On the southeastern side of the Wadi Abu Suffian there is a large cluster of settlement remains called Locality HK11. A portion of this area was investigated in 1978-9 by Fred Harlan. Here, he excavated into a trash mound to a depth of 2.15meters. This provided a serendipitous view of the lifestyles of the inhabitants at about 3600BC, as plant and animals remains were well preserved in the stratified levels of accumulated garbage. Further excavations revealed a round corral and a mudbrick structure that may be a manger suggesting that herding, especially of sheep/goat, was important in this up-wadi part of the site.

In 1999 a substantial part of HK11 was examined with a magnetometer to see if evidence for undisturbed pottery kilns and habitation sites could be detected using this method. The results were encouraging and we began archaeological examination in 2000. Portions of a well preserved farmyard was discovered, with fine preservation of the posts and matting that made up an enclosure wall. The amount of animal products uncovered--bone, dung, skin, horn, hoofs and hair-- indicates that animals were certainly kept here, but only further exploration can reveal the true nature of the place. Was it a family farm or an industrial scale slaughterhouse and tannery? Is there a connections with the nearby pottery kilns or is this proximity incidental?

Excavations continued in 2001 and answered these questions, when Ethan Watrall succeeded in uncovering a large extended household compound with a variety of storage pits and other domestic features bounded by a remarkably well-preserved fence built of wood post and mud-coated reed matting. Following visible strata, the excavations revealed six discreet occupational episodes within approximately 30 to 60cm of deposition. These combine to form an overall picture of a relatively continuous cycle of occupation spanning from the Naqada IC to IIB period (c. 3800-3600BC), with later incidents of trash disposal in the Naqada IIC period. These excavations have revealed the most clearly defined stratification and chronological phases of a domestic structure found to date in the desert portion of the Hierakonpolis concession. Although detailed analysis of the variety of materials recovered is still in progress, preliminary observations indicate that the stratified remains of the HK11 structure document a period of significant technological and social change in Predynastic society and indicate that the transition from Naqada IC to IIA was one of profound importance.

Learn more about it in the Nekhen News vol. 13 (2001) available to Friends of Nekhen.

For more information:

Harlan, J.F. 1980. Excavations at Locality 11, Hierakonpolis: 1978 and 1979. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

_____ 1982. "Excavations at Locality 11C", in M.A. Hoffman (ed.), The Predynastic of Hierakonpolis. (ESA 1) Cairo and Illinois: 14-25.

Herbich T. and R. Friedman. 1999, "The Geophysical Survey" Nekhen News 11: 17-18

Watrall, E. 2000. " Excavations at Locality HK11", Nekhen News 12:11-12.

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