The Oasis Papers 2: Proceedings of the Second International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project

Conference Programme

THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE DAKHLEH OASIS PROJECT

June 16–20, 1997

Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto

Session 1 Moderated by Nicholas B. Millet

A. J. Mills, Royal Ontario Museum: Opening Address.*

R. S. Bagnall, Columbia University: The Kellis Agricultural Account Book, Roman Economics and Ecology.

P. Sheldrick, Chatham, Ontario: The Archaeology of the Kellis 2 Cemetery.

H. P. Schwarcz, R. Skudlarek, McMaster University, and M. R. Kleindienst, University of Toronto/Royal Ontario Museum: A Forest Fire in the Desert? Properties and Origin of Naturally Occurring Glass from Dakhleh.

L. Blondaux, Le Creusot, France: Conservation of Shrine 1 Wall Paintings at Ismant el-Kharab.

Session 2 Moderated by Anthony J. Mills

J. E. Molto, Lakehead University: The Bioarchaeology of Kellis 2, with an Emphasis on Mortality and Morbidity.

A. C. Aufderheide, M. Zlonis, L. Cartmell, University of Minnesota, J. E. Molto, Lakehead University, and

P. Sheldrick, Chatham, Ontario: Mummification Practices at Dakhleh Oasis during the Ptolemaic and Early Roman Periods. (In absentia.)

S. I. Fairgrieve, Laurentian University, and J. E. Molto, Lakehead University: Cribra Orbitalia, Diachronic Patterns and Interpretations from the ‘Ain Tirghi and Kellis Cemeteries.

Session 3 Moderated by J. Eldon Molto

K. A. Worp, Universiteit van Amsterdam: Observations on Leaves from a Literary Codex and a Letter from House 4.*

R. F. Giegengack, University of Pennsylvania: The Regional Geologic Framework of the Dakhleh Oasis Depression.*

T. L. Dupras, H. P. Schwarcz, McMaster University, and S. I. Fairgrieve, Laurentian University: Dining in the Dakhleh Oasis, Dietary Reconstruction using Stable Isotope Analysis.

A. C. Aufderheide, M. Zlonis, L. Cartmell, University of Minnesota, J. E. Molto, Lakehead University, and

P. Sheldrick, Chatham, Ontario: Chemical Reconstruction of Principal Human Dietary Components of Ptolemaic and Early Roman Mummies from Dakhleh Oasis. (In absentia.)

J. Frizano, University of Pennsylvania: Quaternary Stratigraphy of Lake Balat.*

Session 4 Moderated by Mary M. A. McDonald

M. Cook, London, Ontario: Comparative Growth Patterns in Subadults from Dakhleh Oasis.

M. R. Kleindienst, University of Toronto/Royal Ontario Museum, H. P. Schwarcz, McMaster University, K. Nicoll, University of Arizona, C. S. Churcher, University of Toronto, J.    Frizano, R. F. Gegengack, University of Pennsylvania, and M. F. Wiseman, University of Toronto at Scarborough/ Royal Ontario Museum: Water in the Desert, Uranium-Series Dating of Caton-Thompson’s and Gardner’s ‘Classic’ Pleistocene Sequence at Refuf Pass, Kharga Oasis.

C. S. Churcher, University of Toronto, M. R. Kleindienst, University of Toronto/Royal Ontario Museum,

M. F. Wiseman, University of Toronto at Scarborough/Royal Ontario Museum, and M. M. A. McDonald, University of Calgary: The Quaternary Faunas of Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt.

Session 5 Moderated by Roberta Shaw

M. F. Wiseman, University of Toronto at Scarborough/Royal Ontario Museum: Late Upper Pleistocene Archaeology of the Dakhleh Oasis, the Sheikh Mabruk Unit.*

M. M. A. McDonald, University of Calgary: When the Desert Bloomed? The Archaeology of Dakhleh and its Neighbours at 7000 BP.

U. Thanheiser, University of Vienna: Charcoal from Masara Sites; and Plant Remains from Habitation Areas, Considerations Concerning Site Formation Processes.

Session 6 Moderated by Maxine R. Kleindienst

J. L. Thompson, University of Toronto at Scarborough: Skeletons in her Closet.

A. J. Mills, Royal Ontario Museum: Aspects of Conservation in the Dakhleh Oasis.

R. Shaw, Royal Ontario Museum: The Kharga Museum.

Session 7 Moderated by Anthony J. Mills

Discussion: Whither the Dakhleh Oasis Project, Planning for the Future.*

* Paper not presented for publication.

