Integrative geoarchaeological research on settlement patterns in the dynamic landscape of the northwestern Nile delta

Ginau, Andreas; Schiestl, Robert H.; Wunderlich, Jürgen

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2018.04.047

Cited by 23 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The relief of the delta was slightly hilly at this time, with topographic highs in many places, especially on the edges of the delta, extending several meters above the flood plain. The coastline was further inland than today, especially in the east (Goiran et al, 2005;Pennigton et al, 2017). Between 6000 and 5500 cal BP, relative sea level rise decreased and conditions became increasingly arid.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The processed Landsat features of both seasons are compared to the known location of the abandoned Nile branch proposed and described by Ginau et al (2019). The branch is located several kilometers north of Buto and appears visibly in the TanDEM-X DEM as its levee is slightly higher than the floodplain (approx.…”

Section: Proof Of Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These sources named and described the estuaries of the Nile and the landscape/riverscape of the delta in more or less detail; however, they generally do not allow clear localization in today's topographic context. Most records indicate seven main branches of the Nile, which were either named after the cities at their mouths or after an important city located on the respective arm (Bietak, 1975;Ginau et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Geophysical and geoarcheological investigations have been carried out in different regions of the delta at various scales. Most of these surveys relied principally on the sedimentological analysis of core drillings (e.g., Andres and Wunderlich, 1991;Wunderlich 1988Wunderlich , 1989Stanley and Warne, 1993a, b;Stanley et al, 1996;Flaux et al, 2012;Marriner et al, 2012;Ginau et al, 2019) and/or geophysical measurements (El-Gamili et al, 1994;El Gamili et al, 2001;El-Mahmoudi and Gabr, 2009;Pennington and Thomas, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the end of the 1980s, satellite images (e.g., Landsat, SPOT, Corona, RapidEye) have been increasingly used to detect old river courses in the Nile Delta (e.g., Wunderlich, 1989;Marcolongo, 1992;Moshier and El-Kalani, 2008;Wilson and Grigoropoulos, 2009;Trampier et al, 2013;Ginau et al, 2017). Along with this, digital elevation models (DEMs) from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM; Stanley and Jorstad, 2006), as well as high-resolution data acquired by the TanDEM-X mission, have been used (Ginau et al, 2019). Lately, Elfadaly et al (2020) showed the use of various remote sensing sources (including Landsat) to identify potential former settlement areas in the northern delta.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mapping buried paleogeographical features of the Nile Delta (Egypt) using the Landsat archive

Ullmann¹,

Nill

Schiestl³

et al. 2020

E&G Quaternary Sci. J.

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Abstract. The contribution highlights the use of Landsat spectral-temporal metrics (STMs) for the detection of surface anomalies that are potentially related to buried near-surface paleogeomorphological deposits in the Nile Delta (Egypt), in particular for a buried river branch close to Buto. The processing was completed in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) for the entire Nile Delta and for selected seasons of the year (summer/winter) using Landsat data from 1985 to 2019. We derived the STMs of the tasseled cap transformation (TC), the Normalized Difference Wetness Index (NDWI), and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). These features were compared to historical topographic maps of the Survey of Egypt, CORONA imagery, the digital elevation model of the TanDEM-X mission, and modern high-resolution satellite imagery. The results suggest that the extent of channels is best revealed when differencing the median NDWI between summer (July/August) and winter (January/February) seasons (ΔNDWI). The observed difference is likely due to lower soil/plant moisture during summer, which is potentially caused by coarser-grained deposits and the morphology of the former levee. Similar anomalies were found in the immediate surroundings of several Pleistocene sand hills (“geziras”) and settlement mounds (“tells”) of the eastern delta, which allowed some mapping of the potential near-surface continuation. Such anomalies were not observed for the surroundings of tells of the western Nile Delta. Additional linear and meandering ΔNDWI anomalies were found in the eastern Nile Delta in the immediate surroundings of the ancient site of Bubastis (Tell Basta), as well as several kilometers north of Zagazig. These anomalies might indicate former courses of Nile river branches. However, the ΔNDWI does not provide an unambiguous delineation.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Proof Of Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Mapping buried paleogeographical features of the Nile Delta (Egypt) using the Landsat archive

Ullmann¹,

Nill

Schiestl³

et al. 2020

E&G Quaternary Sci. J.

