Late Neolithic tethering or trapping stones from Bargat el-Shab (Western Desert of Egypt). Function and meaning

Abdeen, M., Hamdeen, H.M., and Salih, A.O.M. (2019). Tethering stones from the Eastern Bank of the Third Cataract region, northern Sudan. Sudan & Nubia, 23, 52–57

Applegate, A., Gautier, A., and Duncan, S. (2001). The north tumuli of the Nabta Late Neolithic ceremonial complex. In F. Wendorf and R. Schild, Holocene settlement of the Egyptian Sahara I. The archaeology of Nabta Playa (pp. 468–488). New York: Springer

Bashir, M. (2021). Tethering stones in Kedurma, Nile Third Cataract in the Sudan. Nyame Akuma, 96, 37–43

Bobrowski, P. (2015). Góra Ofiarna w Nabta Playa (Pustynia Zachodnia – Egipt) i galeria rytów w Bir Nurayet Wadi Diib (Góry Morza Czerwonego – Sudan) jako egzemplifikacje „miejsc pamięci” społeczności pasterskich Afryki (The Sacred Mountain in Nabta Playa [Western Egyptian Desert] and gallery of rock carvings in Bir Nurayet, Wadi Diib [Red Sea Mountains – Sudan] as exemplifications of the “sites of memory” of pastoral communities in Africa). In B. Gediga, A. Grossman, and W. Piotrowski (eds), Miejsca pamięci: pradzieje, średniowiecze i współczesność (pp. 165–186). Biskupin–Wrocław: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Biskupinie; Polska Akademia Nauk – Oddział we Wrocławiu, Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN

Bobrowski, P., Jórdeczka, M., and Kobusiewicz, M. (2021). Awaiting the rain: Early and Middle Holocene prehistory of Bargat El-Shab Playa on Western Desert of Egypt. Poznań–Warsaw: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences

Cremaschi, M. and di Lernia, S. (2000). Lasmo N-FC 174 concession area: The Messak Settafet rescue operation (Libyan Sahara). Preliminary report. Unpubl. report.

Cremaschi, M. and Negrino, F. (2002). The frankincense road of Sumhuram: Paleoenvironmental and prehistorical background. In A. Avanzini (ed.), Khor Rori report 1 (=Arabia Antica 1) (pp. 325–363). Pisa: Plus; Università di Pisa

Cremaschi, M., Salvatori, S., Usai, D., and Zerboni, A. (2006). A further ‘tessera’ to the huge ‘mosaic’: Studying the ancient settlement pattern of the El Salha region (south-west of Omdurman, Central Sudan). In K. Kroeper, M. Chłodnicki, and M. Kobusiewicz (eds), Archaeology of early Northeastern Africa: In memory of Lech Krzyżaniak (=Studies in African Archaeology 9) (pp. 39–48). Poznań: Poznań Archaeological Museum

Danka, I.R. and Kowalski, A.P. (2000). Kultura i wyobrażenia społeczeństw neolitycznych. Wybór słownictwa indoeuropejskiego (Culture and imagery of Neolithic societies. A selection of Indo-European vocabulary). In H. van den Boom, A.P. Kowalski, and M. Kwapiński (eds), Eidolon: kultura archaiczna w zwierciadle wyobrażeń, słów i rzeczy (pp. 215–243). Gdańsk: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Gdańsku

di Lernia, S. (2006). Building monuments, creating identity: Cattle cult as a social response to rapid environmental changes in the Holocene Sahara. Quaternary International, 151(1), 50–62

di Lernia, S. (2013). The emergence and spread of herding in Northern Africa: A critical reappraisal. In P. Mitchell and P. Lane (eds), The Oxford handbook of African archaeology (pp. 526–540). Oxford: Oxford University Press

di Lernia, S., Mori, L., and Zerboni, A. (2008). Geo-archaeological survey in the Kufra region (Eastern Sahara, SE Libya). Sahara, 19, 7–26

di Lernia, S., Tafuri, M.A., Gallinaro, M., Alhaique, F., Balasse, M., Cavorsi, L., Fullagar, P.D., Mercuri, A.M., Monaco, A., Perego, A., and Zerboni, A. (2013). Inside the “African Cattle Complex”: Animal burials in the Holocene Central Sahara. PLoS ONE, 8(2), e56879.

