Neal Spencer, Michaela Binder, Michele Buzon, Jamie Woodward, Mark Macklin, Antonio Simonetti
{"title":"Maintaining the Ramesside Empire: Isotopic Evidence for Elite Migration to Upper Nubia under Pharaonic Rule","authors":"Neal Spencer, Michaela Binder, Michele Buzon, Jamie Woodward, Mark Macklin, Antonio Simonetti","doi":"10.1163/21915784-bja10033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10033","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Pharaonic Egypt ruled Upper Nubia (now northern Sudan) from around 1450 to 1070 <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">BCE</span>: previous research has demonstrated how co-opted local elites and descendants of earlier immigrants held senior administrative positions following the initial conquest. Strontium isotope data from 39 individuals buried at the colonial centre of Amara West, combined with archaeological and epigraphic evidence, enable us to demonstrate that elites continued to arrive from outside Nubia in the last 150 years of pharaonic rule, settling amongst long-standing communities. Migration to the occupied territory clearly remained a key component of the colonial project, at a time when indigenous Nubian material culture and practice had become more visible within the pharaonic towns. This pattern of immigration seems to have ceased following the pharaonic state losing control of the region.</p>","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141551885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah A. Schrader, Tomomi Fushiya, Mohamed Saad, El Hassan Ahmed Mohamed
{"title":"Decolonizing Bioarchaeology in Sudan","authors":"Sarah A. Schrader, Tomomi Fushiya, Mohamed Saad, El Hassan Ahmed Mohamed","doi":"10.1163/21915784-bja10034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Bioarchaeology, as a subdiscipline, has begun confronting its colonial origins and discussing how to incorporate stakeholders and ethically move forward. Here, we frame this discussion within the context of Sudan and Ancient Nubia. We argue that first we must acknowledge the sordid history of the discipline and then actively take steps to dismantle continuing systems of racism, sexism, and western-centered biases. We begin by discussing the history of the excavation, analysis, and treatment of human skeletal remains from early excavations through to current projects. We then turn to an examination of how we can further decolonize bioarchaeology in Sudan. This will certainly involve working closely with local communities and the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, as well as a reconsideration of decision-making processes. We are working towards a best care practices document, detailing guidelines for the curation and analysis of human skeletal remains.</p>","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141551886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Qedemt et les espace funéraires de Lalibela (XIe–XXIe siècle): Vies et usages sépulcraux d’un site, edited by Yves Gleize","authors":"Brian Clark","doi":"10.1163/21915784-20242201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-20242201","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140248786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Textiles in the Funerary chaîne opératoire. Perspectives from Meroitic and Postmeroitic Sudan and Nubia (c.350 BCE–550 CE)","authors":"Elsa Yvanez","doi":"10.1163/21915784-bja10030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10030","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper exploits the rich but little-studied corpus of archaeological textiles found in modern Sudan and Nubia and dated to the Meroitic and Postmeroitic periods (<em>c.</em>350 <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">BCE</span>–550 <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">CE</span>). It allies current approaches developed in the field of mortuary archaeology with an in-depth analysis of textile artefacts discovered <em>in situ</em> in the graves of the ancient Sudanese people. Going beyond the simple description of textile items and their potential place in the tomb, the concept of funerary <em>chaîne opératoire</em> is used to trace and interpret textile gestures around the deceased. Through many examples and the detailed case study of an ‘archer’ grave from Gebel Adda (Lower Nubia), this article aims at demonstrating the active and important role of textiles in the transformation of the dead, from an inert body to a revered ancestor.</p>","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138743626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Giants of the Sands: The Giraffe and its Place in Symbolic Vocabulary in the Kingdom of Kush, Sudan","authors":"Loretta Kilroe","doi":"10.1163/21915784-bja10032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10032","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The image of a giraffe was added to both wheelmade and handmade pottery, faience plaques, temple walls and rock art in the Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush (<em>c.</em>570 <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">BC</span>–<span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">AD</span>550), located in modern-day Sudan. However, giraffes do not appear in contemporary royal and elite art and architecture. This article explores the giraffe motif in Kush and compares this to its use earlier in Sudanese history as well as in neighbouring Egypt. The use of this motif on specific media suggests it was important in the symbolic language shared in the Middle Nile Region, but not in the elite canon, meaning it may be a window into understanding oral traditional practices of this time, that perhaps evolved and circulated over a long time period.