Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale

Radiocarbon dates for the ancient drawings in the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave revealed ages much older than expected. These early ages and nature of this Paleolithic art make this United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) site indisputably unique. A large, multidisciplinary dating program has recently mapped the anthropological evolution associated with the cave. More than 350 dates (by (14)C, U-Th, TL and (36)Cl) were obtained over the last 15 y. They include 259 radiocarbon dates, mainly related to the rock art and human activity in the cave. We present here more than 80 previously unpublished dates. All of the dates were integrated into a high-precision Bayesian model based on archaeological evidence to securely reconstruct the complete history of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave on an absolute timescale. It shows that there were two distinct periods of human activity in the cave, one from 37 to 33,500 y ago, and the other from 31 to 28,000 y ago. Cave bears also took refuge in the cave until 33,000 y ago.

Excavations at Sanjé ya Kati have established that the site's chronology does not exceed three centuries, from AD 950 to 1250, while the town's apogee and most of its buildings date from between 1050 and 1150. Sanjé ya Kati brings new data that permit a re-evaluation of Persian influence in Eastern Africa. Notwithstanding the critics, numerous historic and archaeological data show a Persian presence in East Africa. This paper argues that the narratives of Persian sailors, religious and architectural influences from the Gulf, and products exchanged, such as ceramics, document an obvious ‘Shirazi reality’. However, the term ‘Shirazi’ designates more than just the city of Shiraz or the port of Siraf in modern Iran; rather, it groups together different populations of the Persian Gulf who shared a common religious ideology in Shiite Islam and arrived in Africa between the tenth and twelfth centuries. While not contesting local processes of development or the African origin of Swahili sailors and tradesmen, recent archaeological research thus re-evaluates this Persian impact as a vector for urbanisation on the East African coast.

Abstract : The Uranium-Thorium (U/ Th) series dating method, developed 50 years ago, has proven its usefulness and reliability for the dating of marine (corals) and continental (speleothems) secondary carbonates deposits. Recently, improvements of the analytical techniques (TIMS – Thermo-Ionization Mass Spectrometry, and then MC-ICPMS – Multicollector-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy and laser ablation) allow the dating of very small samples and increase the potential of this method. Given the difficulties of dating cave art (other than drawings created with charcoal, which can be directly dated by 14C), indirect dating methods have been sought. During the last decade, several publications have reported the dating by the U/ Th method of thin layers of calcite overlying Paleolithic paintings and engravings or the support of these representations. In these cases, the age of calcite formation is assumed to provide a minimum age (terminus ante quem) for the underlying paintings or engravings or a maximum age (terminus post quem) when it is the support that is dated. The current article describes the relevance and potential of this method when applied to the dating of calcitic layers deposited above or below prehistoric drawings, together with the specific difficulties encountered in U/ Th dating of such thin deposits. An initial difficulty is that thorium may be present in the calcite from the beginning (detritic thorium), making age corrections necessary. Another difficulty is that in the humid conditions prevalent in caves, the walls may have been subject to runoff over time. In this case, thin calcite layers covering paintings or engravings may have been altered, with possible chemical exchange between the water and the calcite. The most probable effect of this ‘open system’ behavior is the leaching of uranium, leading to an overestimation of the age of the calcite. Recent applications of the U/ Th method to the dating of rock art have shown that this phenomenon, if not correctly identified by means of independent methods, may become a significant source of error. For this reason, it is important to know the concentrations of uranium in each calcitic sample, as this makes it possible to detect local anomalies that have led to a substantial loss of this element. In a recent paper concerning the U/ Th dating of eleven Paleolithic decorated caves in the Cantabrian Region (Spain), extremely early dates were determined (more than 41,000 years in one case) and the authors speculated that certain representations could have been produced by Neanderthals. However as detailed analytical data (uranium content) have not been published one cannot appreciate the reliability of the ages obtained. Then, in the absence of confirmation by an independent dating method, it is premature to base an archaeological reasoning on these dates. This article emphasizes the necessity of carrying out several analyses on the same sample, and when possible on several layers from its thickness. Moreover it is important to perform cross dating using U/ Th and 14C (or even using other elements such as 226Ra or 231Pa) in order to verify the consistency of the results. Several recent examples will illustrate this necessity. It should be also recalled that the calibration curves used to correct radiocarbon ages are largely based on the simultaneous dating by U/ Th and 14C of the same samples of speleothems and corals. Finally, it has to be mentioned that when the deposits underlying paintings or engravings are studied, the data obtained could be distant in time from the creative act. In fact, the growth of calcite is controlled by environmental factors and is favored during temperate and humid periods. Thus, a large number of calcitic layers overlying paintings could have been deposited during the Holocene. They could also have grown during a brief warming of the last glacial period, or represent a mean age between several growing periods. Nevertheless, these chronological data could bring relevant information, once their validity has been verified.

