Nabta Playa is an archaeological site in the western deserts of southern Egypt, where some of the earliest known evidence of domesticated cattle have been identified. The site has three periods of occupation dated to the Early Neolithic (9,800-7,500 BP), Middle Neolithic (7,100-6,700 BP), and Late Neolithic (6,500-4,800 BP). The earliest period (9800-8900 BP) contained gazelle and cattle bones, artifact scatters of stone tools and wasteflakes, and hearths.
The first house at Nabta Playa was built about 8500 BP, and the pattern throughout the Neolithic shows a steady increase in the amount of time invested in gathering, pastoralism, and eventually agriculture. Sheep and goats were found at Nabta Playa in the Middle Neolithic period; and the Late Neolithic period evidences agriculture, tombs, and megalithic structures.
Nabta Playa was excavated in the 1990s by Fred Wendorf and Romuald Schild.
Sources
Johnson, Amber L. 2002 Cross-Cultural Analysis of Pastoral Adaptations and Organizational States: A Preliminary Study. Cross-Cultural Research 36(2):151-180.
Wendorf, Fred, Romuald Schild, et al. 2001. Holocene settlement of the Egyptian Sahara. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Wendorf, Fred and Romuald Schild 1998 Nabta Playa and Its Role in Northeastern African Prehistory. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 17:97–123.
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the Domestication of Animals, and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
