Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

_WEST SAQQARA_

EGYPT

deposits, insignificantly transformed in the
Holocene aeolian environment.
Shaft 1 was sunk in the rock terrace
covered with a layer of gravel and a high
mound of calcareous rubble from the exca-
vation was piled up nearby. This resulted
in the formation of a new slope which was
inclined 13° westward (Fig. 6).4> The next
step in the evolution of the examined slope
was the cutting of a vertical rock wall
(Fig. 3) which served as the entrance facade
to the tomb of the vizier Meref-nebef.5) This
rock face has been strongly modified by nat-
ural processes, chiefly by water flowing
downhill, which led to the accumulation of a
detrital fan with laminae inclined to suggest
water flow toward the SW and NW (Fig. 8').
The detrital fan consists almost exclu-
sively of calcareous rubble with some
pieces of mudbrick. The lithologic compo-
sition of the detrital fan and the size of the
stone material prove that it was formed

only after the mound of rubble excavated
from Shaft 1 had come into existence. The
mound was the source of material for the
detrital fan, as well as a factor in its appear-
ance, generating as it did greater energy of
the flowing waters due to a steeper slope
inclination. The laminae inclination
toward the NW (visible in Section N)
seems to indicate a further spreading of the
layer toward the north.
Further stages in the evolution of the
slope have already been discussed.
Generally, it may be said that prior to the
formation of a weathering-soil horizon
(initial fossil soil about 4000 years BP -
2050 BC) alluvial rainwater processes pre-
vailed on the slope, their dynamics dimin-
ishing over time. After a weathering-soil
horizon was formed, the share of aeolian
processes, both deflation and accumula-
tion, grew distinctly as indicated by the
character of the deposits.

CONCLUSIONS

A structural and textural analysis of miner-
al deposits at West Saqqara permitted
a reconstruction of both the natural and
anthropogenic processes occurring during
the last 4700 years and, indirectly, the pre-
vailing climatic conditions in this time.
During the first 400 years (4700-4300
years BP = 2750-2350 BC), as indicated by
the pottery finds, the slope was subject to
dynamic water flow, carrying and accumu-
lating coarse gravel mixed with consider-
able quantities of organic remains. The
presence of these remains indicates that the
climate at this time was more humid than
today.

Rainwater deposits also prevail in the
overlying deposit series, accumulated dur-
ing the period 4300-4000 years BP (-
2350-2050 BC) and partly intercalated
with mounds being the effect of human
activity. These water flows were, however,
much less dynamic and organic remains
here are encountered only sporadically.
A period of relative slope stability is evi-
denced by a weathering-soil horizon formed
around 4000 years BP (= 2050 BC). An
analysis of the heavy and clay minerals
seems to indicate that this horizon reflects
the conditions of a seasonally variable cli-
mate, with alternating wet and dry periods.

41 See n. 2 above.
5) Area I/E-F. See report by Z. Szafrahski in this volume.
See n. 2 above.

Ill