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Dating Egypt's oldest ‘art’: AMS 14C age determinations of rock varnishes covering petroglyphs at El-Hosh (Upper Egypt)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

D. Huyge ,
A. Watchman ,
M. De Dapper  and
E. Marchi
D. Huyge
Affiliation:
Royal Museums of Art and History, Jubelpark 10, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.
A. Watchman
Affiliation:
School of Anthropology, Archaeology and Sociology, James Cook University, Townsville Queensland 4811, Australia.
M. De Dapper
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Ghent, Krijgslaan 281-S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
E. Marchi
Affiliation:
Archaeological Cooperative ‘Footsteps of Man’, Piazzale Donatori di Sangue 1, I-25040 Cerveno (Bs), Italy.
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Extract

Direct dating, using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C method, indicates that some petroglyphs (rock art) at El-Hosh in Upper Egypt pre-date the early 7th millennium BP (mid 6th millennium cal BC), making it the oldest graphic activity recorded in the Nile Valley.

Keywords

Egyptrock artpetroglyphsrock varnishdirect dating
Type
News & Notes
Information
Antiquity , Volume 75 , Issue 287 , March 2001 , pp. 68 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2001

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