I primi “stranieri” in Egitto. Apporti culturali e movimenti di gruppi verso la valle del Nilo durante l’Olocene

Holocene climate change in north Africa had undoubtedly connections with events in Egypt that archaeological research is increasingly bringing into focus. In the territories bordering the Mediterranean, in North Africa and the Near East, peaks of aridity that brought about changes in the organization of social groups, forcing them to leave their locations, were highlighted. As a consequence, in the middle and late Holocene movements of groups with two distinct origins were put into action. The first of these is encountered at the end of the early Holocene, about 6200 BC, and probably had an influence on the Egyptian Western Desert, on the one hand, and the occupation of the Fayum oasis on the other. A second peak of aridity is recognized at around 5500 BC and this had direct effects on the Middle Nile region: the example of El Tarif, dated to around this time, shows significant technological convergences with Western Desert assemblages. But at the same time, movements from the Near East were being set into motion which are evidenced by the spread of the first animal and plant domesticates in North Africa. Obviously, one cannot figure out massive displacements of peoples, but rather a gradual penetration of groups that contributed to the process of formation of Neolithic and Predynastic cultures.