Human Skeletal Remains from Three Nabta Playa Sites

Abstract

Three sets of human remains were excavated at Nabta Playa. They are from Sites E-97-17, E-00-1, and E-91-1 (Area B), and were excavated during the 1997,1999, and 2000 seasons. The burial at Site E-97-17 could not be precisely placed in time. It could date either with the Al Jerar Early Neolithic, ca. 7800 - 7300 bp, or the El Baqar Late Neolithic (ca. 6800 - 5000 bp, probably the later. Those from E-00-1 are El Baqar Late Neolithic in age, and the burial at E-91-1 is associated with an Al Jerar Early Neolithic settlement. The E-97-17 and E-00-1 burials were so badly damaged by deflation and human disturbance that most morphometric, and even basic skeletal (e.g., age, sex, stature) analyses, could not be undertaken; thus, the balance of these remains were reburied. Only 13 teeth from the former burial, and eight from the latter are complete enough for a limited dental anthropological examination. The E-91-1 skeleton is also poorly preserved. However, it is complete enough to allow several osteological and paleopathological observations of the skull and post-crania, in addition to dental study.