Basalt mining threatens one of the world's richest preserves of ancient fossils, writes Mahmoud Bakr If one were to imagine that Lake Qaroun is a miniature Mediterranean, that Wadi Al-Rayan is a miniature Red Sea, and that Bahr Youssef is a miniature Nile, then Fayoum, the governorate located 90 kilometres southeast of Cairo, is conceivably a miniature Egypt. The locality is known to be rich in Roman and Greek ruins, but recently it has been hailed as a reserve of remarkable pre-historic findings. Fossils of 18 types of extinct mammals have been found in Gabal Qatrani, including baboons, four-horned rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses and mammoths. Skeletons of pre-historic birds have also been discovered in the area. But the area is under threat, says Hossam Kamel, director of the Fayoum protectorates. The threat comes from companies quarrying basalt from the fossil-rich area. Several local companies are using heavy equipment and explosives to extract basalt from a three-seven metre layer of stone that runs throughout the area. The extraction of basalt, Kamel says, is taking place at a large scale and some invaluable fossils may be lost forever in the process. Geologist Gebeili Abdel-Maqsoud, a researcher at the Qaroun Natural Park, says that the basalt layer was first formed in the area some 25 million years ago. The Ancient Egyptians extracted basalt from Wadi Qatrani and used it as flooring in tombs, considering the stone divine. They even believed that the Nile River's mud was nothing but the dust of basalt. Traces of an 18km dirt road that ran from the quarries to Lake Qaroun can still be seen to this day. This was the road the ancients use to transport basalt. Archaeologists have discovered skeletons of turtles and crocodiles, along with a wide variety of fossilised equatorial plant species in the region. But unless action is taken to protect this rich preserve of pre-historic nature from speculators, the ancient remains of extinct species may disappear for eternity.
