New data from Jebel Moya and Shaqadud (central Sudan): implications for Late Mesolithic interconnectivity with the Sahara (original) (raw)
Related papers
Seventy Years of Pottery Studies in the Archaeology of Mesolithic and Neolithic Sudan
African Archaeological Review, 2021
This review article examines seventy years of research and methodological approaches to the analysis of Mesolithic and Neolithic pottery in Sudan. It begins with the studies done by A. J. Arkell at the end of the 1940s, leading to the definition of the Khartoum Mesolithic and Khartoum Neolithic ceramic traditions. The article then discusses the application of the concepts of ware, fabric, decorative technique, and chaîne opératoire to the analysis of pottery and the use of new classification tools and archaeometric methodologies. The implication of the concepts of cultural encounter and the communicative role of material culture for ceramic studies and the insights that ceramics can provide for understanding the interrelationships between humans and the landscape are also discussed.
Quaternary International, 2020
The site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60) is located about 3.5 km from the present Nile in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka, upstream of the Sixth Nile Cataract, in Sudan. This site uniquely includes Early Khartoum (Mesolithic) artifacts with no intrusive elements and has been dated from the ninth to the end of the sixth millennium cal BC. Excavations at Trench 7, in particular, brought to light a 1.2-m thick deposit with the quantitatively and qualitatively richest artifactual materials. Analysis and classification of the pottery assemblage from this site have been conducted with the aim of observing manufacturing techniques from a broad perspective correlating pottery production to cultural change and chronological variability. Analyses of the ceramic assemblage regarded visual examinations of the manufacturing techniques combined with petrographic (optical microscopy, OM) and chemical analyses (instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, iNAA), observations of manufacturing and decorative techniques, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) on absorbed organic residues. The vertical distribution of the ceramic assemblage reveals consistent technological variability through the timespan of occupation of the site.
2018
This paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary archeometric study on Early Mesolithic pottery from the prehistoric site of Kabbashi Haitah, located 35 km north of Khartoum (central Sudan), along the Nile Valley. A large set of potsherds, selected after a preliminary macroscopic analysis of 1075 fragments representing the various vessels (mainly plain and globular in shape, with various rim diameter), macrofabrics and decoration types (either with or without incised or stamped decorations, i.e. incisedwavy line and rocker stamp) was analysed to define the type of the raw materials used and their manufacturing technology. The mineralogical and petrographic features, determined by optical microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction, indicate that the pottery was produced using an illitic clay tempered with quartz and/or K-feldspar derived from granite/syenite grinding, and fired in the temperature range between 750 and 900°C.
Technical Characteristics of the Mesolithic Pottery in El Goz sites (Central Sudan)
This study will sheds a light on the technical features of the pottery which has been collected from El-Goz sites which Located in the center of the Gezira state, south of Khartoum. The Mesolithic period witnessed the first production of pottery in the Nile basin, so the pottery during this period has witnessed a number of technical characteristics, which consisted in pulp, techniques of industry and hardness. The pottery industry had been affected by the raw material in the region such as mud, Nile Chert, animal remains and shells. This study is based on a hypotheses that the Pottery industry in this period has been accompanied by the development of technical and decorative stages refers to technical development We can witness it through the patterns of pottery during the Mesolithic in general way. This study also tries to answer many ofThis study will sheds a light on the technical features of the pottery which has been collected from El-Goz sites which Located in the center of the Gezira state, south of Khartoum. The Mesolithic period witnessed the first production of pottery in the Nile basin, so the pottery during this period has witnessed a number of technical characteristics, which consisted in pulp, techniques of industry and hardness. The pottery industry had been affected by the raw material in the region such as mud, Nile Chert, animal remains and shells. This study is based on a hypotheses that the Pottery industry in this period has been accompanied by the development of technical and decorative stages refers to technical development We can witness it through the patterns of pottery during the Mesolithic in general way. This study also tries to answer many of the questions related to the beginning of the Mesolithic industry in Sudan, how it started, where is the First evidence pottery industry and what are the main features of the pottery in this region. It also will make a comparison between the pottery assemblages from Al Goz sites and pottery witch found from other regions in central Sudan. the questions related to the beginning of the Mesolithic industry in Sudan, how it started, where is the First evidence pottery industry and what are the main features of the pottery in this region. It also will make a comparison between the pottery assemblages from Al Goz sites and pottery witch found from other regions in central Sudan.
