SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF MORTUARY PRACTICES IN A MESOLITHIC POPULATION FROM WADI HALFA, SUDAN

Abstract

Assuming an individual's treatment at death is a reflection of the position occupied in a status system in life, and that differences between individual interments reflect the type of status system participated in (e.g., egalitarian versus ranked), the outlines of extinct status systems should be ascertainable. This paper will present the results of such an attempt using data collected from the mesolithic occupation and burial site of Wadi Haifa, northern Sudan. These data include age, sex, pathology, treatment of the body, and mode of interment. The evidence argues for an egalitarian status system with differences in disposal associated with differences in age, sex, and personal achievement. Differences in mortality rates are examined in light of constraints placed on hunting and gathering societies. There is also evidence of post-marital residence favoring the husband's agnates.