The Quaternary Faunas of Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt

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

Abstract

¹

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Introduction

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

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

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

Geology

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

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

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

The fossils are tentatively dated on the characteristic artefacts to within the later Middle Pleistocene at between 400,000 and 200,000 yrs BP, with a date of about 200,000–250,000 yrs BP accepted for Palaeolake Teneida until better dating is possible. Archaeological ‘dating’ is based upon comparisons with Earlier and Middle Stone Age materials at Kharga Oasis and uranium-series determinations by H. P. Schwarcz (Churcher et al. 1999). A minimum age of circa 120,000 yrs BP for the CSS here is provided by ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar determinations on a natural glass lying on the eroded modern surface (Schwarcz et al. this volume).

The first of these deposits at Loc. 348, here termed El-Hajir Hill, was recognized as fossiliferous by the authors in 1996, when both mollusc and vertebrate fragments were identified. The vertebrate elements collected in the 1997 field season include whole phalanges and metapodials, ends of longbones, fragments of teeth, and fragments of large longbones exhibiting green breaks. Some of these elements were obtained from Loc. 348 and some from Loc. 357, where surface screening and collecting and excavation were carried out; others were from surface collecting, from the crests of the capped gebels.

Holocene fossils are recovered from two contexts. Some were recovered by McDonald (1999; 2002) from archaeological sites (hut bases or hearths) of the Masara, Bashendi or Sheikh Muftah peoples; others are found in pan deposits without close human evidence. The specimens recovered from human sites are usually broken into small pieces with most ends destroyed, and often are recognizable only as bone fragments, or from a mammal of a certain size. Specimens of ostrich skeleton or elephant teeth are easily recognizable, but are rare. Hyaena bones and a jaw fragment indicate that these scavengers patrolled the camp sites when humans may not have been present, and thus any bone debris that was on the surface may well have been removed, accounting for a relative sparsity of specimens from such Neolithic archaeological sites (Churcher 1998a; 2003). Additional evidences of hyaena activity are some hartebeest longbone shaft-fragments, broken as by hyaena jaw-pressure, some of which can be joined with other fragments to show a green bone split by compression.

Specimens recovered from ancient pans are generally more complete and are usually identifiable to taxon with confidence. Bones and teeth may comprise anything from isolated elements to almost complete skeletons. Some animals appear to have died in wet pans and to have been covered by water and silt before the bony elements could be destroyed or dispersed by scavengers. Some specimens are partly weathered and lay on the surface exposed to heat and water, and to gnawing or moving by scavengers. Many of these isolated elements provide supporting evidence for taxa identified from archaeological contexts.

The entombing pan sediments are very fine silts and perhaps represent a mainly aeolian-derived matrix. Little structure is discernible in them, no stratification or mud cracks, but some root-casts of reeds or other aquatic plants, and some tree root-casts are evident. Thus, the environment may have been marshy pans, sometimes flooded by run-off, but otherwise sufficiently covered by vegetation that the silts never developed a deep pattern of cracks. The final desiccation of these pans resulted in an unevenly-hard salt duricrust (formed of both calcium carbonate and sodium chloride). This crust is now being removed by sand blasting by winds off the Escarpment, thereby exposing specimens that are recovered in local blow-out areas.

The mid-Pleistocene fossiliferous deposits are termed the ‘CSS marls’, the mid-Holocene fossiliferous deposits are considered ‘pan deposits’, and the Masara, Bashendi and Sheikh Muftah cultural sites are termed the ‘Masara’, ‘Bashendi’ and ‘Sheikh Muftah’ deposits.

Table 1 Distribution of Holocene Faunal Taxa (Wassif Fauna) by Cultural Unit Horizons. ‘X’ indicates general presence; locality numbers given for one or two occurrences only; ‘?’ alone indicates uncertain record; ‘?X’ or ‘? plus locality number’ indicates uncertain identity or possibly intrusive (consult text for explanation); ‘s’ indicates ostrich egg-shell only. For list and discussion of the mid-Pleistocene fauna see Churcher et al. (1999).

