Il paesaggio antico di Sheikh El Obeiyid (Farafra). La playa e il villaggio tra tecnologia e aspetti simbolici

As a consequence of the double rain regime which characterised the areas of the Egyptian Western Desert during the Mid Holocene, the Farafra Oasis underwent a number of occupations which, iterated at short intervals, caused the formation of semi-sedentary settlements near ephemeral lake basins. The economy of these sites was based on the exploitation of wild plants; the raising of small mammals (such as sheep and goat) and the hunting of wild animals. In the framework of the research carried out in the Sheikh El Obeiyid territory, a wide occupation area dating back to the Middle Holocene has been found. It is a real settlement system which develops at different heights along the slope of the Northern Plateau from the bottom of the wadi up to the top of the plateau itself. A wide slab structure village characterised by thirty limestone features which have provided important insight on building techniques has been discovered in the area. The large sites characterised by limestone slab structures found in the Farafra Oasis, together with the similar sandstone samples found in Dakhla, Kharga and in more peripheral areas, not only show that several human groups settled in the Western Desert for quite a large span of the Middle Holocene, but that they were also developing a certain social complexity.