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Example skull of Neolithic people. Source: (Author provided/ The Conversation)

Who Were the Mysterious Neolithic People That Enabled the Rise of Ancient Egypt?

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By Joel D. Irish, Czekaj- Zastawny Agnieszka, and Jacek Kabacinski / The Conversation

To many, ancient Egypt is synonymous with the pharaohs and pyramids of the Dynastic period starting about 3,100 BC. Yet long before that, about 9,300 - 4,000 BC, enigmatic Neolithic peoples flourished. Indeed, it was the lifestyles and cultural innovations of these peoples that provided the very foundation for the advanced civilizations to come.

But who were they? As it turns out, they haven’t actually been studied much, at least relative to their successors. But our excavations of six burial sites – with some of the analyses recently published – have now provided important insights into their mysterious ways of life.

Neolithic Burial Sites

One reason why we know so little about Neolithic Egypt is that the sites are often inaccessible, lying beneath the Nile’s former flood plain or in outlying deserts. What’s more, if you were an archaeologist what would you rather study – a pyramid near Cairo or a possible rock alignment in some remote desert?

Well, someone has to do it. With permission from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) we – members of the Combined Prehistoric Expedition – explore Neolithic sites in Egypt’s western desert. The sites we are currently excavating lie along the former shores of an extinct seasonal lake near a place called Gebel Ramlah

Neolithic excavation site. (Author provided/ The Conversation)

Neolithic excavation site. (Author provided/ The Conversation)

Though not lush, the Neolithic was wetter than today, which allowed these ancient herders to populate what is now the middle of nowhere. We focus on the Final Neolithic (4,600 - 4,000 BC), which was built on the success of the Late Neolithic (5,500 - 4,650 BC) with domesticated cattle and goats, wild plant processing, and cattle burials. These people also made apparent megaliths, shrines, and even calendar circles – which look a bit like a mini Stonehenge.

During the final part of the Neolithic, people started burying the dead in formal cemeteries. Skeletons provide critical information because they are from once living people who interacted with the cultural and physical environments. Health, relationships, diet, and even psychological experiences can leave telltale signs on teeth and bone.

In 2001-2003 we excavated three cemeteries from this era – the first in the western desert – where we uncovered and studied 68 skeletons. The graves were full of artifacts, with ornamental pottery, sea shells, stone and ostrich eggshell jewelry. We also discovered carved mica (a silicate mineral) and animal remains, as well as elaborate cosmetic tools for women and stone weapons for men. 

Grave artifacts from 2001-2003 Neolithic excavations. (Author provided/ The Conversation)

Grave artifacts from 2001-2003 Neolithic excavations. (Author provided/ The Conversation)

We learned that these people enjoyed low childhood mortality, tall stature, and long life. Men averaged 5.6 feet (170 centimeters), while women were about 5.2 feet (160 centimeters). Most men and women lived beyond 40 years, with some into their 50s – a long time in those days. 

Strangely, in 2009 - 2016, we dug two more cemeteries that were very different. After analyzing another 130 skeletons, we discovered that few artifacts accompanied them, and that they suffered from higher childhood mortality as well as shorter lives and stature. We’re talking several centimeters shorter and perhaps ten years younger for adults of both sexes. 

Astonishingly, the largest of these two cemeteries had a separate burial area for children under three years of age, but mostly infants including late-term fetuses. Three women buried with infants were also found, so perhaps they died in childbirth. In fact, this is the world’s earliest known infant cemetery.

Interpreting the Findings From the Neolithic Discoveries

So, what can this tell us about these peoples, let alone their descendants? As it turns out, a lot. We can use the findings to make interpretations about gender, life-stage, well-being, status, and other things.

For example, why were there such differences between the two grave sites? They could have been separate populations, but it is unlikely based on overall physical similarities. So perhaps they imply variation by status – with one graveyard being for the elite and the other for workers. This is the earliest such evidence in Egypt. 

The sites also shed light on the family structures of the time. The overall sex ratio across all cemeteries is three women to each man, which may indicate polygamy. However, the total number of burials and a lack of reference to individual houses suggests these were extended family cemeteries.

We also believe that attainment of ‘personhood’ – the age children are socialized into being ‘people’ – was from three years, given their inclusion in adult cemeteries. 

There is also clear evidence of respect for previously buried people by later mourners reusing the graves to bury their dead. When coming across old skeletons, they often carefully repositioned the bones of these ancestors. In some interesting cases, they even made attempts to ‘reconstruct’ the skeletons by replacing teeth that had fallen out – back into the skeleton – and not always correctly (see top image).

These behavioral indicators, together with the seemingly innovative technological and ceremonial architecture mentioned earlier, such as the calendar circles and shrines, imply a level of sophistication well beyond that of simple herders. Taken together, the findings provide a glimpse of things yet to come in ancient Egypt.

Conservation of Neolithic Sites

A key component of our work involves conservation of Egyptian (and world) heritage. We found no evidence of grave looting, unlike for sites in the Nile Valley. The last people to touch Neolithic material at Gebel Ramlah lived during that time. However, wind-related erosion has reached a point where once-buried remains lie on or near the surface.

Well preserved site verses wind‐eroded Neolithic remains at Gebel Ramlah. (Author provided/ The Conversation)

Well preserved site verses wind‐eroded Neolithic remains at Gebel Ramlah. (Author provided/ The Conversation)

In fact, the pace of destruction has increased significantly since 2001. Once exposed, the context of these sites can be lost, and organic material can get sandblasted to bits. This means that if we hadn’t discovered these remains when we did, they would have soon been lost forever. But sadly, this likely means that other sites from the time are literally disappearing. 

For that reason, we and the SCA have decided that, when we have studied our material, all will be reburied on site to, hopefully, survive for a few more thousands of years.

Top image: Example skull of Neolithic people. Source: (Author provided/ The Conversation)

The article ‘Who were the mysterious Neolithic people that enabled the rise of ancient Egypt? Here’s what we’ve learned on our digs’ by Joel D. Irish, Czekaj- Zastawny Agnieszka, and Jacek Kabacinski was originally published on The Conversation and has been republished under a Creative Commons license.

 

Comments

But what about before 6000 BC? Who lived in Egypt then? Nobody, apparently, which makes no sense given the Neolithic revolution was well underway in the Fertile Crescent. Indeed, a 9,000 year old ‘mega-site’ has recently been revealed near Jerusalem. See my book Prehistory Decoded for a likely solution to this conundrum, and also find out who probably built the Great Sphinx.

they came from India. all the stone working technology came from there. the word nile means blue in Sanskrit, hence Blue Nile, a redundancy. they still build teak ocean going ships to the original pattern in Kerala.

Gary Moran's picture

I’ve often wondered why the earlier peoples in that region are so rarely discussed. I guess the ‘official’ line there has so long ignored the pre-dynastic times they think it’s of no importance.  It seems to me that if we’re ever to really solve the ‘who built it’ question, the answers are much farther back in time.  That diorite bowl is not any sort of crude hunter-gatherer construction. That required some sort of sophisticated technology and advanced tools. There’s something going on there, thanks and happy hunting.

Well-written article packed with facts.  Thanks for this.  I loved it.

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