The Mid-Pleistocene Iron Balls Fauna

The taxa tentatively identified in 2001 on mainly fragmentary remains include ten mammals: camel (Camelus thomasi), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus), African buffalo (Pelorovis antiquus), ?topi hartebeest (not Alcelaphus and possibly Damaliscus), large gazelle (Gazella, size of Loder’s gazelle, G. leptoceros), cf. Dorcas gazelle (G. cf. G. dorcas), small antelope (size of dik-dik, Madoqua), extinct Cape zebra (Equus capensis), and possibly striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) on indirect evidence; a land bird – ostrich (Struthio camelus); five water birds – crane (Grus grus), mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), a long-tailed duck (?Clangula sp. or Aythya sp.), a small duck, possibly a teal or long-tailed duck (Anas sp. or Clangula hyemalis), and turnstone (Arenaria interpres); two reptiles – a varanid lizard, possibly the desert monitor (Varanus cf. griseus), and small turtle (?Trionyx sp.); a small juvenile catfish (Clarias sp.); two freshwater snails – Lymnaea stagnalis, not L. palustris, and Planorbis planorbis; possibly the bivalve Spathopsis wahlbergi or S. rubens; and casts of stems, buds and leaves of monocotyledonous water-plants, probably reeds. The freshwater snails and possible catfish indicate that the water was permanent and fresh, which correlates with the presence of hippo, buffalo and zebra which cannot exist far from potable water; water-birds may be seasonal and may tolerate brackish or saline waters. The fauna and flora as known suggest a lakeshore environment with nearby savannah-bush similar to that which exists in the East African Rift Valley today.

Stone artefacts are associated with the basal CSS/FSS horizons in Kellis Palaeobasin. These artefacts belong to the latest, or terminal Earlier Stone Age, Balat Unit. Robert J. Giegengack and J. Frizano discovered Balat Unit artefacts, with some flakes in situ, together with surface bone at Loc. 353 near the north-eastern shore of Palaeolake Kellis in 1996 (Frizano 1996). The artefacts are highly weathered, but not abraded. However, the small size of the material suggests that they may have been washed into the palaeolake off the nearby Tawil Anticline where numerous larger Balat Unit pieces can be found. Kleindienst found a fresh Balat Unit biface, which was also likely washed into the lake, in a gravel low in the FSS off the eastern shore of Palaeolake Kellis (Loc. 323). These finds provide some age constraint for the CSS/FSS deposits as younger than circa 400,000 yrs BP. Kleindienst has found generalized Middle Stone Age (MSA) artefacts in situ in the upper levels of the FSS (e.g., Loc. 329K); the sample is as yet too small to establish the type of MSA, but indicates a long time-range for the palaeolake. The situation in the western part of the Teneida Palaeobasin remains unclear: the two artefacts found in situ are indeterminate. The probable northern shore, including the spring vents (Loc. 147) originally excavated in 1972 by Wendorf and Schild (1974), may be traced by the incidence of Balat Unit bifaces. The southernmost CSS outcrops also overlie a surface bearing aeolized Balat Unit bifaces and cores. However, in the south-central portion of the basin, some spring vents carry Balat Unit artefacts, while others include MSA artefacts.

In the eastern part of the Teneida Palaeobasin, Teneida unit artefacts (generalized older Middle Stone Age) in mint condition were discovered by Churcher and Kleindienst only in 1998 in the basal units of the CSS there (Locs 374, 391 and 392). Other archaeological finds in the area indicate that the earlier palaeolake is coeval with, or post-dates, Earlier Stone Age bifaces derived from a basal gravel (Locs 366 and 211NE), which is consistent with the lack of Levallois technique in finds that derive from the surface underlying the CSS west to the El-Hajir Hill area (Loc. 348). The archaeological finds, therefore, suggest a broad range from circa 400,000 to 200,000 yrs BP, or even 150,000 yrs BP, for the palaeolake deposits. No bones or shells have yet been found in direct association with artefacts.

The bones vary in preservation, from well preserved with excellent structure and sharp edges to the breaks or facets, to very poor preservation with denatured bone collapsing when prepared with dilute acetic acid, whether the bones are large from hippo, or small from antelope. Some denaturing is due to invasion by gypsum crystals. Some bones or bone fragments occur in small clumps in which pieces are jumbled and seemingly not laid down by normal lacustrine or fluviatile processes. The association of stone artefacts, broken longbones with green breaks, and seemingly artificial clusters of bone fragments in the CSS/FSS suggests the presence of early Homo.

The Holocene Wassif Fauna

The Holocene fossiliferous deposits are associated with Neolithic occupation sites and artefacts of the Masara, Bashendi and Sheikh Muftah cultural units (see Table 1).

The fauna reported associated with Masara cultural unit sites (e.g., Loc. 308) or sites with mixed cultural assemblages (e.g., Loc. 006), includes African toad (Bufo regularis), lizard, tortoise (?Geochelone sp.), ostrich (Struthio camelus), small birds, hare (Lepus capensis), hyaena (Hyaena or Crocuta), African elephant (Loxodonta africana), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), bubal hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) and Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas).

