.
%
30 82 5 1 67 106 291
10.3 28.2 1.7 0.3 23.0 36.4
1 1 2 1 1 4 10
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n=180 80
n=122
60
mm
40
n=197
20
hunter–gatherers. Nonetheless, while social inequality existed, it is surprising that it should be made manifest in funerary architecture so early and in so marginal an environment as southwestern Sinai. The absolutely essential precondition of high population density (Keeley, 1988: 404) did not exist. On the other hand, the mineral wealth of Sinai – turquoise and, later, copper – made possible items of small size (portable) but of great value. The path to control of access to such resources by a limited number of people is also the path towards inequality (Kelly, 1995: 314–315). Copper and turquoise were imported into Upper Egypt from Sinai during the Badarian, dating to ca. 5500–5000 BP (Hassan, 1985, 106–107), which saw the crystallization of a truly complex society. First Dynasty pottery occurs in Early Bronze Age sites in the area of Serabit el-Khadim, slightly North of El Qaa, was a vital source of copper and turquoise (Beit-Arieh, 1983, 44) in the pharaonic period. Records show that some of these minerals were shipped across the Gulf (Mumford, 1999, 722). However, southwestern Sinai became increasingly arid as the millennia passed. In the end, it was the fertile muds of the Nile Valley which supported the population density underlying the profound inequalities of Pharaonic Egypt. Acknowledgements
0 Length
Width
Thickness
Fig. 14. Whisker-plot of length, width, thickness of debitage. Median ¼ horizontal bar. Interquartile range is between whiskers. Dots ¼ outliers (>1.5 [interquartile range] beyond the interquartile range). N of cases at top of plot.
Kalahari (inter-alios) is deliberately and consciously enforced as a response to domination by outsiders (Schrire, 1984; Woodburn, 1988), rather than being a characteristic of ‘‘pristine’’
The fieldwork in Sinai was carried out with the permission and cooperation of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities and with logistical support from the Egyptian Geological Survey and Mining Authority and from Mr. Ali el Kilani in particular; their input is gratefully acknowledged. Fieldwork was made possible by Dr. Bahay Issawi, to whom prehistorians of Egypt owe an incalculable debt. Mr. Tim Allen and Dr. Hala N. Barakat also took part in the fieldwork. The research was supported by grants to Close from the US National Science Foundation, SBR-969087 and SBR-9722841, and from the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, No. 730795.
Fig. 15. Celt (?) or tabular scraper (?) from the Central Mound.
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References Bar-Yosef, O., 1981. Neolithic sites in Sinai. In: Frey, W., Uerpmann, H.P. (Eds.), Beitra¨ge zur Umweltgeschichte des Vorderen Orients. Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, pp. 217–235. Bar-Yosef, O., 1983. Early nomads in southern Sinai. In: National Geographic Society Research Reports, pp. 147–159. Bar-Yosef, O., 1984. Seasonality among Neolithic hunter–gatherers in southern Sinai. In: Clutton-Brock, J., Grigson, C. (Eds.), Early Herders and Their Flocks. Animals and Archaeology, vol. 3. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, pp. 145–160. Bar-Yosef, O., 1985. The Stone Age of the Sinai peninsula. In: Liverani, M., Palmieri, A., Peroni, R. (Eds.), Studi di Paletnologia in Onore di Salvatore M. Puglisi. University of Rome, Rome, pp. 107–122. Bar-Yosef, O., Killebrew, K., 1984. Wadi Sayakh – a Geometric Kebaran site in southern Sinai. Pale´orient 10, 95–102. Bar-Yosef, O., Phillips, J.L., 1977. Prehistoric Investigations in Gebel Maghara, Northern Sinai. Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A., Goren, A., Hershkovitz, I., Ilan, O., Mienis, H.K., Sass, B., 1986. Nawamis and habitation sites near Gebel Gunna, southern Sinai. Israel Exploration Journal 36, 121–167. Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A., Goren, A., Smith, P., 1977. The nawamis near ’Ein Huderah (eastern Sinai). Israel Exploration Journal 27, 65–88. Bar-Yosef, O., Hershkovitz, I., Arbel, G., Goren, A., 1983. The orientation of nawamis’ entrances in southern Sinai: expressions of religious belief and seasonality? Tel Aviv 10, 52–60. Beit-Arieh, I., 1983. Central-southern Sinai in the Early Bronze Age II and its relationship with Palestine. Levant 15, 39–48. Belfer-Cohen, A., Goldberg, P., 1982. An Upper Palaeolithic site in south central Sinai. Israel Exploration Journal 32, 185–189. Close, A.E., 2002. Sinai, Sahara, Sahel: the introduction of domestic caprines to Africa. In: Jennerstrasse 8 (Eds.), Tides of the Desert [Gezeiten der Wu¨ste]. Africa Praehistorica, vol. 14. Heinrich-Barth-Institut, Ko¨ln, pp. 459–469. Dayan, T., Tchernov, E., Bar-Yosef, O., Yom-Tov, Y., 1986. Animal exploitation in the Ujrat el-Mehed, a Neolithic site in southern Sinai. Pale´ orient 12, 105–116. Eddy, F.W., Wendorf, F., Associates, 1999. An Archaeological Investigation of the Central Sinai, Egypt. The American Research Center, Inc., Cairo and University Press of Colorado, Boulder. el-Hinnawi, M. (Ed.), 1994. Geological Map of Sinai, Arab Republic of Egypt. Geological Survey of Egypt, Cairo. Gilead, I., 1981. The Upper Palaeolithic in Sinai and the Negev. Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Gilead, I., 1984. Palaeolithic sites in northeastern Sinai. Pale´orient 10, 135–142. Gilead, I., Bar-Yosef, O., 1993. Early Upper Paleolithic sites in the Qadesh Barnea area, NE Sinai. Journal of Field Archaeology 20, 265–280. Gladfelter, B.G., 1990. The geomorphic setting of Upper Paleolithic sites in the Wadi el Sheikh, southern Sinai. Geoarchaeology 5, 99–119. Goldstein, L., 1981. One-dimensional archaeology and multi-dimensional people: spatial organisation and mortuary analysis. In: Chapman, R.W., Kinnes, I., Randsborg, K. (Eds.), The Archaeology of Death. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 53–69. Goodfriend, G.A., 1999. Terrestrial stable isotope records of Late Quaternary paleoclimates in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Quaternary Science Reviews 18, 501–513.
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Gopher, A., 1985. Flint tool industries of the Neolithic Period in Israel. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Goring-Morris, A.N., 1987. At the edge: terminal Pleistocene hunter–gatherers in the Negev and Sinai. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 361, Oxford. Greenwood, N., 1997. The Sinai: A Physical Geography. University of Texas Press, Austin. Hassan, F.A., 1985. Radiocarbon chronology of Neolithic and Predynastic sites in Upper Egypt and the Delta. African Archaeological Review 3, 95–115. Hassan, F.A., 1995. Geoarchaeology of Al ’Awag playa, Al Qa’ Plain, southwestern Sinai, Egypt. Ms. On file, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington. Hershkovitz, I., Arbel, G., Bar-Yosef, O., Goren, A., 1985. The relationship between nawamis’ entrance orientations and sunset direction. Tel Aviv 12, 205–211. Keeley, L., 1988. Hunter–gatherer economic complexity and ‘‘population pressure’’: a cross-cultural analysis. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 7, 373–411. Kelly, R.L., 1995. The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter–Gatherer Lifeways. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC. Larson, M.L., Kornfeld, M., 1997. Chipped stone nodules: theory, method, and examples. Lithic Technology 22, 4–18. Lee, R.B., DeVore, I. (Eds.), 1976. Kalahari Hunter–Gatherers: Studies of the Kung San and Their Neighbors. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. Mumford, G.D., 1999. Serabit el-Khadim. In: Bard, K.A. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London, pp. 722–725. Phillips, J.L., 1987. Sinai during the Paleolithic: the early periods. In: Close, A.E. (Ed.), Prehistory of Arid North Africa: Essays in Honor of Fred Wendorf. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, pp. 105–121. Phillips, J.L., 1988. The Upper Paleolithic of the Wadi Feiran, southern Sinai. Pale´orient 14, 183–200. Phillips, J.L., Gladfelter, B.G., 1989. A survey in the upper Wadi Feiran basin, southern Sinai. Pale´orient 15, 113–122. Phillips, J.L., Gladfelter, B.G., 1991. The refitting of lithics and site formation processes in the Upper Paleolithic of southern Sinai. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Rosen, S.A., 1997. Lithics After the Stone Age: A Handbook of Stone Tools from the Levant. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, California. Rothenberg, B., 1979. Badiet el Tih, the Desert of Wandering: archaeology of central Sinai. In: Rothenberg, B., Weyer, H. (Eds.), Sinai: Pharaohs, Miners, Pilgrims and Soldiers. Binns, Washington DC, pp. 109–27. Saxe, A.A., 1970. Social dimensions of mortuary practices in a Mesolithic population from Wadi Halfa, Sudan. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Schrire, C., 1984. Wild surmises on savage thoughts. In: Schrire, C. (Ed.), Past and Present in Hunter–Gatherer Studies. Academic Press, Orlando, Fla, pp. 1–25. Stuiver, M., Reimer, P., Bard, E., Beck, W., Burr, G., Hughen, K., Kroemer, B., McCormac, G., van der Plicht, J., Spurk, M., 1998. INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000–0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40, 1041–1083. Tchernov, E., Bar-Yosef, O., 1982. Animal exploitation in the pre-pottery Neolithic B period at Wadi Tbeik, southern Sinai. Pale´orient 8, 17–37. De Waal, F., 2001. The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections of a Primatologist. Basic Books, New York. Woodburn, J., 1988. African hunter–gatherer social organization: is it best understood as a product of encapsulation? In: Ingold, T., Riches, D., Woodburn, J. (Eds.), Hunters and Gatherers. History, Evolution, and Social Change, vol. I. Berg, Oxford, pp. 31–64.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Arid Environments journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaridenv
Neolithic tombs in southwestern Sinai A.E. Close*, T. Minichillo Department of Anthropology, Denny M32, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3100, United States
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 30 April 2008 Received in revised form 15 December 2008 Accepted 17 March 2009 Available online 28 May 2009
In the southern part of the plain of El Qa’ there is a group of previously unknown tombs, probably dating to within 500–600 years of 7000 BP. They are adjacent to a freshwater playa, and east of the first access to the Gulf of Suez south of Gebel Qabiliat. This paper describes the largest of the tombs, which was quite elaborate and included prestige grave-goods (turquoise). Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Sinai El Qa’ Tombs Pottery Neolithic
1. Introduction Sinai has been the only land-bridge between the Asia and Africa throughout the Quaternary, so that the prehistory of northern Sinai is quite well known (Bar-Yosef and Phillips, 1977; Gilead, 1981, 1984; Bar-Yosef, 1985; Gopher, 1985; Goring-Morris, 1987; Gilead and Bar-Yosef, 1993). Central Sinai has received less attention (Eddy and Wendorf, 1999), while southern Sinai, remains largely unknown and unexplored. Only two important projects of prehistoric survey and excavation have been carried out in southern Sinai. Research in the upper basin of the Wadi Feiran located a number of Holocene (Khiamian and PPNB) sites (Phillips, 1987, 1988; Phillips and Gladfelter, 1989, 1991; Gladfelter, 1990), but the primary focus was upon the Ahmarian (dated to before 30,000 BP). Bar-Yosef and colleagues investigated PPNB sites, which are common in southern Sinai. Their work was concentrated at Wadi Jibba simply because these were the first sites found in that ecological setting (Bar-Yosef in litt, 1994). Six sites were almost completely excavated (Bar-Yosef, 1981, 1983, 1984; Tchernov and Bar-Yosef, 1982; Dayan et al., 1986). Some of them yielded large faunal collections, all of wild animals. There was also a study of the nawamis, stone-built tombs of the fourth and early third millennium BC, which used for both primary and secondary burials (Bar-Yosef et al., 1977, 1983, 1986; Hershkovitz et al., 1985). There have also been a few smaller studies, usually
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 206 543 2078; fax: þ1 206 543 3285. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.E. Close). 0140-1963/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.03.005
confined to individual sites (Belfer-Cohen and Goldberg, 1982; BarYosef and Killebrew, 1984). Ujrat Suleiman, near El Tur, was found entirely by chance (Gopher, 1985). The survey of Rothenberg (Rothenberg, 1979) was primarily concerned with very late prehistoric and historic materials, and records only three (undescribed) sites, clustered in one spot in El Qa’. More recent work has shown that the area was inhabited by herders of caprines during the second half of the seventh millennium BP (Close, 2002). Most of the habitable area of southwestern Sinai is in the plain of El Qa’ (or Qaa) (Fig. 1), which extends from Wadi Feiran to the southern tip of Sinai, a distance of over 140 km. The plain is generally <100 masl, with a depression of 40–50 masl at El ’Awag. The northern part of the plain is drained by Wadi el ’Awag, ‘‘the crooked wadi’’. About 10 km north of El Tur, Wadi el ’Awag is joined by Wadi Araba, flowing from the west, and turns sharply eastward around the southern end of a line of remnants of Tertiary sediments. These low hills are the only important topographic feature within El Qa’. The wadi then turns south again, and then west, enclosing the deposits of a large Holocene playa (el-Hinnawi, 1994; Hassan, 1995) (Fig. 1 – mostly enclosed by the bend in Wadi el’Awag, south of the sites labelled ‘‘El ’Awag’’), indicating that during wetter phases of the Holocene, there was an extensive and probably seasonal lake. Even under modern aridity, some of the water which drains from the mountains into El Qa’ resurfaces to create a permanent oasis near El Tur (Greenwood, 1997, 49). There was considerably more water early in the Holocene (Goodfriend, 1999) and there would have been more vegetation-cover in El Qa’. The Tertiary hills overlook not only a seasonal lake, but also the southern end of Gebel Qabiliat, which is the first access to the Gulf
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Fig. 1. Map of southwestern Sinai.
