Desert Pavement Disturbance and Artifact Taphonomy: A CaseStudy from the Eastern Libyan Plateau, Egypt
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Adelsberger, Katherine; Smith, Jennifer; Mcpherron, Shannon; Dibble, Harold; Olszewski, Deborah; Schurmans, Utsav; Chiotti, Laurent
- Source
- Geoarchaeology: An International Journal
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, Wiley, 2013, 28 (2), pp.112-130. ⟨10.1002/gea.21431⟩
- Subject
- [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0883-6353
1520-6548
International audience; Accretionary desert pavements on the eastern Libyan Plateau of central Egyptsupport a rich Middle and Upper Paleolithic artifact assemblage exhibiting in-tensive blank production and minimal tool production. These assemblages ap-pear to be in primary context with numerous examples of lithic refits showingon-site lithic production. However, the smallest (length≤2.5 cm) archaeolog-ical fragments are recovered at a much lower rate on this desert pavementsurface than expected given comparable data from lithic assemblages in caveand shelter contexts in France. Excavation of archaeological contexts on theLibyan Plateau reveals the loss of small artifact fragments into the subsur-face due to aeolian accumulation of silts, whereas geomorphic examination ofdesert pavement surfaces suggests a potential for relatively isolated bioturba-tion as a source of lateral and vertical disturbance of desert pavement surfacesover small areas. Archaeologists should be aware of the potential for long-termassemblage stability as well as small artifact burial in surficial desert pavementcontexts.C©2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.