The bone and tooth specimens in the Bashendi A and B sites (e.g., Locs 270, 271 and 385) are usually large fragments showing green breaks, but with few specimens intact enough to be useful mensurationally. The fauna associated with Bashendi sites as recognized comprises two freshwater snails (Hydrobia cf. musaensis, Lymnea cf. truncatula), ostrich (Struthio camelus), Cape hare (Lepus capensis), fox (Vulpes sp.), fennec (Fennecus zerda), striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena), wild cat (Felis silvestris lybica), elephant (Loxodonta africana), possibly extinct Cape zebra (Equus capensis), bubal hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), gazelles (of the sizes of G. dorcas and G. leptoceros), possibly goat (Capra hircus), buffalo (?Syncerus caffer), cattle (Bos cf. primigenius or B. cf. taurus), and extinct Cape zebra (Equus capensis).

The Sheikh Muftah cultural unit sites (e.g., Locs 072, 092 and 136) usually yield smaller fragments of bones or teeth than those which are found in the Bashendi sites. The ends of most longbones are destroyed, making faunal identification difficult, and thus the few horncores or lower jaws are important. The fauna recovered from Sheikh Muftah sites so far comprises three freshwater snails (Planorbis planorbis, Melanoides tuberculata, and possibly the apple snail, Pila ovata), tortoise (Geochelone cf. sulcata), ostrich (Struthio camelus), Cape hare (Lepus capensis), a large canid (size of Egyptian jackal, Canis aureus, or North African wolf, C. lupus lupaster [Ferguson 1981]), possibly African elephant (Loxodonta africana), extinct Cape zebra (Equus capensis), ass (Equus asinus) a small suid (?Sus scrofa), bubal hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), Loder’s gazelle (G. leptoceros), goat (Capra hircus), African or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), and cattle (Bos taurus). The freshwater snails Pl. planorbis, M. tuberculata and Pi. ovata which are present may have been endemic; the Nile oyster Etheria elliptica, however, which also occurs, had to have been imported from the Nile Valley.

All the taxa associated with Masara, Bashendi and Sheikh Muftah sites suggest bushveld savannah with permanently available water in which hunting, herding and gathering lifestyles would be possible. The Masara peoples appear not to have possessed cattle or goats. The later Bashendi peoples had cattle and goats, but the situation for goats in earlier Bashendi times is unclear, while the Sheikh Muftah peoples had both, as well as asses. Reconstructions of these ecological associations are shown in Churcher (1999, 146, figures 8.2 and 8.3).

References will also be made to the Old Kingdom site of ’Ain el-Gazzareen (Loc. 383 or 32/390-K2-2), the thirdand fourth-century Romano-Byzantine site of Kellis or Ismant el-Kharab (31/435-K5-1) and the still inhabited site of Mut el-Kharab (31/405-G10-1). These latter two sites have no locality numbers.

Faunal Discussion

The fauna will be considered by taxon, with remarks relating to the mid-Pleistocene and Holocene specimens, and those recovered from Neolithic cultural contexts will be considered separately. Locations will be cited as ‘Loc. 100’. Conversion of ‘Localities’ cited here to the Grid-Based Site determinators set up by Mills (1979; 1999) and used in Churcher (1999) may be done by reference to Churcher and Mills (1999).

MOLLUSCA

Freshwater Snails

Apple Snail Pila ovata

This large ampullarid snail occurs in Roman hydraulic works and dredged spoil (Churcher 1983), but is not confirmed as in situ from Neolithic sites and has not been seen live in the oasis during the project’s survey (Hollett and Churcher 1999), or in later years’ explorations. Van Damme (1984) shows its modern distribution as restricted to the Nile Valley and Siwa Oasis in Egypt, and with no fossil record in North Africa. Gautier (1980; 1981) does not record this snail from either Bir Sahara or Bir Tarfawi. It may have been a relict in the oasis, or imported into Dakhleh as a food source to grow in the well-head irrigation systems, as few shell fragments have been found in abandoned distributary channels. The genus Pila has been in Africa since the early Eocene (Cox 1933). It has been recovered in situ in Locs 072 and 100.

Small Stream Snail Hydrobia cf. musaensis

This small snail has only been found in the soil matrix at Bashendi B Loc. 385A. It is 4.5–5 mm high and 2 mm in diameter. The blunt spire has six flattened whorls separated by shallow sutures. The aperture is oval with a