Pleistocene Artefacts Inside an Ancient Egyptian Tomb

Lithic Tools from the Courtyard and the Transverse Hall of TT 209, Luxor, Upper Egypt

Abstract

The Wadi Hatasun comprises a palimpsest of huge numbers of lithic archaeological remains located there due to the proximity of the Theban Eocene calcareous formation with silicifications, and to the desert processes of deflation and flash floods. The Theban tomb 209 is situated in this wadi. Due to these flooding events, the tomb was virtually filled; this silting process lasted several centuries and concluded approximately two thousand years ago. Within the alluvially deposited sediment, there exists a knapped lithic record with highly varied technical features, alluding to numerous periods of occupation of the wadi. Many of these materials are attributable to the Middle Stone Age. We carried out both lithological and technological analyses in order to characterise this lithic record, and to try to identify the represented technocomplexes and link them with their time frames. The postdepositional sorting of the lithic assemblages on and within the tomb occurred naturally, and thus without any human bias. This offers an opportunity to study a material set representative of the Pleistocene hominid record that can be found on surface all over this area of the Egyptian low western desert, and to point out the value of its necessary preservation.