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Revealing the paleolandscape features around the archaeological sites in the northern Nile Delta of Egypt using radar satellite imagery and GEE platform

Elfadaly

Shams

Elbehery

et al. 2022

Archaeological Prospection

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Egyptian civilization has long flourished along the banks of the Nile, in the south (e.g. Luxor and Aswan), the Middle (e.g. Giza ‘Great Pyramids’) and North (e.g. San El‐Hagar and Buto), as well as the less populated areas of the Sinai Peninsula, the Western Desert and the Red Sea coast. There are archaeological sites date back to the Palaeolithic period and cover the Pre‐dynastic, Pharaonic, Hellenistic‐Roman, Coptic and Muslim periods. Across the Nile Delta, many of these archaeological sites have disappeared beneath Nile alluvium from the annual inundation or through intensive agricultural use, climate changes and other anthropogenic activities. This study aims to detect the long‐term changes in the landscape of the archaeological area of Burullus on the Mediterranean shoreline in the North Delta of Egypt. By combining data from historic topographic maps with Radar Sentinel‐1 (High‐resolution Level‐1 GRD) and SRTM data, topographic signatures in satellite imagery can be compared with the historic record of archaeological sites, many of which are now lost. Image layering, enhancement and analysis using ENVI 5.1, ArcMap 10.4.1 and Snap 8.0 software as well as Google Earth Pro facilitated the imagery identification and acquisition. The results of this study provide a means of quantifying the significant loss of cultural heritage sites due to anthropogenic and natural changes in the landscape. This analysis has also identified two—previously unknown—potential archaeological sites. Finally, the reconstruction of the paleolandscape of the study area shows the changing relationships of ancient and historic settlements with natural and man‐made waterways over time. Integrating remote sensing data and historic maps offers a method for evaluating paleolandscapes and locating disappeared archaeological sites that can be applied in other areas of Egypt and the world.

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The hydro‐geomorphological setting of the Old Kingdom town of al‐Ashmūnayn in the Egyptian Nile Valley

et al. 2021

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The ancient Egyptian city of al‐Ashmūnayn (Minyā Governorate, Egypt) has been an important regional centre since at least the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2160 BC). It is assumed to have been founded on the banks of the Nile, although no scientific evidence was hitherto available to support this claim. In this multidisciplinary study, the results of a geoarchaeological survey were combined with the study of pottery fragments. Boreholes placed at al‐Ashmūnayn produced thick layers of late Old Kingdom pottery in association with the local occurrence of river channel deposits, allowing us to conclude that it is very likely that al‐Ashmūnayn originated on the banks of the Nile River. The regional borehole survey demonstrates that major geomorphological reconfigurations of the fluvial landscape occurred throughout the late Holocene, notably by the process of river avulsion. An interconnectedness of changes in the natural Nile Valley landscape and cultural dynamics of the ancient Egyptian riverine society seems possible, based on the coincidence of river reconfigurations with shifts in the preferential locations for high‐status burials in the region.

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Integrative geoarchaeological research on settlement patterns in the dynamic landscape of the northwestern Nile delta

Cited by 23 publications

References 37 publications

Mapping buried paleogeographical features of the Nile Delta (Egypt) using the Landsat archive

Mapping buried paleogeographical features of the Nile Delta (Egypt) using the Landsat archive

Revealing the paleolandscape features around the archaeological sites in the northern Nile Delta of Egypt using radar satellite imagery and GEE platform

The hydro‐geomorphological setting of the Old Kingdom town of al‐Ashmūnayn in the Egyptian Nile Valley

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