of Suez south of Wadi Feiran. They are thus strategically located relative to water, both fresh and salt. Late prehistoric appreciation of this is manifested in the form of almost twenty tombs, mostly simple mounds of stone, scattered around and within the hills (Fig. 2). On the eastern flanks of the low hills and adjacent to the western edge of the playa were four large tombs. Two of these were simple stone tumuli, one with a small subsidiary mound at its eastern edge. The other two were large mounds inside walled enclosures, one subrectangular, which we named El ’Awag 1, and one subcircular, El ’Awag 2 (Fig. 3). In light of their location and the expenditure involved in their creation, it seemed probable that the tombs of El ’Awag reflected an assertion of control over access to the playa and to the Gulf. To investigate this farther, we excavated part of El ’Awag 1, the largest and best preserved of all the tombs. It had been looted (perhaps more than once), but still retained considerable structural and architectural integrity. 2. Excavation of tomb El ’Awag 1 The tomb of El ’Awag 1 consists of a central mound of stones, surrounded by a subrectangular enclosure (Fig. 4). The enclosure is defined primarily by a line (broken on the southwest) of large upright stones. There is also a dense scatter of somewhat smaller stones adjacent to, and almost always inside, the enclosure. The surface of the interior also showed scattered fragments of fragile bone, most of which appeared to be human. Four areas of the site were excavated: the Northern and Southern Trenches (L–P, 10–11 and C–G, 10–11, respectively), each of which extended from outside the wall to the edge of the mound; the Central Mound
itself (J–K, 8 þ H–K, 9–13); and the Western Trench (L13 þ F–L, 14– 16 þ M, 15–16), extending from the wall to the edge of the mound. The walls were constructed of large stones set upright, for which the nearest source is the wadis on the eastern side of El Qa’. Most stones were about 50–60 cm tall altogether, but the largest (on the southern side) were >1 m tall. The stones tended to lean inward, and this may have been an original feature, since their bases were braced by other quite large stones on the interior side of the wall only. Medium-sized stones were densely scattered immediately inside the wall over almost all of the perimeters of El ’Awag 1 (Figs. 5–7). The distance of the scatter was about 2 m on the southern and western sides, about 1 m on the northern side and (but investigation here was less complete) <1 m on the eastern side. On the northern (Fig. 8) and southern sides, the scatters of stones ended abruptly at 20–25 cm below the modern surface, suggesting that this was the surface onto which they fell. At the same horizontal level, a clear, hard, whitish horizon (perhaps enriched in CaCO3) appeared to the north, south and east of the central mound (and less clearly to the west). Throughout the areas in which it was exposed by excavation, this provided an absolutely clean and featureless surface between the outer wall and the central mound (Fig. 9, Layer 2a), and may well have been the original surface. The large stones that define the enclosure are today blackened by pollution from the adjacent main road. However, some of the wadis on the eastern side of El Qa’ are regularly flushed out by torrents of water descending from the central massif of Sinai. The beds of the wadis include many large
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Fig. 2. Topographic map of the low hills and stone-built tombs at El ’Awag playa. Elevation assumed (prepared by T. Allen).
