Kom W and Z Basin: Surface Artifact Collection, Culture History, and the Argument Over Village Occupation

Kom W, a Neolithic site on the north shore of Lake Qarun in the Fayum in the Western Desert of northern Egypt, is well known for the excavation by the British archaeologist Gertrude Caton-Thompson in the early twentieth century. Since then, scholars have repeatedly investigated Kom W, and new information and interpretations about the site have been published. This article aims to throw light on the neglected aspects of Kom W. It will first provide an overview of the research history of Kom W and its surrounding area and the culture history of the prehistoric Fayum. This broad context is necessary for the interpretation of how Kom W and its surrounding area were inhabited in the past. It will then reconsider Kom W and its surrounding area on the basis of research on Caton-Thompson’s lithic finds, which were only partially published by her and are presently housed in museums in the UK. Finally, the article will address some of the arguments and misrepresentations in a recent publication by J. Emmitt and colleagues (Emmitt et al., 2021).