A team from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) has unearthed eight granaries that are relics from agricultural life in the Neolithic era. The granaries were discovered last week in Fayoum, an oasis some 50 miles southwest of Cairo. The granaries date back to the Neolithic era that began around 9,000 BCE. The Egyptian culture minister added that "those granaries reveal the agriculture technique and system used by this prehistoric community."
     Top antiquities official Zahi Hawass also described the "unique" granaries as "our witness of the oldest agriculture communities of Egypt." Hawass added that the "excellent" preservation of the granaries has helped scientists to understand the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural lifestyles.
     William Z. Wendrich, the head of the American archaeological mission, said in the statement that the granaries were found north of a site where several granaries full of Emmer wheat, flax and fruit were found in 1926.

Sources: Associated Press, Reuters, The Ledger, Yahoo! News (28 December 2004)