Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites
From 2000 though 2007 we surveyed a portion of the High Desert adjacent to the historic period site of Abydos. Previously both informal and formal survey work in this area had shown it to be rich in archaeological resources of historic and prehistoric periods. Furthermore, a Belgian survey in the 1970s firmly established the presence of Paleolithic occurrences in the immediate vicinity of historic Abydos. After a short reconnaissance survey in January of 2000, we conducted three field seasons intensively surveying areas immediately adjacent to the escarpment to approximately 20km into the High Desert. This work resulted in the discovery of a rich record of Paleolithic use of this area. Levallois industries, including Nubian variants, are very well represented and became the focus of our work. The project is now ended, and we have no immediately plans to return to the area. We have published a number of papers on the archaeology of the area and on the methods we used to document it, and we are currently working on a monograph. Please contact us if you would like more information about the collections.