Egypt During the Last Interglacial: The Middle Paleolithic of Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East

by Fred Wendorf, Romuald Schild and Angela E. Close INTRODUCTION roughly contemporaneous with the later part of Isotope Stage 7; most sites occur in sediments dated between 100 The Middle Paleolithic is potentially one of the most and 130 ka and fall early in the Last Interglacial; the most interesting periods in human history. It marks a major recent Middle Paleolithic site dates between 70 and 80 ka. at break from the long period of the Lower Paleolithic when the end of the Last Interglacial. there was essentially no change for several hundreds of thousands of years, and it was during the Middle THE MODERN ENVIRONMENT Paleolithic, and probably early in that stage, that the The two depressions of Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East are modem form of human being first appeared in Africa (Stringer and Andrews 1988). We do not know whether the near the center of the southern Libyan Desert. They are earliest modem Africans behaved differently from Middle about 350 km southwest of Kharga Oasis, and the same Paleolithic people elsewhere in the world and of different distance west and slightly north of Abu Simbel, at 22°55'N, physical types, but we should find out. A study of human 28°45'E.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction.- Stratigraphy, Paleoenvironment and Chronology.- 2. Contribution to the Stratigraphy of the Area of Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East.- 3. Middle Paleolithic Lakes in the Southwestern Desert of Egypt.- 4. Sedimentology of Pleistocene Deposits Associated with Middle Paleolithic Sites in Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East.- 5. Chemical Stratigraphy of Lacustrine Sequences Deposited During Latest Pleistocene Pluvial Periods in the Eastern Sahara.- 6. Lacustrine Paleoenvironments of the Area of Bir Sahara-Bir Tarfawi Area Reconstructed from Fossil Ostracods and the Chemistry of their Shells.- 7. Diatoms from the Pool in Section BT-A of Bir Tarfawi.- 8. The Middle Paleolithic Archaeofaunas from Bir Tarfawi (Western Desert, Egypt).- 9. Fish Remains from the Last Interglacial at Bir Tarfawi (Eastern Sahara, Egypt).- 10. Remains of Small Vertebrates from Bir Tarfawi and Their Paleoecological Significance.- 11. Uranium-Series Dating of Carbonates from Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East.- 12. Bir Tarfawi: A Stratigraphic Test of Uranium-Series Dating of Tooth Enamel.- 13. Thermoluminescence Dating of Deposits from the Area of Bir Sahara East and Bir Tarfawi.- 14. Thermoluminescence Dates for Burnt Earth Samples from Bir Sahara East and a Burnt Core from Bir Tarfawi.- 15. Optical Dating of Sediment Samples from Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East: An Initial Report.- 16. Electron Spin Resonance Dating of Tooth Enamel from Bir Tarfawi.- 17. ESR Study of Materials from the Middle Paleolithic of Bir Tarfawi.- 18. Chronology of Hominid Occupation at Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East, Based on the Epimerization of Isoleucine in Ostrich Eggshells.- Middle Paleolithic Archaeology Archaeological Sites in the Northern Part (Section BT-A) of Bir Tarfawi.- 19. The Analysis of Middle Paleolithic Artifacts.- 20. E-88-14: An Assemblage Associated with the Tarfawi White Lake.- 21. Work at BT-14 During 1974.- 22. BT-14 Main Excavation: The Archaeological Sequence of the East Lake (1986 and 1987 Seasons).- 23. E-87-5: Occupations Dating to the Grey Phases.- Archaeological Sites in the Central Part (Section BT-B) of Bir Tarfawi.- 24. E-86-1: A Site Associated with the Sand Pan.- 25. E-87-4: A Sand Pan Site.- 26. E-87-1: A Locality Associated with the Sand Pan Delta.- 27. E-86-2: Occupations During the Grey and Green Phases.- 28. E-86-3: An Assemblage in Hydromorphic and Basin-Edge Sands of the Lower Lake (Grey Phase 3).- 29. E-86-4: Artifacts in Marsh-Related Sands of the Lower Lake (Grey Phase 3).- 30. E-87-2: A Site in Lake-Margin Deposits of the Green Phase.- 31. E-87-3: A Small, Dry-Season Occupation at the Onset of the Green Phase.- Archaeological Sites at Bir Sahara East.- 32. E-88-1: The Archaeology of the Sandsheet.- 33. BS-11: A Site in the Recessional Beach of West Lake 1.- 34. E-88-11: A Site Associated with West Lake 2.- 35. BS-12: A Site Associated with West Lake 2 (1988 Excavations).- 36. E-88-2: Occupations Associated with West Lake.- Syntheses.- 37. Spatial Analyses of Middle Paleolithic Localities in the Bir Tarfawi Basin: An Interpretative Studyad.- 38. Summary and Conclusions.- References.