Introduction

This special issue of Geoarchaeology is the second of two issues dedicated to C. Vance Haynes, Jr. on the occasion of his retirement from the University of Arizona.Issue 15(6) covered Vance's interests in North American geoarchaeology and geochronology.This second issue is dedicated to Vance's interest in Egyptian geoarchaeology.Vance's first professional expedition to Africa (Malawi and Tanzania) was with Desmond Clark in the late 1960s.Soon after that initial expedition, he joined Fred Wendorf and Romuald Schild in the Western Desert of Egypt, where he became interested in the geoarchaeology of Middle and Late Paleolithic sites.Vance soon realized that Egypt was not always as desolate as described by early desert explorers and researchers such as Bagnold, de Almasy, and Caton-Thompson.The watered places discovered by these early explorers were once home to thriving populations of desert dwellers during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.Like those who journeyed through this barren landscape before him, Vance found the desert's secrets a source of infinite challenges.In more than 40 articles on the Western Desert (or Darb el Arba'in Desert, as he named it), Vance delved into such diverse topics as the geochronology of playas, remote sensing of sand movement, and climate change.In his travels, he has documented previously unknown Paleolithic sites and the historic camps of early desert travelers.And like his work on Paleoindian projectile points, Vance's research in the Western Desert touches the core of his many avocational interests.A keen curiosity in the history of the Desert Wars, his knowledge of Air Force technology, and his interests in planetary geology are combined in Vance's work on barchan movement in the Great Selima sand sheet.In 1997, Vance and several of his colleagues reported the discovery of an Acheulian site near Bir Kiseiba in the Darb el Arba'in Desert (see Geoarchaeology, 12, 819 -832).Vance has never shied away from revising his interpretations and has always maintained a strong desire to share his most current thoughts with fellow researchers.In a short research note for this special issue, Vance and his colleagues Bruce Huckell, David Meltzer, Andrea Freeman, and Vance Holliday organized the Tucson conference in Vance's honor.Holly Smith (Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences), John Olsen (Head, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona),Joaquin Ruiz (Head, Department of Geosciences), and their staff members helped to provide both the financial and organizational assistance to facilitate the conference.We especially wish to thank an anonymous donor who provided funds for the conference and for subvention costs

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