stones that are strikingly vibrant in colour, especially blues and pinks. The tomb of El ’Awag 1 may originally have been very different from the drab structure that exists today. The western side of the tomb was a little different. Adjacent to and inside the westernmost part of the wall was a small (ca. 1 m in diameter), circular area completely devoid of stone (Figs. 6 and 7, in Row K, spanning the 15–16 border). This was not expected immediately adjacent to the wall, but excavation showed that the same
area (shifted very slightly to the east) was without stone to a depth of about 50 cm below the surface, where undisturbed, gravelly sand was encountered. The clear area contained only soft, aeolian sand with no cultural remains whatsoever; its nature remains enigmatic but a pure fill of soft aeolian sand is consistent with its having been robbed and left open by the robbers. At El ’Awag 7, a tomb looted within the previous few months of our fieldwork in 1998 (Kilani, pers. comm. 1998), the robbers’ attention was focused upon the
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Fig. 3. Surface map of El ’Awag 2.
mound and upon a small area within the western part of the enclosure. This is hardly conclusive evidence of a widespread pattern, but it could suggest that the empty circle at El ’Awag 1 is more than merely apparent. The southwestern part of El ’Awag 1 was marked by an unusually dense scatter of smaller stones (Fig. 4), which was excavated in its entirety. Neither the small stones on the surface, nor the underlying somewhat larger stones showed any patterning (Fig. 9). In addition, the large stones of the enclosure were missing or had been moved in this area, and the imaginative eye can see that some stones may have been arranged into small structures (Compare Figs. 4–6, especially the grid-area F–G, 14–16.) This is the only part of the site to have some quantity (although still not high) of flaked stone artefacts (including bladelets), and the refittings among them (see below) suggest that they were flaked in situ. Given their association with possible disturbance of El ’Awag qua tomb the artefacts most probably result from a later and less reverent episode of activity. The Central Mound initially appeared to be simply a jumble of medium-to-large stones in aeolian sands. A small area of very soft sand at the top of the mound bore witness to very recent robbing. Careful excavation of the northern half of the mound revealed that the impression of a ‘‘jumble’’ was correct. No real structure or patterning appeared until the excavation had reached the approximate level of the modern ground-surface (Figs. 7 and 10). Here, an outer basal course of large stones on the northern and western sides suggested that the mound had originally been subrectangular in plan (as is the enclosure). Above this, the stones were piled haphazardly within partly loose (very recent) and partly consolidated (older) aeolian sands. Very small (usually <2 mm in maximum dimension), angular fragments of high-grade turquoise occurred in both the loose and consolidated sands in the centre (only) of the mound. Most of the pieces are too small to be used or to have much value. They are likely to be no more than indicators of larger pieces of turquoise removed by looters. However, the very recent looting did not penetrate far into the mound and the
turquoise chips also occur in more consolidated sands among the jumbled rocks. It is, thus, likely that there was also an older episode of looting at this site. The lower part of the mound (below modern ground level) appeared to have more integrity, particularly on the western side, in that stones were much more densely packed (Fig. 11). The centre of the mound revealed a stone ‘‘burial-box’’, or cyst, which was rather shallow, but was probably only the surviving lower part of the original. The cyst was small: only about 1 m2, as excavated, with a remaining depth of 20–30 cm. It contained parts of the skeletal remains of at least three individuals, two adults and a child (Fig. 12). All parts of the skeleton, except the pelvis, are represented to some (but not full) extent. None is in true anatomical articulation, and the very size of the cyst means that these cannot have been primary burials. The remaining bones survived by virtue of being crammed among the stones. They were fragmentary and most were more fragile than the matrix in which they were encased. It was, therefore, impossible to lift them intact. A thin scatter of bones, some of them certainly human, throughout the overlying levels of the mound indicates that the burials were significantly disturbed by the looters, as does also the essential lack of grave-goods (limited to a stone bead and 22 fragments and specks [<1 mm in maximum dimension] of turquoise) still associated with the burials. Flecks of charcoal closely associated with the bones (Fig. 12) yielded radiocarbon dates of: 6255 60 BP (AA33715), 6980 65 BP (AA33716) and 7410 75 BP (AA33717). When calibrated (using the University of Washington software CALIB 4.0, based on Stuiver et al., 1998), these are equivalent, respectively, to 5358–5077 BC, 5991–5720 BC and 6428–6079 BC (2s ageranges). The dated samples were spatially separated (Fig. 12) and the flecks were too small for identification (Barakat, personal communication, 1998); it is therefore difficult to account for their differences in age. The younger dates might result from contamination (during the tomb-robbing?), or the older dates might reflect the ‘‘old-wood problem’’, or, since there is no overlap at the 2s-range, perhaps both. If both, then the age may be about 7000 BP. The bones lay upon a thin, artificial pavement of stones (Fig. 12). Below this, instead of the gravelly sand occurring elsewhere at the same level, was a relatively clean sand. This might indicate a continuation of the funerary structure to a deeper level, or might have been part of the preparation for laying the paved floor of the burial chamber. Limited time prevented the additional excavation which might have resolved this matter. At the level of the base of the mound, there were small fragments of marine shell. A nearby and substantial tomb (Tomb 9 in Fig. 2) had been very recently looted, and the looters’ spoil-heap yielded marine shell, and bones of fish and sheep or goat (Gautier in litt, 1999). This looted tomb has not been dated, but all indications of location and style of construction suggest that its age would be similar to that of El ’Awag 1.