Early to Mid–Holocene Pottery from Two Sites in the Bayuda Desert, Sudan
In: J. Kabaciński, M. Chłodnicki, M. Kobusiewicz, M. Winiarska-Kabacińska (Eds.) Desert and the Nile. Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara. Poznań Archaeological Museum. Poznań, 2018
This article discusses the pottery material from two early to middle Holocene sites from the western part of the Bayuda desert: BP133 and BP424. The sites are situated at a distance of ca. 60 km from each other in very different geological contexts. The site situated closer to the Nile – BP133, is located in the area of volcanic culminations (Basement Complex), while site BP424 is located within sedimentary deposits (Cretaceous Nubian Sandstone Formation). In both sites a small area was excavated.
New Discoveries of Mesolithic Sites in Gazira Reach (Central Sudan) Formatting
Abstract. This paper will sheds a light to Archaeological sites belong to the Mesolithic period discovered recently in the north of the Gazira state, which is located in the southern part of Khartoum directly. they located in the center of the Gazira agricultural project, one of them have been discovered since the second half of the twentieth century, that was by the English diplomat Balfour-Poul, and the two others have been discovered recently when I carried out a general survey to write a master thesis about archaeological existence in this region, These sites are suffering from environmental and human threats, therefore it is necessary to draw attention to it and study it. It is worth mentioning that these sites are contemporaneous of the Early Khartoum, which is backed to the same period.
A-Group settlement sites from the Laqiya region (Eastern Sahara, Northwest Sudan)
2017
In 1982 and 1983 two field seasons of the B.O.S.-Project of the University of Cologne (Kuper 1986; 1989) were carried out. They comprise the excavations and surveys in Wadi Shaw and Wadi Sahal in the Laqiya region (Fig. 1). A large number of archaeological sites were found containing ceramics of different chronological phases (Schuck 1988; 1989). Some of these sites yielded pottery of the A-Group: rippled sherds, red polished blackmouthed sherds and sherds with decorations of zigzag and herring-bone patterns. In his article on the excavations in Wadi Sahal, Erwin Cziesla already noticed „some striking parallels in the pottery of the Nubian A-Group“ (Cziesla 1986: 144). During the research performed in the course of my Ph.D. thesis on ceramic material from the Laqiya region more sites with A-Group ceramics (and additionally a copper awl and three stone palettes which also appear to be of A-Group origin), w ere studied. Altogether 18 areas (found during excavation or survey) from 10 s...
La céramique représente le matériel archéologique le plus important récolté dans la région du Wadi Howar au Nord du Soudan. Son analyse et surtout celle de son système décoratif ont permis la mise en place d'une séquence culturelle holocène. Trois horizons culturels s'étalant entre environ 5200 et 1100 BC, peuvent être distingués, chacun caractérisé par un schéma décoratif particulier. Incision et impression sont les techniques utilisées pour la réalisation des décors ; l'impression reste toujours la technique dominante. Les décors principaux varient pour chaque horizon culturel, de même que les principes du système décoratif. Des décors à (Dotted) Wavy Line et de type Laqiya ainsi que des zigzags serrés précèdent les motifs Leiterband et en zigzag auxquels succèdent divers motifs géométriques. Les récipients sont d'abord complètement décorés puis des zones réservées de plus en plus importantes sont intégrées au système décoratif. Les décors par application de natte n'apparaissent qu'à la fin de la séquence. Abstract : Pottery is by far the most important archaeological material found in the Wadi Howar Region in Northern Sudan. Its detailed analysis, especially of the decorative patterns allowed for the establishement of a Holocene cultural sequence. Three main cultural horizons can be distinguished stretching over a period from about 5200 to 1100 BC, each horizon is characterised by a different pottery design style. Incision and impression are the techniques of decoration; impression, however, always predominates. The main ornament types differ for each cultural horizon as do the decorative principles. (Dotted) Wavy Line, Laqiya type and packed zigzag patterns are followed by Leiterband and various zigzag patterns and then by different geometric patterns. Whereas vessels have been completely decorated at first, undecorated zones get more and more important as part of the decoration. Mat impression appears at the end of the sequence.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.