|
Z-basin is one of the areas with neo-lithic
remains identified in the Fayum Desert (north of Lake Qarun) by Gertrud Caton-Thompson in the 1930's:
|
|
This area was chosen to study the fluctuations
in the level of the lake which caused artifacts to be either covered with
metres of sediment or to be dramatically displaced by erosion:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Objective of visit:
|
|
To record geological and
archaeological features in and around Z-basin, using the Geographical Positioning
System, to facilitate the study of the long history of the area. Also, to
assist in the collection and study of the lithic artifacts
scattered on the surface and the excavation of several trenches in quarternary
deposits to find layers with evidence of human activity. |
|
Date of visit:
|
|
September/October 2003. |
|
Fellow visitors:
|
|
A small team of archaeologists
and geologists, directed
by Willeke Wendrich (UCLA) and René Cappers
(Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), including two (female)
trainee-inspectors of the Egyptian
Supreme Council of Antiquities. |
| Results: |
|
A large number of features
were recorded and an interactive section of
Z-basin was produced. Full publication of the results is pending. |
| Approximate position and date of the site: |
|
Z-basin is located on the
north shore of Lake Qarun (in the Fayum Depression) between the better known
sites of Karanis and Kom W, to the south-east, and Qasr al-Sagha and Dimae
to the north-west. On the surface lithic artifacts were found that dated to
both the Qarunian (Epipaleolithic or 'Fayum B') and the Fayumian (Neolithic
or 'Fayum A') periods.
|
| Short description of the site: |
|
Z-basin is a depression
in the desert north-east of Lake Qarun. No structures are visible on the
surface which consists mostly of wind-blown sand over an eroding deposit
of silt. Where the layer of sand is thin numerous stone artifacts, dating
to various periods, can be seen. In the area where two trenches were excavated
in a slit ridge one stone tool was found at a depth of over two metres.
The alternating processes of deposition and erosion, closely related to
the water level in the lake, make an understanding of the archaeology difficult
and time consuming. |
| Additional remarks: |
|
My work in Fayum would not
have been possible without the support of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
at UCLA. |
| HOME |
|
|
|
|
|
