Holocene stratigraphies and sediments on Mograt Island (Sudan) – The second season of the Late Prehistoric Survey 2014/15 (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Dolní Věstonice Studies, vol. 20 - Mikulov Anthropology Meeting 2014, 2014
In the paper to be presented at the Mikulov Anthropology Meeting in August 2014, the field data acquired during two field campaigns of exploration of the prehistoric occupation at Jebel Sabaloka (West Bank) (2011, 2012), interim results of the ongoing analyses, and fresh 14C AMS dates from this region are pooled together to provide an updated overview of the hitherto research and to incorporate the findings into, or confront them with, the well-established, yet still emerging scope of our understanding of the late prehistory of the Middle Nile. A particular attention will be paid to three sites – Fox Hill (SBK.W-20B), Sphinx (SBK.W-60), and Rhyolite Site (SBK.W-58) – that are of a special interest for the understanding of some crucial social, cultural, and economic aspects of the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Central Sudan.
Evidence from several sites suggests that the late prehistoric communities in Sudan developed over transitional times and regional diversities. Central and Northern Sudan have yielded an important record of late prehistoric settlements with several Mesolithic and Neolithic sites. New data from current projects such as the Sabaloka Dam Archaeological Project (SDASP, El Salha project) are progressively updating the archaeological map of Sudan and bringing fresh information about the complex transitions having occurred during the late prehistoric periods. Although many topics have been discussed, some issues remain untouched and geographical gaps are still unin-vestigated. This paper reports about the survey and excavation conducted in the Sabaloka area, North of Khartoum, since 2013-2015. It is also a first attempt to discuss the importance of the area in the field of Sudanese prehistory and to explore the range of regional diversities through comparative studies. Résumé Les recherches archéologiques conduites au Soudan suggèrent que les communautés de la pré-histoire récente se sont développées au travers de transitions majeures et d'une diversité régionale notable. Dans les régions centrale et septentrionale, un nombre important de sites d'habitat des périodes mésolithique et néolithique ont été identifiés. Les données inédites émergeant de projets en cours comme le Sabaloka Dam archaeological project (SDASP, El Salha project) complètent progressive-ment la carte archéologique complexe du Soudan pour les périodes de la préhistoire récente apportant de nouvelles informations sur les modalités des transitions et l'emplacement des sites. De nombreux sujets ont déjà été explorés mais certaines problé-matiques restent vierges et de vastes régions encore inexplorées. Cet article rend compte des récents travaux de prospection et fouille menés dans la région de Sabaloka, au nord de Khartoum, depuis 2013-2015. Il est également l'occasion de proposer une discussion autour des particularismes régio-naux dans la préhistoire récente du Soudan central, à partir d'études comparatives de mobilier.
Prehistoric research at jebel Sabaloka, Central Sudan
The Dolní Věstonice Studies, vol. 20 - Mikulov Anthropology Meeting 2014
In the paper to be presented at the Mikulov Anthropology Meeting in August 2014, the field data acquired during two field campaigns of exploration of the prehistoric occupation at Jebel Sabaloka (West Bank) (2011, 2012), interim results of the ongoing analyses, and fresh 14C AMS dates from this region are pooled together to provide an updated overview of the hitherto research and to incorporate the findings into, or confront them with, the well-established, yet still emerging scope of our understanding of the late prehistory of the Middle Nile. A particular attention will be paid to three sites – Fox Hill (SBK.W-20B), Sphinx (SBK.W-60), and Rhyolite Site (SBK.W-58) – that are of a special interest for the understanding of some crucial social, cultural, and economic aspects of the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Central Sudan.
Results of a second season of Paleolithic survey in the Agig area: the Red Sea region of the Sudan
Sudan & Nubia, 2020
The paper presents results of a second season of Paleolithic survey in the Agig area, the Red Sea region of the Sudan. The fieldwork recorded several Stone Age sites in the study area containing tool types referable to the Acheulean and MSA technocomplexes. The emerging evidence suggests that hominins increased their survival chances in the study area by exploiting diverse landscapes.
Nyame Akuma, 2017
It is widely accepted that the general picture of Late Prehistoric archaeology in Sudan is interpreted from central and northern Sudan, as well as a few lights from western and eastern Sudan. Terminology of Late Prehistory from the Paleolithic Age to the beginning of Bronze Age have been used, such as Epipaleolithic, Pre-ceramic, Mesolithic, Early Neolithic, Early Khartoum and Shaheinab culture (Arkell 1949b, 1953, Wendorf 1986, Krzyżaniak 1992, Sadig 2012, Usai 2016).The current research focuses on the characteristics of these taxonomies, with evidence mainly drawn from central and northern Sudan. The EDAR (Stone Age Archaeological Research Project in Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River) was established to uncover the transition elements among these horizons with a perspective from eastern part of Sudan and how it relates to the general Sudan prehistory, as well as paying attention to the relationship between the eastern Sudan and the archaeology southern/eastern Africa. The EDAR Project centers its attention on the Stone Age archaeology in the Eastern desert of Lower Atbara River, Sudan. The project was established in 2016 by the University of Neelain to map Stone Age sites in this area. In early 2017, another joint project between the University of Neelain, the University of Wroclaw (Poland), and NCAM (National Cooperation of Antiquities & Museum was undertaken in the eastern part of the Lower Atbara river desert and focusing only on Paleolithic sites. The aim of both projects was to clarify specific questions on the Stone Age archaeology in Sudan, such as the Early Paleolithic expansion out of Africa, the chronological and cultural transition from Early to Late Stone Age, and the reconstruction of Paleo-environment of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The first field season was undertaken by the University of Neelain in late 2016 and it was funded by the Sudanese Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR). It was a combination of archaeological survey, GIS mapping of the sites, surface collection of artifacts and test excavations. In the first season we identified 133 archaeological sites, yielding a variety of archaeological material, from Early Paleolithic to the Medieval period. This article attempts to shed light only on the Late Prehistoric archaeology from this first season, including sites’ settings and artifact variation, and first impressions about the area which is considered significant for Sudan’s Late Prehistoric archaeology.
Quaternary Science Review, 2015
Our article presents a detailed Holocene archaeological sequence from the Nile Valley at Kerma in Upper Nubia, northern Sudan. This sequence retraces the evolution of human populations thanks to the study of several sites, supported by 90 14C dates. Reconstruction of the environmental changes was supported by a study of dated stratigraphic sections located near the archaeological sites studied, and illustrates the effects on human occupation of changes in river flow and floods, which are in turn forced by climatic changes. The results shed new light on the evolutionary dynamics of the Holocene populations in Nile Valley, little known due to the numerous hiatuses in occupation. When compared with the situation in the Sahara and the rest of the Nile Valley, they confirm that the initial occupation took place ca. 10.5 kyr BP after the start of the African Humid Period, followed by a migration towards the banks of the Nile commencing 7.3 kyr BP. They also confirm the appearance of the Neolithic by ca. 8.0 kyr BP. The Kerma stratigraphic sequences show two prosperous periods (10e8 and 7-6 kyr BP) and two hiatuses in the occupation of the sites (7.5e7.1 and 6.0e5.4 kyr BP), resulting from increased aridity.