10th
Khatatbah - brief update!
From Saturday 3rd September 2011
We returned to Khatatbah on Saturday 3rd - the follow-up to our 2009 season! Khatatbah lies on the western edge of the Delta and is west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile as well as two relatively recent canals. The week saw much walking as we tried to cover as much ground as possible in order to assess the spread of artefactual remains on both the higher ground close to Khatatbah, but also on the lowest ground. Most of the areas had been visited in 2009 - but we did locate a number of other areas too.
Patterns of cultivation have changed, and there has been much change since our survey in 2009 - different areas are planted and some areas have had much sand removed from the surface - with a notable difference since the previous visit.
Our team was quite international - with colleagues from the UK, New Zealand, Egypt and Germany - and the team worked very well together to cover as much ground as possible and make further plans for future work in the area.
In the coming couple of days, we will report on the results and post images of the ground covered last week and of the team in action - investigating various landscapes and analysing the lithic remains!
It was a very busy week with Khatatbah being a distance from our base in Shibin, so with much time spent on the road - but good use was made of the time and plans are already afoot for the 2012 season in Khatatbah.
The Khatatbah reports will be posted from tomorrow - as will more news of our work up at Quesna! The temperature is starting to cool, but work is heating up!
Members of the survey team in action at Khatatbah
