Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Short contribution

Nile flow failure at the end of the Old Kingdom, Egypt: Strontium isotopic and petrologic evidence

Bibliographic Data

ID12133122
AuthorsJean‐Daniel Stanley (Smithsonian Institution, corresponding author), Michael D Krom (0000-0003-3386-9215, University of Leeds), Robert A Cliff, Jamie Woodward (0000-0002-6709-0050, University of Leeds), Jamie C Woodward
Year2003
Volume18
Issue3
Pages395-402
Publication date2003-02-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeoarchaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0883-6353 • E-ISSN: 1520-6548
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/gea.10065
OpenAlexW2051320642
LanguageEN
Citations received67
References cited25

Strontium isotopic and petrologic information, obtained from sediment cores collected in the Nile delta of Egypt, indicate that paleoclimatic and Nile baseflow conditions changed considerably from about 4200 to 4000 cal yr B.P. in the Nile basin. Our study records a higher proportion of White Nile sediment transported during the annual floods at ca. 6100 cal yr B.P. than towards 4200 cal yr B.P., at which time suspended sediment from the Blue Nile formed a significantly larger fraction of the total load. This resulted from a decrease in vegetative cover and an increase in erosion rate accompanying the marked decline in rainfall. These new geoscience data indicate major changes in annual flooding and baseflow of the river Nile, marked short‐term paleoclimatic‐related events that may in part have led to the collapse of the Old Kingdom. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Deposition (geology · Erosion · Flooding (psychology · Geochemistry · Geomorphology · Hydrology (agriculture · Nile delta · Sediment · Sedimentation · Structural basin · Water resource management · Environmental Science · Geological formations and processes · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Marine and environmental studies · Geology

  • Environmental factors in the preservation of human remains and funerary textiles in the late Old Kingdom burials at Saqqara West, Egypt

    Open Access•Iwona Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin, Magdalena M Wozniak•Frontiers in Environmental…•2026

  • The archaeology of climatic and sociocultural change

    Open Access•A J White, Aidan White et al.•Journal of Anthropological…•2026

  • The Interaction of Climate Change and Agency in the Collapse of Civilizations ca. 2300–2000 BC

    Malcolm H Wiener, Malcolm Wiener•Tree-Ring Research•2014

  • Ancient Egyptian mummified shrews (Mammalia

    Open Access•Neal Woodman, Ikram et al.•Quaternary Research•2021

  • Mid- to late Holocene cooling events in the Korean Peninsula and their possible impact on ancient societies

    Open Access•Mark Constantine, Minkoo Kim et al.•Quaternary Research•2019

  • High-resolution insight into the Holocene environmental history of the Burullus Lagoon in northern Nile delta, Egypt

    Open Access•Leszek Marks, Fabian Welc et al.•Quaternary Research•2022

  • The Nile Basin

    Open Access•Martin A J Williams, Martin Williams•Nile Basin•2018

  • Recent environmental change and prehistoric human activity in Egypt and Northern Sudan

    Open Access•Kathleen Nicoll•Quaternary Science Reviews•2004

  • Formal subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch

    Open Access•Mike Walker, M J C Walker et al.•Journal of Quaternary Science•2012

  • Social Resilience to Climate-Related Disasters in Ancient Societies

    Open Access•Peter N Peregrine•Weather, Climate, and Society•2018

  • The Kura-Araxes ‘expansion’

    Yervand Grekyan•ARAMAZD Armenian Journal of Near…•2022

  • Mosaic tesserae from Italy and the production of Mediterranean coloured glass (4th century BCE–4th century CE). Part II

    Open Access•Cristina Boschetti, J Henderson et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science…•2017

  • Who were the pharaohs' quarrymen

    Open Access•Elizabeth Bloxam•Archaeology International•2012

  • Strontium isotopes as an indicator of human migration – easy questions, difficult answers

    Open Access•K Szostek, Katarzyna Mądrzyk et al.•Anthropological Review•2015

  • Adaptation to Short-Term Cataclysmic Events

    Open Access•Mehrnoush Soroush, L Mordechai•Human Ecology•2018

  • Geo-environmental changes and historical events in the area of the Greek archaeological site of Selinunte (Western Sicily, Italy)

    Open Access•Margherita Bufalini, Domenico Aringoli et al.•Caminhos da História•2022

  • Mediterranean and north-African cultural adaptations to mid-Holocene environmental and climatic changes

    Open Access•Anna Maria Mercuri, Laura Sadori et al.•The Holocene•2011

  • Sr/86Sr isotope ratios in trees as an archaeological tracer

    Open Access•Yulia V Erban Kochergina, Martin Novák et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science•2021

  • High-precision dendro-14C dating of two cedar wood sequences from First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom Egypt and a small regional climate-related 14C divergence

    Open Access•W Manning, Michael W Dee et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science•2014

