The ancient iron mines of Meroe

Ongoing archaeometallurgical research at the Royal City of Meroe and the nearby Meroitic town of Hamadab in Sudan has established the presence of a Kushite iron production tradition spanning over one thousand years. Potentially from as early as the seventh century BC to as late as the sixth century AD, a significant quantity of iron was produced at Meroe, while Hamadab appears to have started producing iron during the latter stages of this time-frame. Previous investigations assumed that the iron ore exploited for use was widely available and easily accessible, close to the ancient city itself. This paper presents the results of archaeological and geological research that has, for the first time, identified ancient iron mining activity in the area. Insights gained into certain aspects of the ore procurement stage of the chaîne opératoire of Meroitic iron production, including the nature of the mined ores and the manner in which this activity was conducted, are presented. Indications as to the organisation of mining activities are also provided. The significant potential of this avenue of research is highlighted and potential future research questions are posed.Qatar-Sudan Archaeology Project grant 037 UCL Qatar core grant British Institute in Eastern Afric

Provenance of Ordovician–Silurian and Carboniferous–Permian glaciogenic successions in Ethiopia revealed by detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology

Palaeozoic sedimentary successions in northern Ethiopia contain evidence for two Gondwana glaciations during the Late Ordovician and Carboniferous–Permian. We compare sediments of the two glaciations regarding their detrital zircon U–Pb ages. The main age group for both formations is Pan-African (c. 550–700 Ma). However, the remaining spectra are different: The Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian Enticho Sandstone is characterised by a Stenian–Tonian (c. 1 Ga) zircon population. The Carboniferous–Permian Edaga Arbi Glacials contain a prominent c. 800 Ma population. The Stenian–Tonian zircons are likely derived from the centre of the East African Orogen and were supplied via the Gondwana super-fan system. This material was transported by the Late Ordovician glaciers and formed the Enticho Sandstone. Tonian (c. 800 Ma) zircons are abundant in the Ethiopian basement and represent the earliest formation stage of the southern Arabian–Nubian Shield. Glaciers of the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age must have cut deeply into the basement for efficient erosion. No recycling of the Enticho Sandstone by the Edaga Arbi Glacials took place on a grand scale — probably because sedimentation of the former was limited to northern Ethiopia, whereas the source area for the latter was to the south

Entstehung und archäologische Bedeutung oolithischer Eisenerze im Suda. Formation and archaeological significance of oolitic ironstones in Sudan

The Kingdom of Kush, located in modern-day Sudan, is famed for its ‘black pharaoes’. Less familiar to most is that at its last capital, the Royal City of Meroe, listed by UNESCO as a world heritage cultural site, iron was produced at large scale for more than 1,000 years, starting at least by the 7th century BC (Humphris & Scheibner 2017). The location of the iron ore mines and the lithotype of the extracted iron ore that was used for the iron smelting have remained obscure. Ongoing research under the leadership of the University College London Qatar (UCL Qatar) has resulted in the discovery of up to 20 separate mining areas and several hundred individual mining sites (see Humphris et al. forthcoming for archaeological details). The surface mines are located east of Meroe and up to 9 km away from the Nile on top of plateaux and buttes that consist of Late Cretaceous siliciclastic sediments. Several types of sedimentary iron accumulations occur. During id signifi cant iron bloom. The oolitic ironstones areoolitic wacke- to pack-ironstones that are made of ooids and less peloids in a matrix of ironoxides. Mineralogically they consisron smelting experiments (Charlton & Humphris 2017), only the most iron-rich of the local iron ores, the oolitic ironstones, producet of goethite and minor hematite. They form up to three separate lenses or discontinuous beds at a maximum of 40 cm in thickness on top of lateritic weathering profiles. The matrix-supported or matrix-rich massive fabric, gradual contacts of the oolitic ironstones to ferricretes, abundant root traces, broken and ductile deformed ooids as well as a gradual transition from iron microconcretions to peloids to ooids suggest that the ooids originated mainly in situ. The fi ndings indicate that the oolitic ironstones formed by lateritic weathering processes following the deposition of the sediments, most likely during the Paleogene

Research history, taphonomy, and age structure of a mass accumulation of the ornithopod dinosaur Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki from the Upper Jurassic of Tanzania

Metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs were an important component in shallow marine ecosystems during the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in the European archipelago. While metriorhynchids are well known from western European countries, their central and eastern European record is poor and usually limited to isolated or fragmentary specimens which often hinders a precise taxonomic assignment. However, isolated elements such as tooth crowns, have been found to provide informative taxonomic identifications. Here we describe two isolated metriorhynchid tooth crowns from the upper Valanginian (Lower Cretaceous) of the Štramberk area, Czech Republic. Our assessment of the specimens, including multivariate analysis of dental measurements and surface enamel structures, indicates that the crowns belong to two distinct geosaurin taxa (Plesiosuchina? indet. and Torvoneustes? sp.) with different feeding adaptations. The specimens represent the first evidence of Metriorhynchidae from the Czech Republic and some of the youngest metriorhynchid specimens worldwide