During the intermittent humid periods of the African Neolithic, the desert playa was filled with water and fostered a lush savanna landscape.

[3] Stratigraphic and geologic studies in the Gebel Ramlah playa indicate that around 6050 BC (marking the start of the Middle Neolithic), a major climatic shift left the regional landscape semi-desertified.

This semi-arid climate continued until the end of the Final Neolithic in the region, at which point intensifying desertification drove inhabitants out.

[1] Additionally, it has been argued that the evidence for passive burial conservation in Gebel Ramlah cemeteries could be a precursor for Ancient Egyptian mummification, perhaps being based in similar protective beliefs.

[3] Archaeologists have interpreted these cemeteries as being used by extended families, those Final Neolithic trans-humanist groups with settlements on the edges of the paleo-lake.

These include flint and agate tools, stone objects, abundant and diverse jewelry items (beads, bracelets, pendants, amulets), sheets of mica, stone palettes, bone tools and needles, shells, pottery (including intricate caliciform beakers), ochre, and ochre containers.

These instances show an effort to ensure that remains and burial features were kept complete and together, likely indicated a significance of the human body's integrity in and after death.

[3] The remains of one male individual in this cemetery group showed signs of great physical strain that indicates bending and lifting heavy objects.

This type of skeletal stress is different than what results from herding, and thus what is typically seen in the remains of pastoralist Gebel Ramlah men.

Archaeologists theorize that this individual may have taken part in the construction of Saharan megalithic structures erected nearby during the Final Neolithic.

[2] These cemeteries were likely used simultaneously by one Gebel Ramlah group, as burial practices were similar[9] and radiocarbon dating shows use at the same time (between 4500 and 4300 BC).

[2][9] Archaeologists suspect that the individuals who used the E-09-04 burial complex were culturally distinct from those using the previously described cemeteries, and though likely pastoralists as well, were not as mobile and spent more time at Gebel Ramlah.

This detail has led archaeologists to hypothesize that women and children lived permanently at the Gebel Ramlah settlements, while men traveled in seasonal, trans-humanist pastoralism patterns.

[2] With its large and unusual cemetery sites, Gebel Ramlah is beneficial to archaeologists in understanding the use of funerary pottery within the Neolithic Western Desert region.

Clay is present within some nearby hills (including Gebel Ramlah itself), as are sand and shale similar to those found in the ceramics.

[5] Erosion on the pottery made certain analyses of shaping and design difficult, but comparative study has led archaeologists to believe that coiling and pinching techniques were used to form the vessels found at Gebel Ramlah, with potential paddle and anvil methods as well.

[5] The most elaborate vessels found at Gebel Ramlah's burial sites are large, tulip-shaped (or caliciform) beakers, with wide flared rims.

[5] The caliciform beakers, as well as the black-topped ware discussed previously, are specifically characteristic of the later Egyptian Badarian culture, possibly indicating a connection.

[3] Only around a fourth of the vessels found within Gebel Ramlah burial sites were caliciform beakers, produced specifically as funerary pieces.

[5] Comparison with better studied Late and Final Neolithic sites in Nubia and upper Egypt also help to supplement for the minimal testing done on Gebel Ramlah Pottery.

The analysis of pottery from sites such as Nabta Playa helped to form hypotheses concerning the impacts of different firing temperatures on the unique local clay used in these ceramics, as well as the formation of features such as the previously described black-topped layer.

[5] A zooarchaeological study was done by Aldona Kurzawska to identify the mollusk shells used as various grave goods in the originally excavated cemeteries, sites E-01-2, E-03-1 and E-03-2.

[6] Publications on more recently excavated Gebel Ramlah cemeteries also occasionally make mention of mollusk shell artifacts.

Since most of the valves showed no signs of modification or use, there is uncertainty surrounding other roles this species may have played in funerary tradition and general culture.

These were collected from various different site locations, including under skeletal remains, within pottery vessels and bone containers, within fire pits, and generally within burials/burial areas.

The inhabitants of Gebel Ramlah, located in between upper Egypt to their north and Nubia to their south, naturally show physical traits characteristic of both of these populations.

[8] In general, morphological study indicates that Gebel Ramlah populations were the product of sub-Saharan and North African admixture.

[1] This is potentially rooted in the trans-humanist pastoralist lifestyle used by many inhabitants of Gebel Ramlah, meaning groups were not isolated from distant populations.

[8] Additionally, located near the Nile, Gebel Ramlah was essentially a cultural crossroads for groups both north and south of the Sahara.

Habitation sites nearby confirm that technologies such as grinding stones and pottery were in use, allowing food to be cooked and made less tough.