Data

Thanks to new satellite data, it is possible to examine deserts area-wide for linear structures. Additionally, digital elevation models can be use to evaluate the geomorphological situation. In conjunction with historical sources and ground-truth data, these data allow us, for the first time, to reconstruct the position of the caravan routes with reasonable accuracy, here exemplified for the extremely arid Western Desert of Egypt. On the central Egyyptian Limestone Plateau where stony ground (hamada, serir)...

Perched groundwater resources on the northwestern coast of Egypt have thus far been little studied. However, if replenished by rainwater, they can provide a considerable amount of renewable water, i.e., for sustainable irrigation. These resources are limited, show different salinity contents and are endangered by overuse, pollution and by the sea level rising in the context of global warming. This paper presents new climatic data, geomorphologic, geologic, geochemical and hydrological researches in...

This chapter is situated in the field among archaeology, geomorphology, and ecology. Two case studies from different east-Saharan landscape units classify and analyse archaeological, geoscientific, and remote-sensing data of Early and Mid-Holocene archaeological sites. The section combines the approaches of landscape ecology and landscape archaeology. The aim is a parameterisation of the research areas with respect to structural and ecological features. The data were used within a Geographical...

This Bachelor of Science thesis will show the changes of the coastal area of the Red Sea at the time of the Upper Pleistocene and their effects on the dispersal of anatomically modern humans (AMH). Thus insights about possible routes of migration of AMH out of Africa shall be gained. For this research the palaeoclimate, the sea level changes and the tectonic processes will be decribed. By reconstruction of coastal areas it will be shown that a trespassing of the Bab al-Mandab strait at the mouth of the Red...

Hypotheses on the dispersal patterns of modern humans out of Africa have undergone much change in the past decade, with new ideas on the routes and geographic extent of movements proposed. New data and perspectives from the Nile Valley necessitate reassessment of the role of the Northern Route. Here, fossil evidence and technological strategies followed in the Nile Valley between 200 000 to 300 000 years ago, and its relevance to dispersal patterns are discussed. Most of the sites in the Nile Valley relate...

This geography diploma thesis was written by Harriet Berkhan within the framework of the CRC 806 “Our Way to Europe: Culture-Environment Interaction and Human Mobility in the Late Quaternary” at the University of Cologne. The thesis looks into the working hypothesis, as to whether the current morphology can yield important evidence for the discussion about the “Out of Africa” dispersal of anatomically modern humans (AMH) and the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment. Inasmuch as there are no large-scale...

Wadi Sodmein: Combination of a digital elevation model (WorldView-2, resolution 1m) and a high resolution QuickBird satellite image (0.51m resolution in panachromatic channel). The location of Sodmein Cave is marked by a red dot. A - Precambrian basement, B - Limestone hogback, C - Wadi/basin floor.