ABSTRACT
Across Africa the Early Holocene wetter phase brought on much more favourable conditions within the Saharan region following its hyperarid phase. Higher rainfall brought high lake levels in Ethiopia and Chad, probably reaching their maximum extent around 8-9000 years ago. Lake Chad itself was greatly enlarged covering a massive area of some c.350,000km2. Within the Middle Nile, high flood levels have been identified along the White Nile (Adamson et al. 1982) with wide areas flooded during the annual floods and extensive swamps and lakes remaining after the flood receded. The clay plains of the Gezira region also saw a number of braided river channels running west of the present course of the Blue Nile (Adamson 1982). Areas susceptible to high and erratic flooding are unlikely to have been attractive to settlement.