3. Artefacts 3.1. Flaked stone There are outcrops of flint at the southern end of Gebel Qabiliat and these provided (almost) all of the raw material at the site. However, the outcrops are at a high elevation, so that the combined effects of time and gravity mean that there were large quantities of naturally occurring flint, usually thermally fractured, throughout the site. There were also numerous older artefacts (including handaxes and Levallois flakes) derived from the higher levels of the
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772
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59
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F 805
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16
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15
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45
14 E
D
+ 10
15
C
41 6 14
20
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+
+
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12
622
I
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629-31
+
Fig. 5. Map of Layer 1 (ca. 0–10 cm) of El ’Awag 1. Key: as in Fig. 4.
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8
A.E. Close, T. Minichillo / Journal of Arid Environments 74 (2010) 829–841
11
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183 + 177
835
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195
P
178 172
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205
210 214
O 211
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M +
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15
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14 +
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809 808
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K
666
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653
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665 811
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J
813 671 652
++
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836
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9
635 634
I
859
637
867
633 639 827
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706-9
714
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871
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681 712-3
710-1
692 715-6
H
680
734 740
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680-6 694-8
693
733
689-91 730 727-9 732 742
741
11 +
64 65
790
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13
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66
G
71 77 79
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72 75
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93
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97
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+ 307
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303
C 305 319
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318
Fig. 6. Map of Layer 2 (ca. 10–20 cm) of El ’Awag 1. Key: as in Fig. 4.
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836
A.E. Close, T. Minichillo / Journal of Arid Environments 74 (2010) 829–841
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238 250 236
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769
768 767
765
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8
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wall rubble
870
K
K
766
720-1
738-9
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750 700-1 850 756 + 761 748 757826 840 754 747
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866
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870
H 745 871
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328
324
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801 791
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810 325
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334
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soft sand
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Fig. 7. Map of Layer 3 (below 20 cm) of El ’Awag 1. Key: as in Fig. 4.
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8
A.E. Close, T. Minichillo / Journal of Arid Environments 74 (2010) 829–841
837
North +
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Enclosure wall
Fig. 8. Eastern profile of Northern Trench. Key: 1a. Light yellowish brown compact sand. 1b. As 1a, with small angular gravel. 2. Light yellow-brown gravelly silty sand. 3. Yellowish brown unconsolidated aeolian sand. 4. Light yellowish brown horizontally bedded silty sand. 5. Very light yellowish brown consolidated silty sand. 6. As 2.
