Chicago, Ill., U.S.A. 30 vi 70 Prior to the initiation of the Nubian campaign in 1961, it was widely accepted that during the terminal Pleistocene the Nile Valley was occupied by conservative groups with an essentially Mousterian technology. Blade and bladelet industries were unknown except for the Helwan, which was thought to be a late intrusion either from the Levant or from the western part of North Africa. Research since 1961 has demonstrated the presence of blade and bladelet industries as early as ca. 16,000 B.C., predating comparable material in both North Africa and the Levant. This report deals with the results of research conducted at two sites providing large bladelet assemblages. Both are located on the West Bank of the Nile River, near the town of Esna in Upper Egypt (Fig. 1). Excavated in 1967, they occur in identical stratigraphic circumstances, and date from the interval 15,500-14,000 B.C. Known as Sites E71K12 and E71K13, thev-i snnctitlitfnnliv tIAn of tlhe msnnn sites discovered in this previously little-known area.' Both sites occur within the Ballana dune unit, which near Esna may be seen to interfinger with the silt of the Debeira-Jer Aggradational Phase of the Nile (Fig. 2; see De Heinzelin and Paepe 1965; De Heinzelin 1967, 1968; Wendorf and Said 1967). Artifacts were first found on the eroded surface