Abstract
Nabta Playa may contain the oldest human-made features with astronomical alignments in Egypt. In the Late and Terminal Neolithic (7,500–5,400 BP), nomadic pastoralists built a ceremonial center on the western shore of Nabta Playa, consisting of some 30 complex megalithic structures, stone circles, and lines of megaliths crossing the playa. The megaliths may once have aligned with Arcturus, the Belt of Orion, Sirius, and α Cen. Reorientations of the northern set of megaliths suggest a response to precession. Elaborate burials at the nearby cemetery at Gebel Ramlah indicate the nomads consisted of Mediterranean and sub-Saharan populations with little social stratification.
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McKim Malville, J. (2015). Astronomy at Nabta Playa, Southern Egypt. In: Ruggles, C. (eds) Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_101
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_101
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