A reconstruction of Quaternary pluvial environments and human occupations using stratigraphy and geochronology of fossil‐spring tufas, Kharga Oasis, Egypt

Abstract We carried out a geologic survey and a preliminary archaeological survey of four fossil‐spring tufa localities in Kharga Oasis, Egypt, to constrain the timing of pluvial episodes in the Western Desert, and to document prehistoric occupation contemporaneous with times of increased rainfall. Uranium‐series dating of the tufas confirms that at least five episodes of tufa deposition are represented in Kharga, although not every event is …