Friedman, R. and Hobbs, J.J. (2002). A ‘Tasian’ tomb in Egypt’s Eastern Desert. In R. Friedman (ed.), Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the desert (pp. 178–191). London: British Museum Press

Gabriel, B. (2002). Neolithic camp sites in the Sahara – anticipation of future research. In Jennerstrasse 8 (ed.), Tides of the desert – Gezeiten der Wüste. Contributions to the archaeology and environmental history of Africa in honour of Rudolph Kuper (pp. 51–66). Cologne: Heinrich-Barth-Institut

Gallinaro, M. and di Lernia, S. (2018). Trapping or tethering stones (TS): A multifunctional device in the Pastoral Neolithic of the Sahara. PLoS ONE, 13(1), e0191765.

Garcea, E.A.A. (1997). Prehistoric surveys in the Libyan Sahara. Complutum, 8, 33–38

Gauthier, Y. and Gauthier, C. (2004). Un exemple de relation monuments – art rupestre: « corbeilles » et grands cercles de pierres du Messak (Libye). Les Cahiers de l’AARS, 9, 45–62

Hamdeen, H.M., Abdeen, M., and Salih, A.O.M. (2023). Tethering stones as palaeoeconimal indicator for societies during the Late Prehistoric, New Kingdom and Kerma periods in the Third Cataract region (Northern Sudan). In J. Kabaciński, M. Winiarska-Kabacińska, and M. Chłodnicki (eds), Society and subsistence in the prehistory of Northeastern Africa: Papers in honor of Romuald Schild (=Studies in African Archaeology 17) (pp. 235–249). Poznań: Poznań Archaeological Museum

Huda, A.K.M. (2021). Tethering stones in El Ga’ab Depression: Its spatial and archaeological contexts (Ph.D. diss.). University of Khartoum

Ibrahim, H.A.A. (2018). Neolithic aspects of the Western Desert and its possible role during the following time periods in Egypt. In J. Kabaciński, M. Chłodnicki, M. Kobusiewicz, and M. Winiarska-Kabacińska (eds), Desert and the Nile: Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara. Papers in honour of Fred Wendorf (=Studies in African Archaeology 15) (pp. 539–550). Poznań: Poznań Archaeological Museum

Kuper, R. (2006). After 5000 BC: The Libyan Desert in transition. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 5(1–2), 409–419

Lohwasser, A. (2013). Tracks in the Bayuda desert. The project “Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary” (W.A.D.I.). In F. Förster and H. Riemer (eds), Desert road archaeology in ancient Egypt and beyond (=Africa praehistorica 27) (pp. 425–435). Cologne: Heinrich-Barth-Institut

Masojć, M. (2021). Bargat El-Shab (Western Desert, Egypt) during Middle and Late Pleistocene. In P. Bobrowski, M. Jórdeczka, and M. Kobusiewicz, Awaiting the rain: Early and Middle Holocene prehistory of Bargat El-Shab Playa on Western Desert of Egypt (pp. 285–298). Poznań–Warsaw: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences

Mohamed, A.A.B. (2001). Site E-94-2: A Late Neolithic occupation at Nabta. In F. Wendorf and R. Schild, Holocene settlement of the Egyptian Sahara I. The archaeology of Nabta Playa (pp. 412–426). New York: Springer

Osypińska, M. (2018). Krowie królestwa: zwierzęta w historii doliny Środkowego Nilu. Studium archeozoologiczne (Cattle kingdoms: The animals in the history of Middle Nile Valley. Archaeozoological study). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Instytutu Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Osypiński, P. and Osypińska, M. (2016). The Wadi Khashab ceremonial complex – A manifestation of cattle keepers in the Eastern Desert of Egypt before the end of the fifth millennium BC. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 51(2), 257–281

Pachur, H.-J. (1991). Tethering stones as palaeoenvironmental indicators. Sahara, 4, 13–32

Paris, F. (2000). African livestock remains from Saharan mortuary contexts. In R.M. Blench and K.C. MacDonald (eds), The origins and development of African livestock: Archaeology, genetics, linguistics, and ethnography (pp. 111–126). London: UCL Press

Reimer, P., Austin, W., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Blackwell, P., Bronk Ramsey, C., Butzin, M., Cheng, H., Edwards, R., Friedrich, M., Grootes, P., Guilderson, T., Hajdas, I., Heaton, T., Hogg, A., Hughen, K., Kromer, B., Manning, S., Muscheler, R., Palmer, J., Pearson, C., van der Plicht, J., Reimer, R., Richards, D., Scott, E., Southon, J., Turney, C., Wacker, L., Adolphi, F., Büntgen, U., Capano, M., Fahrni, S., Fogtmann-Schulz, A., Friedrich, R., Köhler, P., Kudsk, S., Miyake, F., Olsen, J., Reinig, F., Sakamoto, M., Sookdeo, A., and Talamo, S. (2020). The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon, 62(4): 725–754.

