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Papers by Piotr Osypiński
Polish archaeology in the Mediterranean, Dec 31, 2021
Journal of African Archaeology, Dec 13, 2022
The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in ... more The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in the medieval Middle Nile Valley are considered in this paper in the first such comprehensive research for the region. The main source of data are the nearly 10,300 animal remains. The archaeozoological analyses focused primarily on cattle morphology. Strontium isotope analyses were used to indicate the local/non-local origin of animals encompassing the whole period studied. The empirical data indicate a developed central system of cattle management in medieval Makuria. Textual and iconographic sources additionally reflect an extensive set of values that have been experienced since prehistory in the Middle Nile and correspond to the anthropological definition of the “cattle centred behavior”. Comprehensive analysis of animal remains and the analysis of textual information enabled the formulation of a hypothesis about Makuria’s economic and cultural foundations rooted in the local tradition, constituting an important element of the Nubian identity.
Wydział HistorycznyPraca omawia rezultaty badań nad źródłami archeologicznymi pozyskanymi w wynik... more Wydział HistorycznyPraca omawia rezultaty badań nad źródłami archeologicznymi pozyskanymi w wyniku eksploracji zespołu stanowisk paleolitycznych wokół wioski Affad (Sudan). Badania te prowadzono w ramach działań polskich ekspedycji, w których autor aktywnie uczestniczył. Głównym celem pracy jest ukazanie technologii wytwarzania kamiennych narzędzi przez społeczności zasiedlające mikroregion Basenu Affad nad Nilem w dobie złagodnienia klimatycznego po maksimum ostatniego zlodowacenia. Metodyka analiz wytwórczości kamiennej obejmuje poza klasycznymi określeniami surowcowymi i morfo-metrycznymi również złożenia artefaktów i analizy przestrzenne. Kolekcje z Affad dostarczają unikatowego kompendium danych podstawowych o najpóźniejszych emanacjach wytwórczości i behawioru społeczności utożsamianych z epoką paleolitu środkowego, lecz datowanych na schyłek plejstocenu (16 tysiąclecie BP). Poza zagadnieniami technologicznymi w pracy demonstruje się też rezultaty analiz paleośrodowiskowych (g...
Journal of African Archaeology , 2022
The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in ... more The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in the medieval Middle Nile Valley are considered in this paper in the first such comprehensive research for the region. The main source of data are the nearly 10,300 animal remains. The archaeozoological analyses focused primarily on cattle morphology. Strontium isotope analyses were used to indicate the local/non-local origin of animals encompassing the whole period studied. The empirical data indicate a developed central system of cattle management in medieval Makuria. Textual and iconographic sources additionally reflect an extensive set of values that have been experienced since prehistory in the Middle Nile and correspond to the anthropological definition of the “cattle centred behavior”. Comprehensive analysis of animal remains and the analysis of textual information enabled the formulation of a hypothesis about Makuria’s economic and cultural foundations rooted in the local tradition, constituting an important element of the Nubian identity.
It is 'mission impossible' to present now a complete vision of the project area's pre... more It is 'mission impossible' to present now a complete vision of the project area's prehistory. Studies upon many sites, collections and gathered data are still in progress and will be published over many years filling empty pages of a book, that we could title 'The Prehis-tory of the Fourth Cataract'. Today it is possible how-ever to define the list of contents. My own practice in the field of prehistoric research allows me to shape a framework of chapters – needing completion in many places, and in other places rewriting. As one great scholar – Stefan Krukowski used to say – It's obvious, that everything scientific is ready to be corrected. Our knowledge of the Fourth Cataract's prehistory before the Merowe Dam Archaeological Salvage Pro-ject was a pure carte blanche, thus, the research of the last decade was so important. Not only does it allow us to fill the archaeological maps with colourful dots, but it also enables a description of each period of hum...
Journal of African Archaeology, 2011
ABSTRACT Affad 23, situated in upper alluvial deposits related to a former channel of the Nile in... more ABSTRACT Affad 23, situated in upper alluvial deposits related to a former channel of the Nile in the Affad District, Southern Dongola Reach, Sudan, is mainly known through its up-per or surface level. The combined data concerning the position of the site, composition of the lithic assemblage, freshness, refittings and dispersion of the artefacts point to a late Middle Palaeolithic workshop used for short periods. It utilized discoid and levallois debitage of Hudi Chert collected from the palaeochannel during the low-water season. The animal remains suggest opportunistic hunting of medium-sized antelopes, probably mainly kobs living near the site, some dorcas gazelles, occasionally hippopotamus and other big game, as well as small ver-tebrates, much less visible in the collected samples. A lower level, separated from the surface level by a deposit of some 30 cm, represents an earlier workshop. The easy access to chert in the palaeochannel may also explain the existence of other Paleolithic sites along the channel as workshops.
