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The Upper Palaeolithic Lithic Industry of Nazlet Khater 4 (Egypt): Implications for the Stone Age/Palaeolithic of Northeastern Africa

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Abstract

Between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 and 2, Northeast Africa witnessed migrations of Homo sapiens into Eurasia. Within the context of the aridification of the Sahara, the Nile Valley probably offered a very attractive corridor into Eurasia. This region and this period are therefore central for the (pre)history of the out-of-Africa peopling of modern humans. However, there are very few sites from the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic that document these migration events. In Egypt, the site of Nazlet Khater 4 (NK4), which is related to ancient H. sapiens quarrying activities, is one of them. Its lithic assemblage shows an important laminar component, and this, associated with its chronological position (ca. 33 ka), means that the site is the most ancient Upper Palaeolithic sites of this region. The detailed study of the Nazlet Khater 4 lithic material shows that blade production (volumetric reduction) is also associated with flake production (surface reduction). This technological duality addresses the issue of direct attribution of NK4 to the Upper Palaeolithic.

Résumé

Entre les MIS 4 et 2, l’Afrique du Nord-Est est le théâtre de migrations d’Homo sapiens vers l’Eurasie. Dans le contexte d’une aridification importante du Sahara, la Vallée du Nil a probablement joué le rôle de corridor très attrayant. Cette région et cette période sont donc clés dans la (pré)histoire des peuplements extra-africains de l’Homme moderne. Cependant, très peu de sites du début du Paléolithique supérieur les documentent. En Égypte, Nazlet Khater 4, site d’occupation lié à des activités d’extraction de matière première est un de ces très rares gisements. L’assemblage lithique révèle une composante laminaire importante, qui, associée à sa position chronologique, en fait le plus ancien site Paléolithique supérieur de la région. Néanmoins, son étude détaillée montre que la production de lames est aussi associée à une exploitation de surface. Et cette dualité technologique de poser la question de son attribution directe au Paléolithique supérieur.

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Notes

  1. OSL dates on sand under the ‘concentration’ 19: 62,600 ± 6,500 and 69,700 ± 7,000 BP, as well as above the Cc 19: 56,900 ± 6,900 BP (Van Peer et al. 2010a, b Table 11.1 p. 226).

  2. The Nubian Middle Palaeolithic (Guichard and Guichard 1968), as well as the Khormusan (Marks 1968a) and the Mousterian (Marks 1968b) are considered included within the Nubian Complex (Van Peer 1998). The place of Aterian is still under discussion (Van Peer includes it within the Nubian Complex but see e.g. Kleindienst 2000 for a different view).

  3. This category of products was chosen because they could have been the most likely to present traces of soft hammer percussion, if this technique was used.

  4. Were included in the elongated products, the products of which the ratio L/W was slightly inferior to 2, as long as the edges were parallel to convergent.

  5. Except with the help of refittings, it is not possible to assert with any certainty whether or not the products result from preparatory phases, or were the intended products.

  6. These products are the closest to what could be called a “Levallois-like” technique. However, they are too few to give such an interpretation.

  7. However, crested blades are present in the lower levels, associated with a Levallois technology (see reconstructions in Volkman 1983).

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted within the Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus Programs in Quaternary and Prehistory. We would like to thank the Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven (Belgium) where the material from Nazlet Khater 4 is stored, and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle of Paris (France) which supported this study. We sincerely thank Philip Van Peer, Professor at the Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven for his welcome and assistance. Sally Reynolds assisted with English language editing. Lastly, we would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Prehistory, CNRS, UMR 7194, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France

    Alice Leplongeon & David Pleurdeau

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Leplongeon, A., Pleurdeau, D. The Upper Palaeolithic Lithic Industry of Nazlet Khater 4 (Egypt): Implications for the Stone Age/Palaeolithic of Northeastern Africa. Afr Archaeol Rev 28, 213–236 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-011-9100-x

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