BS-11: A Site in the Recessional Beach of West Lake 1

Abstract

Site BS-11 lies near the center of the modern deflational basin of Bir Sahara East, about 100 m southwest of BS-12 and BS-1 and at the southeastern corner of a massive and firmly cemented, peninsular remnant of marls, silts and sands (Fig. 33.1). The remnant is one of two peninsulae that extend southward from the much larger mass of lacustrine and aeolian deposits filling most of the northern half of the original Sahara East basin. Today, a long, deep, sand-filled trough separates the two remnants, but the modern topography is an inversion of the Middle Paleolithic landscape. When BS-11 was occupied, where there is now a trough, there was most probably a sandy hill that formed the southeastern margin of a small lake.