Research unearths origins of Ancient Egypt’s Karnak Temple

 

Most complete study of the temple complex and its landscape establishes earliest occupation and hints at link to creation myth

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Southampton

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Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt.

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Credit: Dr Ben Pennington

Researchers have carried out the most comprehensive geoarchaeological survey of Egypt’s Karnak Temple near Luxor – one of the ancient world’s largest temple complexes and a UNESCO World Heritage site welcoming millions of tourists every year.

The study, published in Antiquity today [6 October] reveals new evidence on the age of the temple, tantalising links to ancient Egyptian mythology, and new insights about the interplay between the temple’s riverine landscape and the people who occupied and developed the site over its 3,000 years of use.

“This new research provides unprecedented detail on the evolution of Karnak Temple, from a small island to one of the defining institutions of Ancient Egypt,” says Dr Ben Pennington, lead author of the paper and a Visiting Fellow in Geoarchaeology at the University of Southampton.

Karnak temple is located 500 meters east of the present-day River Nile near Luxor, at the Ancient Egyptian religious capital of Thebes.

An international research team, led by Dr Angus Graham (Uppsala University) and involving several academics from the University of Southampton, analysed 61 sediment cores from within and around the temple site. The team also studied tens of thousands of ceramic fragments to help date their findings.

Using this evidence, researchers have been able to map out how the landscape around the site changed throughout its history.

They found that prior to about 2520 BCE, the site would have been unsuitable for permanent occupation due to being regularly flooded by fast-flowing water from the Nile. This means the earliest occupation at Karnak would have likely been during the Old Kingdom (c.2591–2152 BC). Ceramic fragments found at the site corroborate this finding, with the earliest dating from sometime between c.2305 to 1980 BC.

Dr Kristian Strutt, a co-author of the paper from the University of Southampton, said: “The age of Karnak Temple has been hotly contested in archaeological circles, but our new evidence places a temporal constraint on its earliest occupation and construction.”

The land on which Karnak was founded was formed when river channels cut into their beds to the west and east, creating an island of high ground in what is now the east/south-east of the temple precinct. This emerging island provided the foundation for occupation and early construction of Karnak temple.

Over subsequent centuries and millennia, the river channels either side of the site diverged further, creating more space for the temple complex to develop.

Researchers were surprised to find that the eastern channel – until this study not much more than a supposition – was more well-defined, and perhaps even larger than the channel to the west, which archaeologists had previously focussed on.

Dominic Barker, another co-author also from the University of Southampton added: “The river channels surrounding the site shaped how the temple could develop and where, with new construction taking place on top of old rivers as they silted up.”

 “We also see how Ancient Egyptians shaped the river itself, through the dumping of sands from the desert into channels, possibly to provide new land for building, for example.”

This new understanding of the temple’s landscape has striking similarities to an Ancient Egyptian creation myth, leading the team to believe that the decision to locate the temple here could have been linked to the religious views of its inhabitants.

Ancient Egyptian texts of the Old Kingdom say that the creator god manifested as high ground, emerging from ‘the lake’. The island upon which Karnak was found is the only known such area of high ground surrounded by water in the area.

“It’s tempting to suggest the Theban elites chose Karnak’s location for the dwelling place of a new form of the creator god, ‘Ra-Amun’, as it fitted the cosmogonical scene of high ground emerging from surrounding water,” says Dr Pennington.

“Later texts of the Middle Kingdom (c.1980–1760 BC) develop this idea, with the ‘primeval mound’ rising from the ‘Waters of Chaos’. During this period, the abating of the annual flood would have echoed this scene, with the mound on which Karnak was built appearing to ‘rise’ and grow from the receding floodwaters.”

With a concession to study the whole floodplain of the Luxor region, the team are now planning and carrying out work at other major sites in the area, to further understand the landscapes and waterscapes of the whole Ancient Egyptian religious capital zone.

The Conceptual origins and geomorphic evolution of the temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak (Luxor, Egypt) is published in Antiquity and is available online.

