This is the only volume to present significant results of research into the Pleistocene of the Western Desert of Egypt. Research on Pleistocene prehistoric remains in Dakhleh Oasis began during survey in the 1978 Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP) season, with discovery of the ubiquity of stone artefacts. Dedicated work by both prehistorians and environmentalists continued until 2011. Comparative DOP reconnaissance and geological work in Kharga Oasis began in 1987, which morphed into the Kharga Oasis Prehistory Project (KOPP) in 2001. Papers on the Pleistocene research are focused on geoarchaeological and palaeo-environmental data, reporting on different aspects of the off-site fieldwork conducted in the oases. Pleistocene finds and sequence are included. Detailed analyses of palaeolakes, the meteoritic Dakhleh Event, chronometric dating, and the 'empty desert hypothesis' employ state of the art research strategies and techniques to provide important information on Pleistocene human uses and habitability in the Western Desert. A summary paper and a Catalogue of Pleistocene localities recorded in the Dakhleh Oasis survey are provided.
The volume will be a major contribution to the publication of the results of several decades of work in a region where fieldwork is now increasingly difficult. This will be the only volume in which the significant results of the research into the Pleistocene of the Western Desert of Egypt appear. This has been undertaken under the auspices of the Dakhleh Oasis Project and its off-shoot The Kharga Oasis Prehistory Project. The preliminary results have been presented at various conferences and in articles that have all been well received. They incorporate state of the art research strategies and dating techniques. The volume will be a major contribution to the publication of the results of several decades of work in a region where fieldwork is now increasingly difficult.
Great Lakes in the Dakhleh Oasis: Mid-Pleistocene Freshwater Lakes in the Dakhleh Oasis Depressions, Western Desert, Egypt (Charles S. Churcher and Maxine R. Kleindienst)
A Pleistocene Catastrophic Event at Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt (Maxine R. Kleindienst, Charles S. Churcher, Henry P. Schwarcz and Albert F. C. Haldemann)
The Khargan Complex vs. the ‘Empty Desert Hypothesis’, A Historical Perspective (Maxine R. Kleindienst)
The Survey for Pleistocene Archaeological Localities, Dakhleh Oasis, 1978–2011: Summary of Finds Relation to Palaeolandscapes (Maxine R. Kleindienst)
Some Observations on Palaeolakes and on Deposits at Kharga Oasis (Maxine R. Kleindienst)
Catalogue of Pleistocene Localities, Dakhleh Oasis Survey (compiled by Maxine R. Kleindienst, 2020) Localities, Dakhleh Oasis Survey (compiled by Maxine R. Kleindienst, 2020)
Maxine Kleindienst received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1959. She was a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto from 1978- 1998. Since 1998 she has been a Professor Emerita. She is also Co-Principal Investigator, Pleistocene Archaeology and Geoarchaeology, Dakhleh Oasis Project since 1986 and was Principal-Investigator, Pleistocene Archaeology and Geoarchaeology, and Director, Kharga Oasis Prehistoric Project, 2000-2004 and Co-Director, and Co-Investigator, Pleistocene Archaeology and Geoarchaeology, Kharga Oasis Prehistory Project, 2004 - 2014. She has published a number of papers on both Dakhleh and Kharga Oasis.
