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Kom W and Z Basin: Surface Artifact Collection, Culture History, and the Argument Over Village Occupation

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Abstract

Kom W, a Neolithic site on the north shore of Lake Qarun in the Fayum in the Western Desert of northern Egypt, is well known for the excavation by the British archaeologist Gertrude Caton-Thompson in the early twentieth century. Since then, scholars have repeatedly investigated Kom W, and new information and interpretations about the site have been published. This article aims to throw light on the neglected aspects of Kom W. It will first provide an overview of the research history of Kom W and its surrounding area and the culture history of the prehistoric Fayum. This broad context is necessary for the interpretation of how Kom W and its surrounding area were inhabited in the past. It will then reconsider Kom W and its surrounding area on the basis of research on Caton-Thompson’s lithic finds, which were only partially published by her and are presently housed in museums in the UK. Finally, the article will address some of the arguments and misrepresentations in a recent publication by J. Emmitt and colleagues (Emmitt et al., 2021).

Résumé

Kom W, un site néolithique sur la rive nord du lac Qarun dans le Fayoum dans le désert occidental du nord de l’Égypte, est bien connu pour les fouilles de l’archéologue britannique Gertrude Caton-Thompson au début du 20e siècle. Depuis lors, les chercheurs ont enquête à plusieurs reprises sur Kom W, ce qui a conduit à la publication de nouvelles informations et interprétations sur le site. Cet article vise à faire la lumière sur les aspects négligés de Kom W. Il fournira d’abord un aperçu de l’histoire de la recherche de Kom W et de ses environs et l’histoire culturelle du Fayoum préhistorique. Ce contexte est nécessaire pour interpréter comment Kom W et ses environs étaient habités dans le passé. L’article reconsidérera ensuite Kom W et ses environs vis-à-vis des recherches sur les découvertes lithiques de Caton-Thompson, qui n’ont été que partiellement publiées par elle et sont actuellement conservées dans des musées au Royaume-Uni. L’article abordera enfin certaines des arguments et des fausses déclarations dans une publication récente de J. Emmitt et collègues (Emmitt et al., 2021).

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank all of the staff of the Department of Egypt and Sudan of the British Museum, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, and the Institute of Archaeology at University College London for accommodating the author’s research. The author would also like to thank anonymous reviewers and Ilona Bausch for taking the time to read through earlier versions of this article and provide helpful comments.

Funding

The author’s research on Gertrude Caton-Thompson’s Fayum lithic collection in London was made possible by the Marie Curie post-doctoral fellowship of the Gerda Henkel Foundation’s M4HUMAN Programme (AZ45/EU/12) and hosted by the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. The author sincerely appreciates their support.

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    Noriyuki Shirai

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Shirai, N. Kom W and Z Basin: Surface Artifact Collection, Culture History, and the Argument Over Village Occupation. Afr Archaeol Rev 40, 205–236 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-022-09503-8

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