Farmers were already diversifying cereal cultivation in the early Neolithic period

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Charred emmer grains from a grain storage found in a 
linear band ceramic settlement close to Werl in North Rhine-Westphalia

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Credit: Tanja Zerl, University of Cologne

An interdisciplinary research project on the development of the earliest forms of agriculture shows that early farming societies began to integrate new cereal varieties into their range of crops almost 7,000 years ago. A research team led by Professor Dr Silviane Scharl, Dr Astrid Röpke (both from the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Cologne) and Professor Dr Astrid Stobbe (Goethe University Frankfurt am Main) gained deeper insights into the underlying processes and defined a more precise time frame for these innovations in agriculture. The results of the study ‘Dynamics of early agriculture - multivariate analysis of changes in crop cultivation and farming practices in the Rhineland (Germany) between the 6th and early 4th millennium BCE’ have been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

The study is a result of the interdisciplinary research project ‘Diversification and Change – Analysing settlement patterns and agricultural practice during the 5th millennium BC in Central Europe’ funded by the German Research Foundation. The project involves scientists from the Universities of Cologne and Frankfurt working in the fields of prehistoric archaeology, archaeobotany, vegetation history, archaeozoology and dendroarchaeology.

The first farmers in Central Europe belonged to the so-called Linear Pottery culture and populated the continent around 5,400-5,000/4,900 BC.  They cultivated almost exclusively the ancient wheat varieties emmer and einkorn, both spelt grains. During dehulling, the outer husk must be removed from the grain before further processing. It was previously known that new cereals such as naked wheat (no dehulling required) and barley were introduced during the Neolithic period, more precisely during the so-called Middle Neolithic (approx. 4,900 to 4,500 BC), although the time frame and exact processes were previously unknown.

In order to better understand these processes at a regional level, the research team collected and analysed data on archaeobotanical macroremains from 72 Neolithic sites in the Rhineland (Germany). The samples consist of charred remains of seeds that date from the late 6th to the early 4th millennium BC. They were recovered from the settlement pits of Neolithic farmers.

Using multivariate statistics, it was possible to show that there are significant differences between the Neolithic phases. Surprisingly, the study revealed that the agricultural changes characteristic of the Middle Neolithic were already recognizable at the beginning of this period. “The integration of new types of grain made agriculture more resilient and flexible. It enabled not only the cultivation of winter crops but also summer crops and the potential use of a greater variety of soils as well as a possible reduction in labour,” says Professor Scharl. A steady increase in cereal diversity was also demonstrated by a diversity analysis. This analysis shows that the Neolithic farmers achieved the greatest diversity in the cultivation spectrum around 4,350 BC. It then declines again significantly, indicating a further transformation of the agricultural system, which is the subject of further research. There are some indications that livestock farming, especially cattle farming, increased in the following period.

The current study shows that Neolithic farmers developed agricultural techniques and practices over time that allowed them to react to regional and changing environmental conditions with great flexibility. In regions with harsher environmental conditions, cereals were cultivated that could also produce a yield under these conditions. This demonstrates a deep knowledge of the environment and an adaptation of food production strategies by the farmers.

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Journal

Journal of Archaeological Science

DOI

10.1016/j.jas.2025.106369 

New research reveals how farming reshaped the animal world

Fossil bones from six continents have revealed how people have fundamentally transformed mammal communities across the globe, according to new research that traces 50,000 years of animal history.

The international study, published in Biology Letters, shows that during the last Ice Age, mammal communities formed distinct patterns across continents based on natural climate zones and geographic barriers. But after farming began around 10,000 years ago, just a handful of livestock species spread along with humans and scrambled those natural boundaries forever.

"The study shows how agriculture and hunting combined as powerful global forces to reorganise ecosystems, which still creates conservation challenges today," says Associate Professor John Alroy from Macquarie University, a co-author on the study.

The researchers found just 12 domesticated species – including cattle, sheep, pigs and horses – appeared in roughly half of the global sites studied, fundamentally altering the composition of animal communities.

"We examined species lists from hundreds of archaeological and palaeontological sites across multiple continents, spanning the past 50,000 years," says lead author Professor Barry Brook from the University of Tasmania.

"All domesticated species had an impact, including donkeys, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs," Associate Professor Alroy says. "Large ungulates like horses and cows are important because they monopolise food resources wherever they are in high numbers."