</p>","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138743633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Métallurgie Ancienne du site de Tamdûlt, Anti-Atlas Marocain : Contexte Géologique et Minier","authors":"Zoubair El ouad, Mustapha Souhassou, Moha Ikenne","doi":"10.1163/21915784-bja10031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10031","url":null,"abstract":"<h2>Résumé</h2><p>Tamdûlt est une ville du Maroc présaharien médiéval qui était un endroit de forte activité commerciale et industrielle grâce à la richesse de son sous-sol et de sa situation sur l’une des voies commerciales reliant le Maroc avec l’Afrique sub-saharienne entre le <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">IX</span><sup>e</sup> et le <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">XIV</span><sup>e</sup> siècle. Ainsi, la frappe monétaire était l’un des piliers de son développement industriel durant l’époque médiévale. Cette ville comporte des vestiges archéologiques (scories, combustible nécessaire à la réduction du minerai, pièces de monnaie) qui ont un intérêt scientifique exceptionnel. Cependant, les recherches archéologiques menées depuis les années soixante-dix, ne présentent pas de données plus précises sur l’activité minière et métallurgique. Les vestiges de cette dernière reflètent qu’ils sont basés sur l’extraction de cuivre. Nos prospections et interprétations de terrain ont révélé l’existence de scories argentifères (en liaison avec des sites miniers d’extraction de minerais). Cette découverte apporte des données nouvelles et offrent une autre dimension au site, puisqu’en effet, l’argent serait lié à la frappe monétaire aux périodes médiévales. Ces données vont contribuer à préciser et à valoriser, d’avantage, l’histoire minière et métallurgique de cette ville et l’attribuer à son environnement minier régional.</p>","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2023-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138573452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jacques Aymeric-Nsangou, Yao Serge Bonaventure Loukou
{"title":"Samba Yaye’s Tata: Archaeology and History of an Endogenous Fortification in Eastern Senegal","authors":"Jacques Aymeric-Nsangou, Yao Serge Bonaventure Loukou","doi":"10.1163/21915784-bja10029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10029","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In West Africa, research has brought to light the remains of endogenous fortifications, some of which are called tata , built by West African communities during the last centuries of our era. Despite their importance, tata are generally examined only from a historical perspective or approached as components of global facts rather than as an object of study by themselves. As a result, little is known about the structures themselves and their roles in local history. This paper is an archaeological and historical study of a tata in Senegal. We first have a brief knowledge review of tata in the area where the fortifications are known under this name. Then, we present the archaeological and historical study of the tata of Samba Yaye. Finally, we discuss the causes and some technical aspects of the construction of the Samba Yaye tata , while integrating this site into the chrono-cultural sequence of the region.","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136351317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joanna A. Ciesielska, R. Stark, Artur Obłuski, N. Boivin, Mary Lucas, P. L. le Roux, P. Roberts
{"title":"Multi-Isotopic Investigation of Population Dynamics and Mobility among Rural Medieval Christian Communities at Ghazali, Northern Sudan","authors":"Joanna A. Ciesielska, R. Stark, Artur Obłuski, N. Boivin, Mary Lucas, P. L. le Roux, P. Roberts","doi":"10.1163/21915784-bja10028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10028","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The archaeological site of Ghazali (northern Sudan) provides a rare opportunity to investigate the dynamics of mixed economies and mobility on the fringes on the Nile valley at the time of Christian expansion in Nubia. Thanks to its particular hydrological conditions, Sudan has a long history of diverse groups pursuing different economic activities, with agricultural communities settled along the fertile Nile valley and various mobile pastoralists groups occupying vast areas of the adjacent deserts. Ghazali represents an early medieval Nubian rural site with an extensive funerary zone. Somewhat removed from the Nile valley, Ghazali extends along the western bank of a large wadi, Wadi Abu Dom, running across the Bayuda desert, dated ca. 7th–13th century CE. Multi-isotopic analysis of human tooth enamel from Cemeteries 1, 3, and 4 was used to explore patterns of mobility among these communities. Ten enamel samples were subjected to 87Sr/86Sr analysis, while 24 individuals were studied for their δ18O values. 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O values were very heterogeneous, suggesting that the Ghazali community, as a whole, benefited from a variety of water sources, perhaps including significant contributions from groundwater wells. We suggest that this adds further support for the reconstruction of a mixed practice of agriculture and animal herding in the neighbouring Bayuda desert. These data add to growing evidence for diverse and flexible mixed economies in eastern Africa that provided food security even under the most challenging of conditions.","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48883685","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Negash, Gebretsadkan Mulubrhan, E. Assefa, Kibrom Legesse, A. Asrat
{"title":"New Rock Art Sites in Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia, and Their Relevance to the Understanding of the Rock Art and Dating of Domesticates Elsewhere in Ethiopia","authors":"A. Negash, Gebretsadkan Mulubrhan, E. Assefa, Kibrom Legesse, A. Asrat","doi":"10.1163/21915784-bja10027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10027","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Two new rock art sites in Irob district of eastern Tigrai, northern Ethiopia, are presented. One of the sites, Ra Bolo, contains images of domestic cattle and human figures while the other, Adhay Bolo, appears to contain only images of caprines, the only example of such a scene not just in the region but in all of Ethiopia. The sites fit well with the already established northern Ethiopian assemblage of paintings and engravings. The paintings belong to the earliest phase of Ethio-Arabian “Surre-Hanakiya” style, an attribution which is supported by other types of archaeological data. These new rock art sites are also compared with other rock art sites in Ethiopia. Archaeological faunal data from northern Ethiopia and elsewhere in Ethiopia is discussed and questions are raised about the validity of the hypothesized ages of the rock art in south-central Ethiopia.","PeriodicalId":44797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42423226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}