SEA-LEVEL AND INITIATION OF PREDYNASTIC CULTURE IN THE NILE DELTA

PREDYNASTIC occupation of the Nile valley and delta, dating back to at least 5000 BC, has been attributed by most archaeologists to environm ental factors, primarily regional climate change and fluctuating Nile flood stages1-5. Here we propose instead that initiation of farming se ttlements in the Nile delta was closely related to eustatic sea level. We present geological analyses of late Quaternary subsurface sections throughout the delta which reveal that the deceleration in sea-level rise that occurred at about 6500-5500 BC was a prime factor in the acc umulation of Nile silt, and the creation of the widespread and fertile delta plain. As rising sea level reduced the gradient of the river co urse, a system of meandering Nile distributaries evolved, with increas ed overbank deposition burying the former (early Holocene), partially vegetated sandy plain. The broadening, seasonally flooded, fecund plai n, with its increasing plant cover, provided a setting that was conduc ive to evolving agricultural activity and was therefore instrumental i n the development of Predynastic communities in the Nile delta.