  • Pliny the Elder and Sr–Nd isotopes

    Open Access•P Degryse, Jens Schneider•Journal of Archaeological Science•2008

  • Reconstructing the holocene depositional environments in the western part of Ancient Karnak temples complex (Egypt)

    Open Access•Matthieu Ghilardi, Mansour Boraik•Journal of Archaeological Science•2011

  • A large-scale Sr and Nd isotope baseline for archaeological provenance in Silk Road regions and its application to plant-ash glass

    Open Access•Qin-Qin Lü, Yi‐Xiang Chen et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science•2022

  • The 4.2 ka BP event in the Levant

    David Kaniewski, Nick Marriner et al.•2018

  • Périodisation et chronologie des images rupestres du Sahara central

    Open Access•Jean-Loïc Le Quellec•Préhistoires méditerranéennes/Préhi…•2013

  • The Role of Environmental Changes in the Development of the Agricultural Economy During Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite Cultures

    Open Access•Degsew Z Mekonnen, Hugo R Olivera et al.•African Archaeological Review•2025

  • Theoretical and paleoclimatic evidence for abrupt transitions in the Earth system

    Open Access•Niklas Boers, Michaël Ghil et al.•Environmental Research Letters•2022

  • Microfacies description linked to the magnetic and non-magnetic proxy as a promising environmental tool

    Open Access•L Lisá, P Lisy et al.•Quaternary International•2012

  • Characterizing the Meghalayan Stage in southern Africa

    Open Access•Magdalena K Sobol, Michael Chazan et al.•Quaternary International•2022

  • The 4.2 ka BP climatic event and its cultural responses

    Open Access•Min Ran, Liang Chen•Quaternary International•2019

  • Aridification of the Egyptian Sahara 5000–4000 cal BP revealed from x-ray fluorescence analysis of Nile Delta sediments at Kom al-Ahmer/Kom Wasit

    Open Access•Benjamin T Pennington, Mohamed A Hamdan et al.•Quaternary International•2019

  • Mid-Holocene occupation of Egypt and global climatic change

    Open Access•Rebecca Phillipps, Simon Holdaway et al.•Quaternary International•2012

  • Holocene climate and civilization

    Open Access•Bahadur Singh Kotlia, Bernd Wünnemann•Quaternary International•2019

  • Impact of extreme rainfall in the central Sudan during 1999 as a partial analogue for reconstructing early Holocene prehistoric environments

    Open Access•Martin Williams, Justin Nottage•Quaternary International•2006

  • Resonance of the ‘4.2ka event’ and terminations of global civilizations during the Holocene, in the palaeoclimate records around PT Tso Lake, Eastern Himalaya

    Open Access•Nivedita Mehrotra, Santosh K Shah et al.•Quaternary International•2019

  • Preliminary results on the paleo-landscape of Tell Basta /Bubastis (eastern Nile delta)

    Open Access•Tobias Ullmann, Eva Lange-Athinodorou et al.•Quaternary International•2019

  • Migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in North Africa during the Holocene

    Open Access•Xiaoshuang Zhao, Yan Liu et al.•Quaternary International•2017

  • Mid-to Late Holocene paleoclimatic changes and paleoenvironmental shifts inferred from pollen and diatom assemblages at Lake Hamra, Wadi El Natrun (Western Nile Delta, North Western Desert, Egypt)

    Open Access•Amr S Zaky, Kaoru Kashima et al.•Quaternary International•2020

  • Climate change at the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt around 4200 BP

    Fabian Welc, Leszek Marks•Quaternary International•2014

  • Mid-late Holocene temperature and precipitation variations in the Guanting Basin, upper reaches of the Yellow River

    Open Access•Hui Zhao, Chun Chang Huang et al.•Quaternary International•2018

  • Millennial-scale cycles of aridity as a driver of human occupancy in central Spain

    Open Access•Juan Ignacio Santisteban Navarro, Rosa Mediavilla et al.•Quaternary International•2016

  • Spatiotemporal variation of human settlement distribution between the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties in relation to flooding in the lower Yellow River floodplain, East China

    Open Access•Wenhua Gao, Huijin Yuan et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science…•2023

  • The Fall of Phaethon in Context

    Peter James, Marinus Anthony Van Der Sluijs•Journal of Ancient Near Eastern…•2016

  • Climate Change and Farming Response in a Temperate Oceanic Zone—the Exploitation of a Karstic Region in Western Ireland in the Third and Second Millennia BC

    Carleton Jones•The Journal of Island and Coastal…•2019

  • Archaeology and rapid climate changes

    Open Access•Mihael Budja•Documenta Praehistorica•2015

  • Mid- to late-Holocene coastal vegetation patterns in Northern Levant (Tell Sukas, Syria)

    Open Access•Philippe Sorrel, Marie Mathis•The Holocene•2016

  • A severe centennial-scale drought in midcontinental North America 4200 years ago and apparent global linkages

