Mummy's Wrap

The Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) time period has been broken into five smaller time periods, the Lower Paleolithic (250,000 years ago), the Middle Paleolithic (250,000 to 50,000 years ago), the Upper Paleolithic (33,000 years ago), the Late Paleolithic (21,000 to 12,000 years ago), and the Epipaleolithic (Final Paleolithic) (10,000 years ago). Each of these periods is notable for specific types of lithic artifacts (Bard, Kathryn A.; An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt; pg. 69).

Few Paleolithic sites are preserved in the Nile Valley due to erosion both from water (alluvial) and wind (aeolian). Thus, the sites within the Western and Eastern deserts are vastly better preserved. These sites are often attributed to hunter-gatherers (Bard, Kathryn A.; An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt; pg. 69).

The Lower Paleolithic sites are difficult to study as most of the artifacts are found in eroded deposits near the edges of the Nile Valley. The original location of these sites are difficult to attest. The artifacts probably were moved by erosion. The artifacts are dated by typology only. These artifacts were large stone-chipped tools, worked on both sides. These bifacially worked lithic tools were worked mainly along the edge of the original cobble. They were too heavy and too cumbersome to have been used for arrows or spears, and were thus merely hand tools, possibly hand axes and crude knives (Bard, Kathryn A.; An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt; pgs. 71-72).

During the Middle Paleolithic, the hand axes that were common within the Lower Paleolithic, became rarer until they were no longer manufactured. Instead, smaller tools became the norm. These tools, instead of being made from larger cobbles, were made from the flakes garnered from the cobbles. By the later part of the Middle Paleolithic, these flake tools became definite blades, tools more common in the Upper Paleolithic (Bard, Kathryn A.; An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt; pg. 72).

The Upper Paleolithic is less remarkable than the same time period in Europe where beautiful cave paintings and jewelry have been discovered. Instead, this period in Egypt seems to be characterized by the stone blades that were produced (Bard, Kathryn A.; An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt; pg. 76).

The number of sites attributed to the Late Paleolithic are far more numerous than the sites pertaining to the Upper Paleolithic. These sites consist of technologies that rapidly advanced past the previous time period. Bladelets were more common, pointing to the ability of the peoples to produce finer and more delicate tools than they were previously able. These delicate tools show evidence of being hafted to wooden shafts and handles, creating compound tools. The possible existence of these compound tools suggest that the bow and arrow may have appeared during this period. Hunting and fishing, often used only supplementarily during the previous periods when gathering was more reliable, surged in use to become equal to, if not more important than, gathering. Burials dating to this period sometimes show deep cuts on the bones, possibly showing the beginnings of conflict in ancient Egypt (Bard, Kathryn A.; An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt; pg. 77-78).

While in other parts of the Middle East, the Epipaleolithic period is noted by the transition from gathering wild cereals to harvesting domesticated cereals, this is absent in Egypt. The economy of domesticating cereals was not invented in Egypt, but rather was introduced to Egypt via an outside source. Furthermore, sedentary culture appears to be lacking in Egypt at this time. Fishing, which became prominent in the previous period, was still of great import to the Egyptians of this era. Boats were used  for deep-water fishing. The stone tools of this period are even smaller than before, becoming microlithic tools. Grinding stones are also in evidence during this period, but were probably not for cereal processing. Pigments still stain many of these grinding stones, thus they were likely used in pigment production (Bard, Kathryn A.; An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt; pg. 79).

It is hypothesized that the peoples living during these time periods were not all Homo sapiens sapiens, the Homo species of modern times. Instead, this ancient landscape was populated both by Homo sapiens and Homo erectus. There is no fossil evidence of Homo erectus, but it is presumed that this species was dominant during the Lower Paleolithic. While Homo sapien Neanderthalenis was known in Europe during the earliest of these periods, this species has not been found on the African continent (Bard, Kathryn A.; An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt; pg. 70-71).

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This entry was posted by Page Strong on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 11:39 and is filed under Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Egyptology, Fieldwork, Fieldwork, life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.