Abstract
The Earliest Civilisation of Egypt.—In Antiquity for December, Mr. Guy Brunton gives a brief account of the progress of excavation at Badari since it was initiated in 1922. He sketches in outline the civilisation of the Badarians so far as it can be reconstructed from the evidence, dating it approximately at 5000 B.C., going on to describe the differing and, it is suggested, earlier culture of the Tasians, discovered in the expeditions of the last two years. Certain points differentiate them sharply from the Badarians. The typical form of pottery is a jar having a small flat base, wide mouth, and a rather sharp angle at the bulge. The ware is greyish with black patches, and shows a vague coarse rippling which is vertical. There is sometimes a definite irregular black band around the rim. Associated with these people are beaker pots with broad flaring mouths and incised designs filled with white. Two more or less whole and many fragments come from the village sites, none so far from graves. In five places they have been found with polished celts, either of hard limestone or greyish green igneous rock. The Tasians are definitely connected with the celts by an undisturbed grave at Deir Tasa, in which was typical Tasian pottery. A poor example of the beaker was found in a Badarian grave at Qau in 1923, and may indicate an overlap of the two cultures. The Tasian culture is more primitive than the Badarian, and everything points to its being earlier. A few skulls have been found in good condition. They are rounder than the predynastic or the Badarian, and have broad faces and square jaws quite unlike the Badarian. The graves are wider and deeper than the Badarian, with a niche in the side to take the pot.
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Research Items. Nature 125, 27–29 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/125027a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/125027a0