KS043 is a stratified site associated with a complex of artesian springs. The archaeological remains, as well as a series of radiocarbon determinations, date the site to between 4800 and 4200 b.c. Our study suggests a connection between Saharan pastoralists, forced to move into oasis areas by increasing aridification, and the first Predynastic cultures of the Nile Valley. The site is the only well dated stratified settlement attributed to the Late Neolithic in the eastern Sahara that is characterized by Tasian cultural traditions.

Abstract 14 C and U/Th methods were used to date three thin carbonate layers deposited on decorated walls of Nerja Cave (Malaga, southern Spain) in order to constrain the age of the parietal non-figurative marks situated under these carbonate layers. Modern formations were also dated to estimate the detritic contribution for the U/Th method and the dead carbon proportion for 14 C dating. We sampled two locations with ocher painting marks. In one case (mark 1), the good agreement between the ages obtained by the two methods suggests that the sample was not subjected to post-deposition alteration and that the results are reliable. In the other case (mark 2), the age discrepancy between the two methods reached 30,000 yr, indicating that geochemical alteration had affected the sample and that one or both results were inaccurate. The ages for mark 1 indicate that this type of non-figurative representation is older than 25,000 cal BP and that it can be associated with the oldest attested Paleolithic occupation of Nerja Cave.

Four archaeological samples, unearthed from Qana in Yemen were analysed by analytical technique, currently applied in the field of petroleum geochemistry, and by gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Sample no 1286 comes from a burned warehouse and samples no 964, 963 and 962 from the central sanctuary. These specimens were probably exposed to a heating source. In each case olibanum resin was identified according to the presence of their chemical markers corresponding to alpha- , beta-boswellic and lupeolic acids (3alpha-hydroxy-olean-12-en-24-oic, 3alpha-hydroxy-urs-12-en-24-oic and 3alpha-hydroxy-lup-20(29)en-24-oic acids) and their respective O-acetyled derivatives (3alpha- O-acetyl-olean-12-en-24-oic, 3alpha-O-acetyl-urs-12-en-24-oic and 3-O-acetyl-lup-20(29)-en-24-oic acids). Concerning the thermal degradation state of samples, the GC-MS results are in agreement with the geochemical ones. Sample no 1286 and 964 correspond to ageing incense which has not undergone any heating action and are consequently relatively well preserved. Lastly, samples no 963 and 962 are thermally degraded resins and their gross composition data permits to conclude that sample no 963 is only partially burnt while sample no 962 has been much more degraded.

Abstract The history of medieval West Africa is defined by the age of three great empires that succeeded one another: Ghāna, Māli, and Songhay. How did these empires come to frame our view of the West African past? To answer the question, we have to understand first how the European and Eurocentric concept of an empire was imposed on a specific African context and why it thrived. In this respect, the case of Sudanic empires in particular illuminates the process of history writing and scholars’ relationship with their time and object of study. In the last few years, Sudanic empires have made a prominent return to the historical conversation. I propose here a critical reflection on ‘empire’ and ‘imperial tradition’ in the western Sahel based on europhone and non-europhone (Arabic) historiographies, from the first histories written in postmedieval West Africa to those produced by twenty-first-century scholarship.

In the Mediterranean, the island dwarf megafaunas became extinct around the end of the Pleistocene, during a period of rapid and global climate change. In Cyprus, this coincided with the first human presence on the island, as attested by the rock shelter of Akrotiri-Aetokremnos where an Epipaleolithic anthropogenic layer (stratum 2) was found overlying a massive accumulation of pygmy hippopotamus (Phanourios minor (Desmarest, 1822)) [Boekschoten and Sondaar, 1972] bones (stratum 4). The relationship between the two layers is highly controversial and the role played by humans in hippo extinction remains fiercely debated. Here, we provide new, direct radiocarbon and physico-chemical analyses on calcined bones which elucidates the complex depositional history of the assemblage. Bone turquoise was identified using micro-PIXE analysis and depth-profiling together with Vis spectroscopy, demonstrating that these bones were not freshly burned. Bayesian modeling of the radiocarbon dates indicates that stratum 4 accumulated during the first half of the 13th mill cal BP and that calcination occurred several hundred years later. We conclude that accumulation occurred naturally during the beginning of the Younger Dryas and that Epipalaeolithic visitors subsequently used the bones as fuel, starting from the mid-13th mill cal BP. At that time, dwarf hippos were probably already extinct or at least highly endangered. Our results shed new light on the possible causes of hippo extinction, on the subsequent introduction of the wild boar and on the earliest occupation of the island by humans.