Tertiary remnants. At times, this made identification of the later artefacts somewhat problematical. All of the recognisable post-Middle Palaeolithic artefacts are local flint. The only core was a thermally fractured remnant of a large core (currently 134 92 50 mm) lying on the surface of the Central Mound. There was an attempt to flake heat-fractured flint in the Southern Trench (C–G, 10–11), resulting in a small group of refitting, but very irregular, flakes. Ancient flakes were re-used as cores in both the Western and Southern Trenches. Most flaking was carried out in the southern part of the Western Trench (G–K, 13–16), where two different flints yielded numerous refits (Fig. 13, where are also indicated additional, but unrefittable, flakes of the same analytical nodules [Larson and Kornfeld, 1997]). The de´bitage-types found at the site are given in Table 1 and indicate an unremarkable technology, although there was some success in flaking bladelets. Fig. 14 summarises data on the size of the de´bitage. It is generally rather small and the distribution of length/width ratios does not indicate a desire for relatively elongated pieces. The retouched tools (Table 1) are generally non-diagnostic. The denticulated endscraper is made on a very aeolised Levallois flake. Both perforators have well-formed bits made on small (13 13 6 mm and 14 10 5 mm), aeolised chips. The notched flake is large (55 52 19 mm) with a large retouched notch on the distal end. The only distinctive tool is a large (95 62 17 mm) primary flake with obverse retouch on the distal end and left side, inverse retouch on the proximal end and bifacial retouch on the right side (Fig. 15). It may be a ‘‘tabular scraper’’ or a rough-out of a celt (Rosen, 1997). It was found at a depth of 8 cm below the surface in Square H11 – the western side of the Central Mound. It was associated with two refitting (notch-) spalls and so was apparently being shaped or reshaped in
situ. Like the other artefacts, it seems not to be associated with El ’Awag 1 qua tomb. 3.2. Stone bead A polished stone bead was found among the human bones in the central mound (Fig. 12). It is circular in plan and the outer edges are biconvex in cross-section. The outer diameter is 5.5 mm and the inner diameter about 3 mm. The stone is white and very finegrained but could not be identified in the field (before permanent curation by the Supreme Council of Antiquities). 3.3. Turquoise Numerous (about 120) pieces of turquoise were recovered from the surface of the Central Mound and from the excavation, where they were concentrated in Squares J11–12, in and above the burial and associated with the fill of the robbers’ trench(es). All the pieces are angular, sometimes with patina on one face, and none shows signs of having been worked. However, most appear to be fragments from larger pieces and we do not know what has been removed from the site. The largest piece measures 8 6 6 mm (from the surface) but the great majority are considerably smaller; only 22 are >4 mm in maximum dimension. Most are of good quality and colour. 4. Discussion The tombs at El ’Awag, particularly El ’Awag 1, represent an investment of resources, both in construction and in the former presence of semi-precious grave-goods (turquoise). Their locations are also significant in social and economic terms. The four largest tombs are aligned along the edge of the playa, which was the
West
East +
14
+
15
+
16
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1 1 2a
2a
2 Enclosure wall
Fig. 9. Southern profile of Western Trench along the line G/H. Key: 1. Light brownish yellow sand (with some silt), soft and unstructured, includes root-casts and many large disordered stones. 2. Light brownish yellow sand, soft and horizontally bedded, with some black gravels in the western half of Row 15. 2a. As 2, with many small white flecks (CaCO3?).
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A.E. Close, T. Minichillo / Journal of Arid Environments 74 (2010) 829–841
East
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1 6
6
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5 unexcavated
unexcavated
Fig. 10. Profile of the Central Mound along the line I/J. Key: 1. Soft, loose, light yellow sand. 2. Compact, very fine, light yellow sand (grades into ‘‘1’’ on the surface). 3. Slightly compact, medium yellow sand. 4. Compact sand with 15–25% gravel. 5. Compact, whitish layer. 6. Compact sand with flecks of charcoal (burial).
principal local water-source, and along the foot of the Tertiary remnants, which are the only important topographic landmark in El Qa’. Other tombs are scattered on the remnants themselves. The whole complex lies at the southern end of Gebel Qabiliat, which
blocks access to the Gulf of Suez from anywhere farther north in El Qa’ (Fig. 1). The tombs at El ’Awag occur in an area which is absolutely lacking in any other signs of post-Middle Paleolithic prehistoric
Fig. 11. Map of the Central Mound immediately above the burial.
A.E. Close, T. Minichillo / Journal of Arid Environments 74 (2010) 829–841
12
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J cranium
J 6980 BP ± 65 calc
bead 513 teeth
fe mur
eru s
m
hu u
I
cra
7410 BP ± 75
niu m
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t ib iae
ribs
6255 BP ± 60
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J smaller flat stones
13
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G
deep-set stone
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Fig. 13. Map of refitting artefacts. Key: Straight lines ¼ breaks. Curved lines ¼ sequences (order indicated by arrow-heads). Boxes enclose short-distance refits. Filled artefact-symbols ¼ pieces of the best represented minimum analytical nodule. Empty artefact-symbols ¼ pieces of the second-best represented minimum analytical nodule. Other symbols as in Fig. 4.
femur
+
Fig. 12. Maps of the area of the burial in the Central Mound. Above, the burial itself; below, the layer beneath the burial.
