Upper Egypt: vegetation at the beginning of the third millennium BC inferred from charcoal analysis at Adaïma and Elkab

Archaeological charcoals from two Predynastic sites located in Upper Egypt are studied to help reconstruct woody vegetation. “Ash-jars” from the cemeteries at Adaïma and Elkab appear to have been filled with domestic hearth residues as offerings. The results show the predominance of Acacias at Elkab and Tamarix at Adaïma. This difference may be due to the influence of more active wadis on the east bank, near Elkab. Adaïma has a more diverse and slightly more widespread vegetation compared to the present. There is some evidence for the tendency in an increase in aridity and/or human impact between the Nagada II period and the first dynasties (3500-2900 BC).