Abstract The Grotte Cosquer (southeastern France) is a Paleolithic painted cave only accessible by a deep-water dive. The cave has yielded numerous Paleolithic engravings and drawings, which were produced from wood charcoal. This article presents new radiocarbon dates obtained on samples collected in 2012 directly on 17 parietal representations and at the soil surface, and discusses the 14 C results obtained since the discovery of the cave in 1992. A total of 41 samples were dated with ages ranging from 33,000 to 20,000 cal BP. They show that the cave was intermittently decorated over about 10,000 yr.

Rousset Marie-Odile, Marchand Sylvie, Foy Danièle. Secteur nord de Tebtynis (Fayyoum). Mission de 2000. In: Annales islamologiques 35, 2001. pp. 409-489.

This chapter gives a brief overview of the <italic>character</italic> of the Third Intermediate Period reflecting on the north–south divide, the changes in religious beliefs and the growth of archaism, before concentrating on the <italic>history</italic> of the period. Scholarship on the history of the Third Intermediate Period is in a state of flux owing to the recent discoveries of new kings, and a number of new theories discussing the moving of kings from one dynasty to another, as well as changing the order of some of them. The chapter does not summarise the narrative history of the Third Intermediate Period but highlights specific historical problems and issues.

Radiocarbon dating of Egyptian mummies could be challenged by embalming materials, especially bitumen which is attested in textual sources as being used during the Late Period. Six Egyptian mummies held at the Musée des Confluences in Lyon (France) have been radiocarbon dated, among which two embalmed mummies have given results older than expected, both on textile and organic material (flesh/skin). Radiocarbon dates’ ageing relates to the use of a radiocarbon depleted material that is not extracted by classical radiocarbon chemical pre-treatment. In this study, the presence of bitumen is corroborated by infrared spectroscopy analyses. The present paper describes the research we employed to extract bitumen from mummies’ linen wrappings. An experimental protocol has been developed and tested on modern linen textiles; it divides into four steps: textile soaking in bitumen – linen samples thermal degradation – extraction protocol – infrared analyses and radiocarbon dating at each step. Test-samples show that bitumen has been correctly extracted only on samples that have not been artificially aged, others remain radiocarbon depleted. Presently, the protocol is not efficient enough to be applied on archaeological samples. The difficulty does not rely on the bitumen present, but on the interactions developed between bitumen and linen fibres over time. Further perspectives and on-going research’s steps will also be described that enabled this study to restore these mummies to their chronological context.

Abstract Fluxgate 3‐axis magnetometers are seldom used on archaeological sites due to their lack of precision. Nonetheless, they offer light weight, low power consumption and the ability of compensation of the magnetization of the prospecting device. This study proposes to use calibration and compensation processes developed for space research and aerial measurement to build a multi‐sensor and georeferenced device to assess deep and shallow objects for large‐scale archaeological investigations in Qasr 'Allam, in a context of heavy sedimentary coverage and uneven surface. The use of the device on the site in combination with potential field transformations of the signal such as the double reduction to the pole and the vertical derivative reveal a vast irrigation system as well as a large religious facility. A comparison with gradiometric measurements shows a resolution as good at least for shallow sources. The precise positioning allows targeted excavations that validate the geophysical interpretations and offer new archaeological information. These discoveries give enough proof to the local authorities to define the area to be protected from the threatening progression of agricultural fields. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Abstract Charcoal and micro-layers of soot trapped in speleothems from the inner galleries of Nerja Cave were analysed through an interdisciplinary study. The absolute dating of the prehistoric subterranean activity of the cave and the identification of different phases of visits to the deep parts are presented and discussed. The charcoal analysis includes anthracological analysis and SEM–EDX. The soot analysis includes optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and TEM–EDX, and the microcounting of soot microlayers. The 14 C dating of 53 charcoals identified 12 phases of prehistoric visits to the cave between 41,218 and 3299 cal. BP, putting back the origin of human occupation of this emblematic cave by 10,000 years. The interdisciplinary analysis of the soot microlayers allowed us to perform a high-precision zoom on the last three visitation phases identified by Bayesian analysis (8003–2998 cal. BP.), demonstrating that these phases contain at least 64 distinct incursions, with an average of one visit every 35 years for the Neolithic period. Spatial analysis showed that not all areas of the cave were used in the same periods, highlighting the repetition of visits to certain specific sectors of the Lower Galleries of the cave. Lastly, the anthracological data indicate a cross-cultural and unique use of Pinus tp. sylvestris - nigra wood for lighting activities over an extended period between the Gravettian and Upper Magdalenian.

