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Pollen analysis reveals ancient Egyptian climate

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 13:42

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(Before It's News)

Analysis of pollen and charcoal deposits in the Nile Delta have revealed a record of climate catastrophes in Ancient Egypt, including a massive drought which may have lead to the downfall of Egypt’s Old Kingdom.

Scientists with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of Pennsylvania expected that they would find less wetland pollen, an indicator of vegetation, and more deposits of charcoal, the leftovers from fires, in buried sediments from times of drought. USGS reported that they found exactly that in four different periods up to 6,000 years ago.