2021

monografia naukowa

polski

PL Książka przedstawia analizę horyzontu El Adam na Pustyni Zachodniej w Egipcie datowanego na okres pomiędzy 9000/8500 a 7800 BC. Ukazano w niej dynamikę rozwoju społeczności łowiecko-zbierackich, wywodzących się z rozpoznanego w dolinie Nilu Arkinianu, na którą istotny wpływ miały zmieniające się warunki klimatyczne i środowiskowe. Książka zawiera też dyskusję na temat podstaw gospodarczych opisywanych społeczności, do niedawna uważanych za pionierów pasterstwa w Afryce.

EN Climate change in the early Holocene had a profound impact on the natural and cultural environment. The first settlers arrived in the area of Nabta Playa and Bir Kiseiba in the first half of 9000 BC. They had to face a rather harsh climate, with seasonal summer rainfall and oasis-type vegetation limited primarily to the drainage basins of periodic lakes. Nevertheless, the environment proved sufficient for many animals (possibly including the representatives of the Bos family) and attractive enough for people who would arrive here after the summer rains, most probably from the Nile valley. They would set up their encampments, where they would spend up to several months hunting, collecting ostrich eggs and usable plants, making pottery, and searching for rock materials suitable for tool production. When the water ran out, hunting and gathering was no longer sufficiently profitable, and the effort required to obtain food became too great, the camp inhabitants would return to places with permanent access to water, where they stayed until the next rainy season. However, it is still a matter of debate as to whether these people were the first pastoralists bringing cattle in search of good grazing land or whether they were hunter-gatherers in pursuit of game. The recovered bone material is dominated by the remains of gazelle and hare. While cattle bones have also been found at most sites, there is no evidence suggesting that they came from domesticates. To date, there is no clear answer as to whether there were any local African attempts at domesticating this species. The puzzle can possibly be solved with the help of DNA testing. Bearing in mind the above suggestions and considering both the entirety of tools and the other economic behaviours, it seems more likely that the El Adam community were semi-sedentary hunter gatherers, seasonally migrating between the Nile valley and the Western Desert plains. Their dietary strategies were based on hunting desert gazelle, dama gazelle, hare, and – albeit less frequently – aurochs. Ostrich eggs were collected from nests, and the human diet was supplemented with plant foods.

Poznań-Warszawa, Poland

Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

12.2021 (Data domniemana)

2021

330

978-83-66463-56-1

https://rcin.org.pl/dlibra/publication/269729

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