Chert rnines are among the first structures of prehistoric man's activities to
have been observed. The economical changes and the population expansion accompanying the spread of early agriculture in the Near East and Europe constitute a real technical revolution. According to G. Smolla (1987), flint mining
could have been an especially important part of this process, and indeed, until some years ago, all chert mining sites reported in the literature, were younger than 12,000 years, most of them being confined to the period of 6,000 to 4,000
years ago (Weisgerber, Slotta and Weiner 1980). Research by the Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project of Leuven University since 1980 led to the discovery of two important Palaeolithic chert exploitation areas, one at Nazlet Safaha, near Qena, and another at Nazlet Khater, near Tahta, both in southem Egypt (Fig. 1).
https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/p...0-20170119.pdf
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