Journal of Field Archaeology, 2021
ABSTRACT Archaeological sites at Affad (Sudan) are the only ones in northeastern Africa providing... more ABSTRACT Archaeological sites at Affad (Sudan) are the only ones in northeastern Africa providing ostological remains of both African aurochs (Bos primigenius), dated to 50 kya, and domestic cattle, dated to 7–6 kya. The evidence enables studies of behavioral diversity between taurids. Strontium isotope analyses of the tooth enamel of both Pleistocene and Holocene ruminants suggest the local origin of these animals. The archaeozoological analysis reveals the temporal variability of environmental conditions was linked to a humid climate during the Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3), which was more humid than the dry fluctuations during the African Humid Period. In addition, changes in the phenotype of cattle indicate that humans influenced domesticated animal behavior in the sub-Saharan region.
Fieldwork and Research, 2019
The first Affad was the one we saw when the archaeological sites there were first investigated at... more The first Affad was the one we saw when the archaeological sites there were first investigated at the beginning of the century. The second Affad, which is the region that we have been exploring in the past 15 years, bore many signs of modern Sudanese culture encroaching upon the desert. In 2009, an asphalt road cut through the desert and shortly thereafter, the Debba bridge and power lines were constructed, the latter coming from a hydroelectric power station on the Fourth Cataract. Affad 3.0 is what the location looks like today—extensive industrial-scale farms on terraces too far away for traditional agriculture. The investment has already caused irreversible destruction to the archaeological heritage. Cattle+ in the title of this article refers to new data on large ruminants. The discovery of auroch remains and the Neolithic cattle data are both extremely important proxies for the adaptation strategies of people inhabiting the Southern Dongola Reach in prehistory.
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 2018
Animals were as inextricable a part as they were indicative of the system of common ancient Egypt... more Animals were as inextricable a part as they were indicative of the system of common ancient Egyptian beliefs. Their special role was manifested in a rich iconography and in multitudes of animal mummies deposited in the major sacral complexes. Seen in this light, the cemetery of small animals of 1st–2nd century AD date, excavated since 2011 in the Red Sea port town of Berenike, comes across as entirely unique, notwithstanding the spiritual aspects of cats, dogs and monkeys. Contrary to Egyptian animal burials of all periods associated with human ones, the Berenike inhumations were not intended as afterlife companions of their last owners; neither were they ever mummified. Recent results of research present the variety of species kept in the households and insight into their behaviour. Pathological changes on one of the dog skeletons suggest a deadly condition, that is, osteosarcoma. The Berenike data also shed new light on the distribution of the cat beyond Egypt and a rising prefere...
Antiquity, 2016
Abstract The Epipalaeolithic of the Levant witnessed important changes in subsistence behaviour, ... more Abstract The Epipalaeolithic of the Levant witnessed important changes in subsistence behaviour, foreshadowing the transition to sedentism and cultivation, but much less is known of contemporary developments in the Middle Nile Valley. Here, Affad 23, a 16000-year-old settlement, on the margins of a resource-rich, multi-channel floodplain, offers exceptional insights. Unusually good preservation has left the remains of pits and postholes, indicating the construction of temporary shelters and specialised functional zones. The Affad 23 community successfully exploited a wide range of riverine resources, and created a highly organised seasonal camp adjacent to convenient, resource-rich hunting grounds. Surprisingly, they continued to exploit Levallois-like tools, rather than adopting the new technologies (e.g. microliths) that were then evolving in Upper Egypt.
Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2016
ABSTRACT Despite suggestions of cattle keepers being present in the Eastern Desert of Egypt befor... more ABSTRACT Despite suggestions of cattle keepers being present in the Eastern Desert of Egypt before the end of the fifth millennium BC there is still no archaeological evidence concerning settlement patterns and relations to the cultures of the Nile and Western Desert. Archaeozoological datasets have also been lacking for ancient herding models and animal metrics/morphology in the region. Research at Wadi Khashab provides new data with which to address these questions. Analysis of complete skeletons of cattle and sheep buried under stone mounds and fenced with symbolic zeriba (kraals) shows osteological features that refer to the animal’s behaviour and life-long migration in harsh environmental conditions. Applying the point-scale statistical method for osteometric values allows the Wadi Khashab animals to be compared with numerous ancient animal populations from the Nile Valley. The metrically most similar animals were those kept by the Bronze Age Kerma Culture of Nubia. The spatial relations of the site elements at Wadi Khashab — including the animal/human cemetery and megalithic installations that are set out along a southeast-northwest axis — allow us to suppose the simultaneous creation of the sacral complex there before the end of the fifth millennium BC. The site appears to have been plundered in the following millennium and a pottery find suggests another episode of human presence in the first half of the second millennium BC.
