Added March 1998, Updated November 28, 2000.
Late Neolithic megalithic structures at Nabta Playa (Sahara), southwestern Egypt.
Large stone constructions from the Late Neolithic (6500 - 5300 bp) were excavated at Nabta Playa, 100 km west of Abu Simbel. They included megalithic alignments, tumuli containing cattle and sheep burials, and 30 complex stone structures of still unknown function. Of the last, three have been excavated. Two were exposed by drilling. At the base (3-4 m below the surface) is a shaped bedrock table stone, reached by a pit 6-7 m in diameter, some 4 m deep. About a meter above this, in one of the structures, was a 2.5 ton cow-like stone "sculpture." At the surface were 1.5 ton upright megaliths in an oval setting, 4- 6 m in diameter, with a 1-3 ton horizontal slab in the center. The construction of these elaborate structures suggest a cattle cult and a ranked society. Its leaders must have controlled significant labor and other resources.
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Dr. Fred Wendorf
Southern Methodist University
3225 Daniel Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75275-0274
USA
Tel. 214 768-2924, Tel. 214 768-1551, fwendorf@mail.smu.edu, Secretary: mskwirz@post.cis.smu.edu
Dr. Romuald Schild
Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii
Polskiej Aakademii Nauk
Al. Solidarnoci 105
00-140 Warszawa
Poland
Tel. +48-2-620-28-81, rschild@iaepan.edu.pl
Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.