Journal of Field Archaeology
Publication date:
2005-01-01
Volume:
30
Pages:
435 -
442
Publisher:
Boston University
Author:
Vermeersch, Pierre
Van Peer, Philip ; Rots, Veerle ; Van Kerckhoven, Liesbeth ; Van Neer, Willem
Keywords:
Social Sciences, Archaeology, 2101 Archaeology, 4301 Archaeology
Abstract:
In the El Gouna (Hurghada) area on the Red Sea of Egypt, a Middle Holocene shell mound from around 5800 b.p. (uncalibrated radiocarbon years before A.D. 1950) has been tested by a restricted excavation. Collection of shellfish on the Red Sea shore provided subsistence opportunities for Middle Holocene groups coeval with the Early Predynastic Tasian of the Nile Valley. The El Gouna site demonstrates for the first time that shell mounds exist near the Egyptian Red Sea shore.