A Geo-Archaeological Survey in the Surroundings of Tell el-Dab´a - Qantir

Edwin C.M. van den Brink: A Geo-Archaeological Survey in the Surroundings of Tell el-Dab`a-Qantir. Regional Diachronic Investigations into Settlement Patterns in the Northeastern Nile Delta. This work derives from an analysis of field data collected during four consecutive seasons of an archaeological and paleo-geographical survey (the Amsterdam University Survey Expedition) in a 900 km2 area in the eastern Nile delta, conducted between 1984 and 1987. The survey was a practical means in order to establish whether meaningful patterns of site distribution from the late 4th through 1st millennia BC could be observed and interpreted. A reconstruction of former landscapes in the area being a sine qua non in any attempt to explain observed settlement site distribution patterns through time, the collection of sufficient and relevant geomorphologic data was on a par with the collection of archaeological data in the same area. Together with a description of the various lithologies and stratigraphy of the region, a paleo-geographic model of the survey area, including a reconstruction of ancient river courses in this part of the eastern Nile delta is presented. The relation between original landscapes and the spatial distribution of archaeological sites is discussed, including a reconstruction of the paleo-environment of seven selected sites, archaeologically probed during the survey. The location and chronological distribution of the 92 recorded archaeological sites within the survey area are discussed, based on a chronological presentation of the collected surface materials per site (mainly ceramic sherds and flint tools) as well as on data obtained through archaeological soundings at seven selected sites. Based on both the geological and archaeological data collected during the survey, the various settlement distribution maps are discussed in chronological order. An interpretation of the "empirical patterns" for each separate period from Proto/Early Dynastic periods until the end of the New Kingdom (ca. 3,150 - 1,070 BC) has been attempted, in order to gain insight into the underlying system(s) which might have generated these patterns. A second focus is on Late predynastic through Early Dynastic Settlement Patterning between the Pelusiac and the Tanitic Branches of the Nile, and on inter site differentiation in the late 4th to early 3rd millennia BC, that is that formative period during which Lower and Upper Egypt were transformed into a centralized state under a single ruler, the king.