activity for a distance of at least 500 m in all directions (based on careful surface-surveys). They are therefore ‘‘formal cemeteries’’, as defined by Saxe (1970) and Goldstein (1981). The use of such cemeteries may indicate concern with asserting territorial claims and with maintaining access to vital but limited resources (Saxe, 1970; Goldstein, 1981). There are similar tombs – even ‘‘fields’’ of such tombs – along the eastern side of El Qa’, although all of those have obviously been thoroughly looted. The tombs on the eastern side of El Qa’ are usually on the highest terraces above the plain, often (but not always) at wadi mouths. This may indicate a concern with access to water, which is understandable in semi-arid Sinai, even during the moister phases of the Holocene. (A water-related concern of equal importance would be an elevation above the level of the flash-flooding of the wadis.) In contrast, there are very large tombs at the top of Wadi Sidri at the watershed between two major drainages. Such a placement could indicate broader territorial concerns (perhaps a boundary), or might be related to belief systems, or both. In the pharaonic period, Serabit el-Khadim, slightly North of El Qaa, was a vital source of copper and turquoise and records show
that some of it was shipped across the Gulf (Mumford, 1999, 722). Egyptian exploitation of these minerals probably began in the Predynastic (Mumford, 1999, 722) and First Dynasty pottery occurs in Early Bronze Age sites in the area (Beit-Arieh, 1983, 44), although associated with an overwhelming amount of Canaanite pottery. We have admitted that we as a species practise inequality ever since the discovery of the ‘‘pecking order’’ early in the twentieth century (De Waal, 2001: 46–48). This is also reflected by recent recognition that the ‘‘fierce egalitarianism’’ (Lee and DeVore, 1976: vii) of the hunter–gatherers of the southern
Table 1 Frequencies of types of flaked stone artefacts.
De´bitage Primary flakes Flakes from single-platform cores Flakes from ninety-degree cores Unidentifiable flakes Core-tablets Chips & chunks Total Retouched tools Endscraper on a flake Denticulated endscraper Perforators Notched flake Tabular scraper (?) Unidentifiable fragments Total
No.
%
30 82 5 1 67 106 291
10.3 28.2 1.7 0.3 23.0 36.4
1 1 2 1 1 4 10
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n=180 80
n=122
60
mm
40
n=197
20
hunter–gatherers. Nonetheless, while social inequality existed, it is surprising that it should be made manifest in funerary architecture so early and in so marginal an environment as southwestern Sinai. The absolutely essential precondition of high population density (Keeley, 1988: 404) did not exist. On the other hand, the mineral wealth of Sinai – turquoise and, later, copper – made possible items of small size (portable) but of great value. The path to control of access to such resources by a limited number of people is also the path towards inequality (Kelly, 1995: 314–315). Copper and turquoise were imported into Upper Egypt from Sinai during the Badarian, dating to ca. 5500–5000 BP (Hassan, 1985, 106–107), which saw the crystallization of a truly complex society. First Dynasty pottery occurs in Early Bronze Age sites in the area of Serabit el-Khadim, slightly North of El Qaa, was a vital source of copper and turquoise (Beit-Arieh, 1983, 44) in the pharaonic period. Records show that some of these minerals were shipped across the Gulf (Mumford, 1999, 722). However, southwestern Sinai became increasingly arid as the millennia passed. In the end, it was the fertile muds of the Nile Valley which supported the population density underlying the profound inequalities of Pharaonic Egypt. Acknowledgements
0 Length
Width
Thickness
Fig. 14. Whisker-plot of length, width, thickness of debitage. Median ¼ horizontal bar. Interquartile range is between whiskers. Dots ¼ outliers (>1.5 [interquartile range] beyond the interquartile range). N of cases at top of plot.
Kalahari (inter-alios) is deliberately and consciously enforced as a response to domination by outsiders (Schrire, 1984; Woodburn, 1988), rather than being a characteristic of ‘‘pristine’’
The fieldwork in Sinai was carried out with the permission and cooperation of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities and with logistical support from the Egyptian Geological Survey and Mining Authority and from Mr. Ali el Kilani in particular; their input is gratefully acknowledged. Fieldwork was made possible by Dr. Bahay Issawi, to whom prehistorians of Egypt owe an incalculable debt. Mr. Tim Allen and Dr. Hala N. Barakat also took part in the fieldwork. The research was supported by grants to Close from the US National Science Foundation, SBR-969087 and SBR-9722841, and from the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, No. 730795.
Fig. 15. Celt (?) or tabular scraper (?) from the Central Mound.
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