The results from a 1.3-hectare GPR survey in 2012 were confirmed during the 2013 excavation of a limited area (200 m2). Three phases of occupation were partly exposed. The most recent phase, Stratum 1, contained living and working facilities, e.g. for spinning, weaving and purple dyeing. Textile production also took place in the older Stratum 2, where the major activity was metal-working: 300 kg of remains from copperworking consist of tapped slag, furnace walls, fragments of at least five tuyères, crucible fragments, copper/bronze fragments and pieces of raw copper. Another of these unique kraters of White Painted Wheel-made Pictorial Style (WPPS) was found. It was termed “Horned God Krater” on account of one of the decorative elements. These kraters may indicate that there was a “Hala Sultan Tekke painter”. The oldest phase of occupation so far, “Stratum 3”, which is a reused and looted tomb, produced two cylinder seals and numerous finds which are related to textile production. The findings from test trenches west of the main area suggest a street which separated two city quarters: one to the east (our main area) and one to the west. Test excavations in the western city quarter produced two anthropomorphic figurines and a horse figurine.

Le 2eme colloque international sur les origines de la civilisation egyptienne a reuni a Toulouse environ 150 participants venus de divers pays. Huit thematiques ont ete traitees qui convergent vers la question de l'emergence de la royaute et de l'Etat en Egypte. 1/ Craft and craft specialisation ; 2/ Ohysical anthropology ; 3/ Geoarchaeology and environmental sciences ; 4/ Interactions between Upper and Lower Egypt ; 5/ Interactions between the desert and the Nile valley ; 6/ Foreign relations ; 7/ Birth of writing and kingship ; 8/ Cult, Ideology and social coplexity. Une session de posters etait consacree a la presentation des sites archeologiques en cours de fouille et aux collections de musee.

The Neolithic site KS043, excavated by the Institut français d'archéologie orientale (IFAO), is situated in the southern basin of the Kharga Oasis (Egypt). It is one of the very few stratified prehistoric sites of the eastern Sahara. The archaeological remains were found near artesian springs that provided water for pastoralists during the dry Middle Holocene. In situ settlement features provided well-preserved material (charcoal, ashy sediment, ostrich eggshell) sufficient to perform radiocarbon dating in the IFAO laboratory in Cairo by the conventional liquid scintillation method. In 2 cases, ostrich eggshell and charcoal within the same in situ context gave significantly different results of, respectively, ∼600 and ∼1200 yr younger dates for the ostrich eggshells. The strong discrepancy is here highlighted for the first time and we suggest that it may be linked with postdepositional phenomena in the vicinity of the artesian springs. A thorough review of 14 C dates available for the Holocene in eastern Sahara shows that ostrich eggshells have been widely used. They seem slightly more prone to be discarded than other material but were never the object of a particular study in this context. Bayesian modeling shows that the Neolithic occupation at site KS043 spans a range from 5000 to 3950 cal BC (and concentrated around 4600–4350 cal BC). Characteristic flint tools and pottery relate this occupation to the end of the Neolithic and show links with the Tasian culture, confirming the timing of the presence of this cultural complex in the desert before its appearance in the Nile Valley.

Rotter, Ekkehart, Abendland und Saratenen: das okxidentale Araberbild und seine Entetehung im Frühmittelalter. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1986. (Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur des Islamischen Orients, neue Folge, Band 11) 290+xiipp. 2 genealogical charts; Sketch map; sketch; DM 158. Irwin, Robert. The Middle East in the Middle Ages: The Early Mamlük Sultanate 1250–1382. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986. 180 pp.: US $26.95. Kobbervig, Karl I. El Libro de las Suertes: tratado de adivinación por el Juego de azar. Estudio, edición y glosario. Madrid: Gredos, 1987 (Colección de Literatura Española Aljamiado‐Morisca, 7), 227pp., including a full‐page facsimiles from the MSS. Cutler, Allan Harris and Cutler, Helen Elmquist. The Jaw as Ally of the Muslim: Medieval Roots of Anti‐Semitism. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986, x + 577 pp., Indices; bibliography; US $50.00 Parker, S. Thomas. Romans and Saracens: A History of the Arabian Frontier. (American Schools of Oriental Research 1986. Dissertation Series, 6) Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns,1987. xiii + 247pp.: US $25.00. De Montêquin, François‐Auguste (compilar). Muslim Architecture of the Ibrian Peninsula: Eastern and Wastern Sources for Hispano‐Islamic Building Arts. West Cornwall. Locust Hill Press, 1987, xv + 241 pp.; US $30.00.