African Archaeological Review, 2016
Folia Praehistorica Posnaniensia, 2015
Polish archaeology in the Mediterranean, Dec 31, 2021
Journal of African Archaeology, Dec 13, 2022
The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in ... more The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in the medieval Middle Nile Valley are considered in this paper in the first such comprehensive research for the region. The main source of data are the nearly 10,300 animal remains. The archaeozoological analyses focused primarily on cattle morphology. Strontium isotope analyses were used to indicate the local/non-local origin of animals encompassing the whole period studied. The empirical data indicate a developed central system of cattle management in medieval Makuria. Textual and iconographic sources additionally reflect an extensive set of values that have been experienced since prehistory in the Middle Nile and correspond to the anthropological definition of the “cattle centred behavior”. Comprehensive analysis of animal remains and the analysis of textual information enabled the formulation of a hypothesis about Makuria’s economic and cultural foundations rooted in the local tradition, constituting an important element of the Nubian identity.
Wydział HistorycznyPraca omawia rezultaty badań nad źródłami archeologicznymi pozyskanymi w wynik... more Wydział HistorycznyPraca omawia rezultaty badań nad źródłami archeologicznymi pozyskanymi w wyniku eksploracji zespołu stanowisk paleolitycznych wokół wioski Affad (Sudan). Badania te prowadzono w ramach działań polskich ekspedycji, w których autor aktywnie uczestniczył. Głównym celem pracy jest ukazanie technologii wytwarzania kamiennych narzędzi przez społeczności zasiedlające mikroregion Basenu Affad nad Nilem w dobie złagodnienia klimatycznego po maksimum ostatniego zlodowacenia. Metodyka analiz wytwórczości kamiennej obejmuje poza klasycznymi określeniami surowcowymi i morfo-metrycznymi również złożenia artefaktów i analizy przestrzenne. Kolekcje z Affad dostarczają unikatowego kompendium danych podstawowych o najpóźniejszych emanacjach wytwórczości i behawioru społeczności utożsamianych z epoką paleolitu środkowego, lecz datowanych na schyłek plejstocenu (16 tysiąclecie BP). Poza zagadnieniami technologicznymi w pracy demonstruje się też rezultaty analiz paleośrodowiskowych (g...
Journal of African Archaeology , 2022
The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in ... more The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in the medieval Middle Nile Valley are considered in this paper in the first such comprehensive research for the region. The main source of data are the nearly 10,300 animal remains. The archaeozoological analyses focused primarily on cattle morphology. Strontium isotope analyses were used to indicate the local/non-local origin of animals encompassing the whole period studied. The empirical data indicate a developed central system of cattle management in medieval Makuria. Textual and iconographic sources additionally reflect an extensive set of values that have been experienced since prehistory in the Middle Nile and correspond to the anthropological definition of the “cattle centred behavior”. Comprehensive analysis of animal remains and the analysis of textual information enabled the formulation of a hypothesis about Makuria’s economic and cultural foundations rooted in the local tradition, constituting an important element of the Nubian identity.
It is 'mission impossible' to present now a complete vision of the project area's pre... more It is 'mission impossible' to present now a complete vision of the project area's prehistory. Studies upon many sites, collections and gathered data are still in progress and will be published over many years filling empty pages of a book, that we could title 'The Prehis-tory of the Fourth Cataract'. Today it is possible how-ever to define the list of contents. My own practice in the field of prehistoric research allows me to shape a framework of chapters – needing completion in many places, and in other places rewriting. As one great scholar – Stefan Krukowski used to say – It's obvious, that everything scientific is ready to be corrected. Our knowledge of the Fourth Cataract's prehistory before the Merowe Dam Archaeological Salvage Pro-ject was a pure carte blanche, thus, the research of the last decade was so important. Not only does it allow us to fill the archaeological maps with colourful dots, but it also enables a description of each period of hum...
Journal of African Archaeology, 2011
ABSTRACT Affad 23, situated in upper alluvial deposits related to a former channel of the Nile in... more ABSTRACT Affad 23, situated in upper alluvial deposits related to a former channel of the Nile in the Affad District, Southern Dongola Reach, Sudan, is mainly known through its up-per or surface level. The combined data concerning the position of the site, composition of the lithic assemblage, freshness, refittings and dispersion of the artefacts point to a late Middle Palaeolithic workshop used for short periods. It utilized discoid and levallois debitage of Hudi Chert collected from the palaeochannel during the low-water season. The animal remains suggest opportunistic hunting of medium-sized antelopes, probably mainly kobs living near the site, some dorcas gazelles, occasionally hippopotamus and other big game, as well as small ver-tebrates, much less visible in the collected samples. A lower level, separated from the surface level by a deposit of some 30 cm, represents an earlier workshop. The easy access to chert in the palaeochannel may also explain the existence of other Paleolithic sites along the channel as workshops.