The researchers developed a new computer-clustering method to show that domesticated animals link archaeological sites thousands of kilometres apart, while many wild mammals went extinct following human arrival.

"Over the last 10,000 years or so, humans have overseen the wholesale replacement of native mammal communities with a very limited set of domesticated species," Associate Professor Alroy says.

"National parks in the hardest-hit regions, such as Australia and the Americas, lack over half of the native large mammal species that would have been present if not for humans."

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Journal

Biology Letters

DOI

10.1098/rsbl.2025.0151  

12,000-year-old monumental camel rock art acted as ancient 'road signs' to desert water sources

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Griffith University

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 Rock art panels at Jebel Arnaan.

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Credit: Maria Guagnin

New findings highlight the pioneering role of human groups who lived in the interior of northern Arabia shortly after the hyper-arid conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), guided by the return of seasonal water sources – and leaving behind a monumental legacy in rock art.

A team of international archaeologists, led by the Heritage Commission, Saudi Ministry of Culture, and comprising scholars from the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), University College London, Griffith University and more – made the discoveries as part of the Green Arabia Project.

The team identified more than 60 rock art panels containing 176 engravings in three previously unexplored areas – Jebel Arnaan, Jebel Mleiha, and Jebel Misma – along the southern edge of the Nefud Desert in northern Saudi Arabia.

The engravings, primarily depicting camels, ibex, equids, gazelles, and aurochs, include 130 life-sized and naturalistic figures, some measuring up to 3m long and more than 2m high.

The engravings date to between 12,800 and 11,400 years ago, a period when seasonal water bodies reappeared in the region following extreme aridity.

These water sources, confirmed through sediment analysis, supported early human expansions into the desert interior and offered rare opportunities for survival.

“These large engravings are not just rock art – they were probably statements of presence, access, and cultural identity,” said lead author, Dr Maria Guagnin from Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.

Dr Ceri Shipton, co-lead author from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, said: “The rock art marks water sources and movement routes, possibly signifying territorial rights and intergenerational memory.”

Unlike previously known sites where engravings were hidden in crevices, the Jebel Mleiha and the Jebel Arnaan panels were etched onto towering cliff faces, some up to 39 meters high, in visually commanding locations.

One panel would have required ancient artists to climb and work precariously on narrow ledges, underscoring the sheer effort and significance of the imagery.

Artefacts including Levantine-style El Khiam and Helwan stone points, green pigment, and dentalium beads suggest long-distance connections to Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) populations in the Levant region.

However, the scale, content, and placement of the Arabian engravings set them apart.

“This unique form of symbolic expression belongs to a distinct cultural identity adapted to life in a challenging, arid environment,” said Dr Faisal Al-Jibreen, from the Heritage Commmission, Saudi Ministry of Culture.

“The project’s interdisciplinary approach has begun to fill a critical gap in the archaeological record of northern Arabia between the LGM and the Holocene, shedding light on the resilience and innovation of early desert communities,” said Michael Petraglia, lead of the Green Arabia project.

The study ‘Monumental rock art illustrates that humans thrived in the Arabian Desert during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition’ has been published in Nature Communications.

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-025-63417-y 

Europe's oldest blue pigment found in Germany

 

In a ground-breaking discovery that illuminates new insights into the early prehistoric origins of art and creativity, a new study led by re-searchers from Aarhus University have identified the earliest known use of blue pigment in Europe.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Aarhus University

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At the Final Palaeolithic site of Mühlheim-Dietesheim, Germany, archaeologists from Aarhus University found traces of a blue residue on a stone artifact dating back around 13,000 years. Using a suite of cutting-edge scientific analyses, they confirmed the traces were from the vivid blue mineral pigment azurite, previously unseen in Europe’s Palaeolithic art. 

“This challenges what we thought we knew about Palaeolithic pigment use”, sais Dr. Izzy Wisher, the lead author of the study. 

Until now, scholars believed Palaeolithic artists predominantly used red and black pigments – practically no other colours are present in the art of this period. This was thought to be due to a lack of blue minerals or limited visual appeal. Given the absence of blues in Palaeolithic art, this new discovery suggests that blue pigments may have been used for either body decoration or dyeing fabrics – activities that leave few archaeological traces.