In 2015, the Museo Egizio in Turin joined the Leiden expedition to Saqqara, in the area south of the Unas causeway. This report presents the expedition’s new approach as well as some first results of this new cooperation. In the 2018 season, the Leiden-Turin expedition worked in the northern sector of its concession, covering an area of ca. 250 sqm just north of the tomb of Maya. Here Late Antique layers overlie a wind-blown deposit containing some simple burials and numerous “embalmers’ caches”, some of which yielded marl clay cups with hieratic labels. An overview of both the pottery and the human remains found during this season is provided in the present report. Below the wind-blown deposit is a level with Ramesside funerary chapels and shafts. One of them has a remarkable decoration including six small-format figures carved in high relief in the middle of its back wall. The shaft of another chapel was also excavated, revealing several plundered chambers which yielded only scanty finds. A large mud-brick wall exposed during the previous season turned out to belong to the outer wall and pylon entrance of a monumental tomb, whose owner’s name has not been found yet. A photogrammetric survey by a team of the Politecnico di Milano yielded a 3D model of the dig (included in the web version of this report), as well as several 3D models of the monumental tombs (completed or in the making). During the season, conservation work was carried out on several tombs and on the newly discovered Ramesside chapel. ملخص البحث: شارك المتحف المصري بتورينو في عام 2015 مع بعثة لايدن فى سقارة، في المنطقة الواقعة جنوب طريق أوناس الصاعد. يُبرز هذا التقرير الأسلوب الجديد للبعثة وكذلك بعض النتائج الأولية لهذا التعاون الجديد. في موسم 2018، عملت بعثة "لايدن – تورينو" في القطاع الشمالي من الامتياز الممنوح لهم، وهو ما يغطي مساحة حوالى 250 متر مربع شمالي مقبرة مايا. تكسو طبقات العصور القديمة المتأخرة في هذه المنطقة رواسب محمولة بالرياح، وتحتوي على بعض المدافن البسيطة والعديد من "مقتنيات المحنطين"، بعضها اشتمل على أكواب طينية من الطين الكلسي بعلامات مكتوبة بالخط الهيراطيقي. يوفر هذا التقرير لمحة عامة عن كل من الفخار والبقايا البشرية التي عُثر عليها خلال هذا العام. أسفل الرواسب المحمولة بالرياح يوجد مستوى مكون من الأماكن المخصصة للصلاة وتقديم القرابين وأكثر من بئر كلها تعود إلى حقبة الرعامسة. أحدها يحتوي على زخارف رائعة بما في ذلك ستة أشكال صغيرة الحجم منحوتة نحتًا يبرز معالمها في منتصف الجدار الخلفي. بالإضافة إلى اكتشاف عامود معبد آخر والكشف عن حجرات منهوبة عديدة أدت إلى اكتشافات ضئيلة. كما تبين أن جدارًا كبيرًا من الطوب اللبن، كان قد تم اكتشافه خلال الموسم الماضي، ينتمي إلى الجدار الخارجي ومدخل صرح مقبرة ضخمة لم يتم تحديد اسم مالكها بعد. أسفر مسح تصويري قام به فريق من مدرسة الفنون التطبيقية للمهندسين في ميلانو "Politecnico di Milano" عن تقديم نموذج ثلاثي الأبعاد لموقع التنقيب (يوجد في النسخة الالكترونية من التقرير على الموقع الالكتروني)، بالإضافة إلى العديد من النماذج ثلاثية الأبعاد للمقابر الأثرية (التي تم إعدادها أو قيد الإعداد). خلال الموسم، تم القيام بأعمال صيانة وترميم للعديد من المقابر وكذلك مكان الصلاة المكتشف حديثًا العائد إلى حقبة الرعامسة.

&lt;p&gt;The twenty-second Current Research in Egyptology conference was held at the Université Paul Valéry- Montpellier 3 on 26th–30th September 2022. From 250 attendees in person and online, young scholars in Egyptology from different institutions all over the world presented ninety-four papers and twenty-four posters. September 1822 witnessed a milestone event that marked the birth of scientific Egyptology: the young Jean-François Champollion from Figeac outlined the principles of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing in his famous Lettre à M. Dacier. 2022 also marked the centenary of another important milestone in Egyptology: the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. For these reasons, the congress celebrated the history of Egyptology and associated research with dedicated sessions, making them a focal point of the event. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The present volume collects thirty-two papers on various topics from the history of Egyptology to archaeology and material culture, from the Predynastic to the Roman period, through history and epigraphy, as well as new technologies.&lt;/p&gt;