Recent Research on Neolithic and Predynastic Development in the Egyptian Nile Valley

From the very beginning of his studies in Northeastern Africa, Professor Michał Kobusiewicz concentrated on the prehistory of this region. His interests went beyond the Palaeolithic to encompass later periods during which the foundations were laid for the unified Egyptian state. This is well evidenced by his paper on “Neolithic and Predynastic Development in the Egyptian Nile Valley”, presented at a meeting of the members of the International Commission of the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa in Cologne and published in 2002 (Kobusiewicz 2002). Professor Kobusiewicz delivered both a very detailed overview of the contemporary state of research on the period in question as well as an outline of the most important research problems for further investigations. Since the publication of that paper, further research on the prehistory of Northeastern Africa has shed new light on the issues pointed out by M. Kobusiewicz. This article reviews the most recent studies on one of those issues, e.g., the origins of the Neolithic in Northeastern Africa.