 “The presence of azurite shows that Palaeolithic people had a deep knowledge of mineral pigments and could access a much broader colour palette than we previously thought – and they may have been selective in the way they used certain colours”, Izzy Wisher says. 

The stone bearing the azurite traces was originally thought to be an oil lamp. Now, it appears to have been a mixing surface or palette for preparing blue pigments — hinting at artistic or cosmetic traditions that remain largely invisible today.

The findings urge a rethink of Palaeolithic art and colour use, opening new avenues for exploring how early humans expressed identity, status, and beliefs through materials far more varied and vibrant than previously imagined.

The study was conducted in collaboration with Rasmus Andreasen, James Scott and Christof Pearce at the Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, as well as Thomas Birch who is affiliated with both the Department of Geoscience, AU, and the National Museum of Denmark, alongside colleagues from Germany, Sweden and France. 

The full study is published in Antiquity:

https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.10184 

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DOI

10.15184/aqy.2025.10184 

Ancient fishing nets resurrected from pottery

 

Reconstruction of 6,000-year-old Jomon fishing nets sheds light on prehistoric sustainability practices

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Kumamoto University

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X-ray computed tomography (CT) was used to examine and digitally reconstruct net impressions preserved in pottery from the Hidaka region of Hokkaido, Japan, dating to the Early Jomon period (referred to as ‘Shizunai-Nakano style pottery’). This study revealed that fishing nets were (re)used in various ways during pottery production. Differences in thread twist direction, knotting methods, and mesh size provide insights into the nets’ functions and the cultural practices of the time—shedding light on the importance of net-making in prehistoric Japan.

Figure reproduced from Obata & Lee, 2025, Journal of Archaeological Science, under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

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Credit: Hiroki Obata, Kumamoto University

In a groundbreaking archaeological achievement, researchers from Kumamoto University have successfully reconstructed the structure of prehistoric fishing nets from the Jomon period (ca. 14,000–900 BCE) by analyzing impressions preserved in ancient pottery using advanced X-ray computed tomography (CT). This marks the first time in the world that nets from over 6,000 years ago have been digitally and physically resurrected in such detail.

Led by Professor Emeritus Hiroki Obata from Faculty of Humanities And Social Sciences, Kumamoto University, the team examined pottery unearthed from sites in Hokkaido and Kyushu—regions in northern and southern Japan respectively—where ancient net impressions remained hidden inside and on the surfaces of ceramic fragments. By using high-resolution X-ray CT imaging alongside silicone cast replication techniques, the researchers visualized and reconstructed the nets’ intricate structures, including thread twists, knot types, and mesh sizes.

The study revealed a rich diversity in net-making techniques between regions. In northern Japan’s Hokkaido region, large-mesh nets with tightly tied "reef knots" were found embedded in the clay coils of so-called Shizunai-Nakano style pottery. These nets, believed to have been used for ocean fishing, were then repurposed as structural core materials in pottery making—a practice suggesting the early reuse and recycling of tools.

In contrast, pottery from the southern Kyushu region, dating to the Final Jomon and early Yayoi periods (ca. 3,200–2,800 years ago), contained fine-mesh nets tied with simpler overhand knots or using “knotted wrapping” methods. These nets likely served as molds or release agents during pottery production and may have originally been used as bags.

Remarkably, the study also estimated the labor involved in net production, suggesting that crafting a single fishing net could take more than 85 hours—highlighting the value of these tools and the cultural importance of their reuse. “This reuse of materials reflects an early form of sustainability, akin to today’s SDGs,” said Prof. Obata.

The findings challenge previous assumptions that all net impressions represented fishing gear and demonstrate that not all preserved impressions can be interpreted as functional nets. Instead, the nets appear to have had multiple lives—first as tools for fishing or carrying, and later as integral elements in the creation of pottery.

This world-first study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, not only reconstructs ancient technology but also opens new doors for identifying and preserving other vanished organic materials in archaeological contexts.

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Journal

Journal of Archaeological Science

DOI

10.1016/j.jas.2025.106231