The Neolithic site, at the fertile Tell el-Samara some 140 kilometres (87 miles) north of Cairo, is up to around 7,000 years old, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

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"Analysing the biological material that has been discovered will present us with a clearer view of the first communities that settled in the Delta and the origins of agriculture and farming in Egypt," said Nadia Khedr of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

The researchers believe that the farming practices in the village could have been heavily reliant on rain. This could help shed some light on the development of irrigation-based farming later practised in the Nile Delta for thousands of years.

In another recent discovery, archaeologists revealed that the ancient Egyptians were deliberately mummifying their dead much earlier than thought. The team found evidence of early mummification up to 5,600 years old - also before the time of the Pharaohs.