    Open Access•Robert K Booth, Stephen T Jackson et al.•The Holocene•2005

  • Palaeoenvironmental implications of the prehistorical catastrophes in relation to the Lajia Ruins within the Guanting Basin along the Upper Yellow River, China

    Open Access•Chun Chang Huang, Jiangli Pang et al.•The Holocene•2013

  • A dramatic climatic transition at ~4000 cal. yr BP and its cultural responses in Chinese cultural domains

    Open Access•Fenggui Liu, Zhaodong Feng•The Holocene•2012

  • Climatic, vegetation and cultural change in the eastern Mediterranean during the mid-Holocene environmental transition

    Open Access•Neil Roberts, Warren J Eastwood et al.•The Holocene•2011

  • OSL dating of the massive landslide-damming event in the Jishixia Gorge, on the upper Yellow River, NE Tibetan Plateau

    Open Access•Yuzhu Zhang, Chun Chang Huang et al.•The Holocene•2015

  • Investigating possible links between Holocene environmental changes and cultural transitions across India

    Open Access•Diptimayee Behera, Parth R Chauhan•The Holocene•2023

  • Hydroclimate variability from western Iberia (Portugal) during the Holocene

    Open Access•Diana L Thatcher, Alan D Wanamaker et al.•The Holocene•2020

  • Holocene fluvial history of the Nile's west bank at ancient Thebes, Luxor, Egypt, and its relation with cultural dynamics and basin‐wide hydroclimatic variability

    Open Access•Willem H J Toonen, Angus Graham et al.•Geoarchaeology•2017

  • Late Bronze Age paleogeography along the ancient Ways of Horus in Northwest Sinai, Egypt

    Open Access•Stephen O Moshier, Ali El‐Kalani•Geoarchaeology•2008

  • Mid‐Holocene environmental change and human occupation at Sai Island, Northern Sudan

    Open Access•Katherine A Adelsberger, Jonathan Lewis et al.•Geoarchaeology•2020

  • Holocene Supra-Regional Environmental Changes as Trigger for Major Socio-Cultural Processes in Northeastern Africa and the Sahara

    Open Access•Maria Carmela Gatto, Andrea Zerboni•African Archaeological Review•2015

  • The 4.2 ka BP Climate Event in Egypt

    Open Access•M A Younes, Aboualhassan Bakry•African Archaeological Review•2022

  • Beyond collapse

    Nicholas Brooks, Nick Brooks•Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish…•2012

  • The Interaction of Climate Change and Agency in the Collapse of Civilizations ca. 2300–2000 BC

    Open Access•Malcolm H Wiener•Radiocarbon•2014

  • Isotopes on the Beach, Part 1

    Open Access•Dieter Brems, Monica Ganio et al.•Archaeometry•2013

  • Late Holocene geochemical and environmental changes inferred from a multiproxy investigation in sediments from Kondagai Lake Tamil Nadu, India

    Open Access•Anand Rajoriya, Pooja Tiwari et al.•The Holocene•2026

  • Climate change 6.2–2.0 cal ka BP in northeastern Africa, based on multi-proxy lake record from the Faiyum Oasis, Egypt

    Open Access•Leszek Marks, Fabian Welc et al.•Quaternary International•2025

  • Exploitation animale à l'Ancien Empire en Égypte

    Open Access•Joséphine Lesur•Anthropozoologica•2015

  • Island risks and the resilience of a prehistoric civilization

    T Rowan Mclaughlin, Simon Stoddart et al.•World Archaeology•2018

  • Landscape change in the Nile Delta during the fourth millennium BC

    Benjamin T Pennington, Penelope Wilson et al.•World Archaeology•2020

  • The industrial landscape of the Northern Faiyum Desert as a World Heritage Site

    Elizabeth Bloxam, Tom Heldal•World Archaeology•2007

  • Forgotten People and Places

    Open Access•Elizabeth Bloxam•General Anthropology•2011

  • Hydrological changes in the African tropics since the Last Glacial Maximum

    Open Access•Françoise Gasse•Quaternary Science Reviews•2000

  • Abrupt post-glacial climate events in West Asia and North Africa monsoon domains

    Open Access•Françoise Gasse, Elise Van Campo•Earth and Planetary Science Letters•1994

  • Holocene lakes and prehistoric settlements of the Western Faiyum, Egypt

    Open Access•Fekri A Hassan•Journal of Archaeological Science•1986

  • Life on the Desert Edge

    Derek A Welsby•Life on the Desert Edge (British…•2001

  • The Dark Ages in Ancient History. I. The First Dark Age in Egypt

    Barbara Bell•American Journal of Archaeology•1971

  • The chronology of ancient Egypt

    K A Kitchen•World Archaeology•1991

Unique citing works67
Citations per year3,05
Citation span2004 - 2026 (23)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 61
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae