Sahara Stones among oldest astronomical monuments

Late Neolithic Research in the Egyptian Sahara

Investigations in the Late Neolithic in the Eastern Sahara desert (ca. 6500-5500 B.P.) were initiated in 1994. Late Neolithic sites are ubiquitous in the Eastern Sahara. Dense scatters of deflated hearths and lithic artifacts exist within every major playa basin, and commonly occur on the sandsheets and plateaus.

A large, internally-drained deflational basin known as Nabta Playa, located about 100 km west of Abu Simbel, was selected for further investigation. The Nabta Basin is exceptionally rich in prehistoric remains of early Holocene age, and several relatively intact Late Neolithic sites occur imbedded in the most recent suite of playa sediments. A large megalithic alignment, a "calender circle," and two small stone-covered tumuli were also noted near the largest Neolithic site in the area. Four of these imbedded living sites, the two small tumuli, and part of the stone circle were excavated in January and February, 1994.

These ancient Stonehenge-style stones spotted in Egypt's Sahara Desert are the oldest megaliths yet discovered and probably served as both calendar and temple.

The site, known as Nabta, is between 6,000 and 6,500 years old, they reported in the science journal Nature. This would make it 1,000 years older than Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England and similar sites.

The Egyptian complex, which isn't circular like Stonehenge, is spread over an area of 1.8 miles by about three-quarters of a mile. It includes 10 large slabs about nine feet high, 30 rock-lined ovals, nine burial sites for cows (each under a pile of 40 to 50 rocks weighing up to 200 or 300 pounds each) and a "calendar circle'' of stones.

The stone slabs, some of which are 9 feet high, were dragged to the site from a mile or more away. Several are lined up in an east-west direction.

There are also giant stones standing alone. During summer and fall, they would have been partially submerged in the lake and may have been ritual markers for the onset of the rainy season.

The Nabta site includes a stone circle, several flat, tomb-like stone structures and five lines of standing and toppled megaliths. One of the rocks looks like a cow, and archeologists have dug up remains of cattle at the site.

The Stone Age herders who visited the site used cattle in their rituals just as the African Masai do now. Archeologists have also found other artifacts such as carved ostrich eggs.

It sits on the shoreline of a lake that probably began filling with water about 11,000 years ago. The area was used by nomads until about 4,800 years ago, when annual monsoon rains moved southwest and the area again became too dry to live in.

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