Badarian Culture

an archaeological culture of the fifth millennium B. C., located in the Nile River Valley. It is named after the village of Badari in Middle Egypt, where burial sites and settlements of this culture were first discovered. Most implements were made of stone, wood, and bone; for this reason the Badarian culture is usually classified as late Neolithic. Settlements were located on the spurs of plateaus; dwellings were built of branches plastered over with clay or of pieces of matting. The economy was based on hunting, combined with stock farming and agriculture. The bones of cattle and sheep and remnants of grain (barley and wheat), flint sickle blades, red and black clay dishes, spoons and ornaments of ivory, and stone pendant amulets have been found. The Badarian culture preceded the Amratian culture.