Homepage Timeline Maps A-Z index Learning

Fayum, Qarunian (Fayum B) (about 6000-5000 BC?)

Epipalaeolithic (also called Mesolithic) culture (late Capsian), well attested at a number of sites in the Fayum. The stone industry is different to Fayum Neolithic, and characterised by small tools ('microliths'). However there are some types common to both cultures (the arrowheads), suggestive of connections between them. Knives and scrapers are common. There is no pottery. The settlement site labelled Z by the excavators is thought to have been located about 5 m above the lake level at the time of its use. Not much survived from the settlement, but there is a 'hearth of ashes'. People must have lived from fishing, hunting and food gathering. The sites are small and were most likely only seasonal and perhaps short-lived.

microlithic stone tools (click on the images for a larger picture)

UC 3153 UC 3150 UC 3157 UC 3155 UC 3158 UC 3164 UC 3159 UC 3872

UC 3000 UC 3004 UC 3024 UC 3026

further reading:


 

Copyright © 2002 University College London. All rights reserved.