On the long and winding road: unravelling the late emergence of Neolithic agriculture in the Nile Delta
Despite the Nile Delta's abundant natural resources , the emergence of Neolithic agriculture did not evolve in tandem with neighboring regions, long raising questions about the underlying factors contributing to this delay. We analyzed pollen and non-pollen microfossils of three Predynastic sites (Buto - Tell el-Fara'in, Sais - Sa el-Hagar and Kom el-Khilgan) to track the environmental factors hindering the emergence and development of herding and farming in the Nile Delta before 7000 cal. BP. High-resolution-dated microfossils showed that during the African Humid Period, the delta experienced environmental instability, characterized by remarkably high Nile discharge and rapid sea-level rise, impeding early human occupation of the deltaic plain. Sea-level stabilization and declining Nile discharge beginning ca. 7000 years ago promoted herding as an opportunistic activity in coping with and exploiting the delta's uninhabitable environmental setting. This pastoral livelihood transitioned to sedentary farming that prevailed a millennium after the deltaic setting became stable. • Three Predynastic cores extracted from the Nile Delta. • Track the emergence and development of herding and farming in the delta. • The delta experienced environmental instability during the African Humid Period. • Herding developed as an opportunistic activity ca.7000 years ago. • Sedentary farming emerged as a primary means of subsistence 5615 years ago.
Authors
- Said E. Alassal
- Brian Finlayson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8708-3475)
- David Kaniewski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6569-3184)
- Xiaoshuang Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1924-9389)
- Nick Marriner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7916-6059)
- Hader Sheisha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6001-674X)
- Thierry Otto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2854-6454)
- Frédéric Luce
- Maotian Li
- Alaa Salem (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3185-5194)
- Fengjing Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1937-1341)
- Yan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3521-4650)
- Zhongyuan Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7525-205X)
- Jing Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0646-903X)
- Yanna Wang
- Christophe Morhange
- Qianli Sun
- Ian Thomas
Institutions
- University of New Caledonia (NC)
- Tongji University (CN)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Kafrelsheikh University (EG)
- Xinjiang Normal University (CN)
- Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR)
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR)
- Supreme Council of Antiquities (EG)
- Ministry of Antiquities (EG)
- Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie Marine et Continentale (FR)
- Archéologie et Philologie d’Orient et d’Occident (FR)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- East China Normal University (CN)
- Université de Franche-Comté (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Quaternary Science Reviews
- Published
- 2025-04-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109368
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 12.99
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Academy of Scientific Research and Technology