Journal of Field Archaeology, 2021
ABSTRACT Archaeological sites at Affad (Sudan) are the only ones in northeastern Africa providing... more ABSTRACT Archaeological sites at Affad (Sudan) are the only ones in northeastern Africa providing ostological remains of both African aurochs (Bos primigenius), dated to 50 kya, and domestic cattle, dated to 7–6 kya. The evidence enables studies of behavioral diversity between taurids. Strontium isotope analyses of the tooth enamel of both Pleistocene and Holocene ruminants suggest the local origin of these animals. The archaeozoological analysis reveals the temporal variability of environmental conditions was linked to a humid climate during the Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3), which was more humid than the dry fluctuations during the African Humid Period. In addition, changes in the phenotype of cattle indicate that humans influenced domesticated animal behavior in the sub-Saharan region.
Fieldwork and Research, 2019
The first Affad was the one we saw when the archaeological sites there were first investigated at... more The first Affad was the one we saw when the archaeological sites there were first investigated at the beginning of the century. The second Affad, which is the region that we have been exploring in the past 15 years, bore many signs of modern Sudanese culture encroaching upon the desert. In 2009, an asphalt road cut through the desert and shortly thereafter, the Debba bridge and power lines were constructed, the latter coming from a hydroelectric power station on the Fourth Cataract. Affad 3.0 is what the location looks like today—extensive industrial-scale farms on terraces too far away for traditional agriculture. The investment has already caused irreversible destruction to the archaeological heritage. Cattle+ in the title of this article refers to new data on large ruminants. The discovery of auroch remains and the Neolithic cattle data are both extremely important proxies for the adaptation strategies of people inhabiting the Southern Dongola Reach in prehistory.
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 2018
Animals were as inextricable a part as they were indicative of the system of common ancient Egypt... more Animals were as inextricable a part as they were indicative of the system of common ancient Egyptian beliefs. Their special role was manifested in a rich iconography and in multitudes of animal mummies deposited in the major sacral complexes. Seen in this light, the cemetery of small animals of 1st–2nd century AD date, excavated since 2011 in the Red Sea port town of Berenike, comes across as entirely unique, notwithstanding the spiritual aspects of cats, dogs and monkeys. Contrary to Egyptian animal burials of all periods associated with human ones, the Berenike inhumations were not intended as afterlife companions of their last owners; neither were they ever mummified. Recent results of research present the variety of species kept in the households and insight into their behaviour. Pathological changes on one of the dog skeletons suggest a deadly condition, that is, osteosarcoma. The Berenike data also shed new light on the distribution of the cat beyond Egypt and a rising prefere...
Antiquity, 2016
Abstract The Epipalaeolithic of the Levant witnessed important changes in subsistence behaviour, ... more Abstract The Epipalaeolithic of the Levant witnessed important changes in subsistence behaviour, foreshadowing the transition to sedentism and cultivation, but much less is known of contemporary developments in the Middle Nile Valley. Here, Affad 23, a 16000-year-old settlement, on the margins of a resource-rich, multi-channel floodplain, offers exceptional insights. Unusually good preservation has left the remains of pits and postholes, indicating the construction of temporary shelters and specialised functional zones. The Affad 23 community successfully exploited a wide range of riverine resources, and created a highly organised seasonal camp adjacent to convenient, resource-rich hunting grounds. Surprisingly, they continued to exploit Levallois-like tools, rather than adopting the new technologies (e.g. microliths) that were then evolving in Upper Egypt.
Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2016
ABSTRACT Despite suggestions of cattle keepers being present in the Eastern Desert of Egypt befor... more ABSTRACT Despite suggestions of cattle keepers being present in the Eastern Desert of Egypt before the end of the fifth millennium BC there is still no archaeological evidence concerning settlement patterns and relations to the cultures of the Nile and Western Desert. Archaeozoological datasets have also been lacking for ancient herding models and animal metrics/morphology in the region. Research at Wadi Khashab provides new data with which to address these questions. Analysis of complete skeletons of cattle and sheep buried under stone mounds and fenced with symbolic zeriba (kraals) shows osteological features that refer to the animal’s behaviour and life-long migration in harsh environmental conditions. Applying the point-scale statistical method for osteometric values allows the Wadi Khashab animals to be compared with numerous ancient animal populations from the Nile Valley. The metrically most similar animals were those kept by the Bronze Age Kerma Culture of Nubia. The spatial relations of the site elements at Wadi Khashab — including the animal/human cemetery and megalithic installations that are set out along a southeast-northwest axis — allow us to suppose the simultaneous creation of the sacral complex there before the end of the fifth millennium BC. The site appears to have been plundered in the following millennium and a pottery find suggests another episode of human presence in the first half of the second millennium BC.
African Archaeological Review, 2016
Folia Praehistorica Posnaniensia, 2015