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Early Holocene pottery in the Western Desert of Egypt: new data from Nabta Playa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Maciej Jórdeczka ,
Halina Królik ,
Mirosław Masojć  and
Romuald Schild
Maciej Jórdeczka
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Branch Poznań, Rubież Street 46, 61-612 Poznań, Poland (Email: jordeczka@iaepan.poznan.pl)
Halina Królik
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Solidarności 105, 00-140 Warsaw, Poland (Email: krolik@iaepan.edu.pl,rschild@iaepan.edu.pl)
Mirosław Masojć
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Wrocław University, Szewska Street 48, 50-139 Wrocław, Poland (Email: mirekmasojc@poczta.onet.pl)
Romuald Schild
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Solidarności 105, 00-140 Warsaw, Poland (Email: krolik@iaepan.edu.pl,rschild@iaepan.edu.pl)
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Extract

Dated and stratified potsherds excavated at Nabta Playa belong to the earliest phase of pottery-making in the Sahara – relatively sophisticated bowls decorated with a toothed wheel. The authors explore the origins of post-Pleistocene settlers in the Sahara and the Nile Valley and discuss what prompted them to make pottery.

Keywords

Nile ValleyNabta PlayaEarly Holocene (10–9k BP)El Adampotteryceramics
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 327 , March 2011 , pp. 99 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2011

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