Riemer, H. (2009). Prehistoric trap hunting in the eastern Saharan deserts: A re-evaluation of the game trap structures. In H. Riemer, F. Förster, M. Herb, and N. Pöllath (eds), Desert animals in the eastern Sahara: Status, economic significance, and cultural reflection in antiquity (pp. 175–188). Cologne: Heinrich-Barth-Institut

Riemer, H., Lange, M., and Kindermann, K. (2013). When the desert dried up: Late prehistoric cultures and contacts in Egypt and northern Sudan. In D. Raue, S. Seidlmayer, and P. Speiser (eds), The First Cataract of the Nile: One region, diverse perspectives (=Sonderschriften des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Kairo 36) (pp. 157–183). Berlin–Boston: De Gruyter

Roset, J.-P. (1987). Paleoclimatic and cultural conditions of Neolithic development in the Early Holocene of Northern Niger (Aïr and Ténéré). In A.E. Close (ed.), Prehistory of arid North Africa: Essays in honor of Fred Wendorf (pp. 211–234). Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press

Schild, R. (2015). Schyłkowo neolityczne megalityczne pola pamięci w Nabta Playa, południowa Pustynia Zachodnia w Egipcie (The megalithic, final Neolithic fields of remembrance in Nabta Playa, south Western Desert of Egypt). In B. Gediga, A. Grossman, and W. Piotrowski (eds), Miejsca pamięci: pradzieje, średniowiecze i współczesność (pp. 149–164). Biskupin–Wrocław: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Biskupinie, Polska Akademia Nauk – Oddział we Wrocławiu Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN

Schild, R. (2019). The Combined Prehistoric Expedition on the Nile, Atbara and in the Western Desert. In M. Chłodnicki and P.L. Polkowski (eds), When the Sahara was green: Polish archaeological research on the prehistory of North Africa. Exhibition in the Poznań Archaeological Museum (pp. 35–47). Poznań: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Poznaniu

Schild, R. and Wendorf, F. (2001). Combined Prehistoric Expedition’s radiocarbon dates associated with Neolithic occupations in the southern Western Desert of Egypt. In F. Wendorf and R. Schild, Holocene settlement of the Egyptian Sahara I. The archaeology of Nabta Playa (pp. 51–56). New York: Springer

Schild, R. and Wendorf, F. (2004). The megaliths of Nabta Playa. Academia. The Magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 1(1), 10–15

Schild, R. and Wendorf, F. (2010). Late Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers in the Nile Valley of Nubia and Upper Egypt. In E.A.A. Garcea (ed.), South-eastern Mediterranean peoples between 130,000 and 10,000 years ago (pp. 89–125). Oxford: Oxbow Books

Schild, R. and Wendorf, F. (2012). The New Age reuse of Nabta Playa’s Neolithic sanctuary. In J. Kabaciński, M. Chłodnicki, and M. Kobusiewicz (eds), Prehistory of northeastern Africa: New ideas and discoveries (=Studies in African Archaeology 11) (pp. 421–439). Poznań: Poznań Archaeological Museum

Schild, R. and Wendorf, F. (2013). Early and Middle Holocene paleoclimates in the South Western Desert of Egypt – The world before unification. Studia Quaternaria, 30(2), 125–133

Srienc, M.T., Bobrowski, P., and Jórdeczka, M. (2020). Human remains from Bargat El-Shab, Egypt, 2018. Bioarchaeology of the Near East, 14, 1–13. http://www.anthropology.uw.edu.pl/14/bne-14-07x.pdf (accessed: 27.05.2024)

Wendorf, F. (1968). Late Palaeolithic sites in Egyptian Nubia. In F. Wendorf (ed.), The prehistory of Nubia II (pp. 791–953). Dallas, TX: Fort Burgwin Research Center

Wendorf, F., Karlén, W., and Schild, R. (2007). Middle Holocene environments of North and East Africa, with special emphasis on the African Sahara. In D.G. Anderson, K.A. Maasch, and D.H. Sandweiss (eds), Climate change and cultural dynamics: A global perspective on mid-Holocene transitions (pp. 189–227). Amsterdam: Elsevier

Wendorf, F. and Schild, R. (2001a). Conclusions. In F. Wendorf and R. Schild, Holocene settlement of the Egyptian Sahara I. The archaeology of Nabta Playa (pp. 648–676). New York: Springer

Wendorf, F. and Schild, R. (2001b). Sites E-77-1 and E-94-3: Two Neolithic sites near Gebel Nabta. In F. Wendorf and R. Schild, Holocene settlement of the Egyptian Sahara I. The archaeology of Nabta Playa (pp. 427–462). New York: Springer