In mud forgotten: Old Kingdom palaeoecological evidence from Abusir

Abstract

The present study aims to summarise the major evidence on the climate development in the pyramid fields based on the Abusir data and dating to the Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BCE). The interpretation of the latest evidence presented in the article is based on the identification and evaluation of molluscs, beetles, Lake of Abusir sediments, small vertebrae and archaeological evidence documented during the research of several Old Kingdom tomb complexes and the seasonal Lake of Abusir. The study shows that this climate change was of a long-term nature and its origins may be dated to at least the latter half of the Fifth Dynasty.