Predynastic Egypt

The Predynastic cultures of Upper Egypt, which pre-dated the unification of the country under one king and the beginning of dynastic history in approximately 3000 BC, were first discovered independently by Flinders Petrie and de Morgan in the 1890s. At first Petrie thought they were over a thousand years later, but on accepting the Frenchman's correct, prehistoric dating he went on to analyse and serialise the distinctive objects from the graves he uncovered, thereby laying the foundations for the study of Predynastic Egypt. This study has developed and diversified; it provides insights into the long civilisation that followed and draws upon the resources of a myriad of specialists; social and physical anthropologists, geologists, zoologists, botanists, chemists, architects, conservators and Egyptologists. As fieldwork in Egypt continues and the subject expands the literature has become specialised and scattered; there is little to satisfy the increasing general interest into the inception of Egyptian culture. This book gives a factual introduction to the sources and types of the material remains of Predynastic Egypt and the way they are used to provide information on the development of society in the absence of a written language.