Exploration of the late prehistoric occupation in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka in central Sudan: findings of the 2018 field campaign

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Archaeology of Holocene hunter-gatherers at the sixth Nile cataract, central Sudan

Jebel Sabaloka at the Sixth Nile Cataract has been known for its strategic importance in late prehistoric stone tool production in central Sudan. Since 2009, archaeological exploration on the west bank of the Nile has revealed a hierarchized settlement structure, with 30 sites of early to mid-Holocene dating. The key findings derive from two principal sites – Sphinx and Fox Hill – that are situated on large granite outcrops and provide evidence of robust occupation by hunter-gatherers of the Early Khartoum Complex (Khartoum Mesolithic, ca. 8,500–5,000 BC). One of the most intriguing elements at these Early Khartoum settlements is the presence of large hunter gatherer burial grounds, which will enrich the discussions of the character, duration and structuring of these Mesolithic societies at both regional and supra-regional level

Exploration of the site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60) at Jebel Sabaloka in Central Sudan: findings of the 2014 field campaign

In the autumn of 2014, the interdisciplinary mission directed by the Czech Institute of Egyptology carried out its third excavation campaign at Jebel Sabaloka (West Bank). The site has been explored for remains of prehistoric occupation since 2011. A comparatively small area (7.50 m2) was explored in detail at the site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60) with the aim of identifying settlement layers and features, investigat - ing archaeological formation processes in co-operation with geologists and sedimentologists, and defining future meth - ods and procedures for exploration of prehistoric sites at Jebel Sabaloka. In addition to a number of important finds, several findings of methodological significance were made that contribute to the topical discussion on the character of cultural deposits of prehistoric dating in the Central Sudan and the possibilities and limitations of their stratigraphic excavation by means of traditional archaeological methods.566

Disc beads from ostrich eggs from the Mesolithic site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60), Jebel Sabaloka (Central Sudan)

František Lexa’s travel journal, his correspondence with his family, colleagues, and various institutions, and other archival documents studied in several archives in the Czech Republic are used in this study to reconstruct the preparation, course, and results of Lexa’s study trip to Egypt undertaken in 1930–1931, and thus to learn about the first encounter of one of the leading Czechoslovak orientalist with Egypt of the 1930s. Viewed in the context of his time, the documents also constitute an important testimony to the possibilities and difficulties of Egyptological research in Czechoslovakia in the first half of the 20th century.667

Raně postmerojský pohřeb lučištníka z pohoří Sabaloka

In 2011, the expedition of the Czech Institute of Egyptology (Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague) excavated one of three tumuli on one of the settlement terraces at the late prehistoric site of Fox Hill (SBK.W-21) at Jebel Sabaloka and the Sixth Nile Cataract in central Sudan. The excavation brought to light a standard burial of an archer dated to the early post-Meroitic period with important series of archaeobotanical (pollen, macro-remains, charcoal) and palaeomalacological (land snails) data. The results of the multi-disci - plinary investigation of the tumulus discuss ed in this paper illustrate the marked, but so far only little exploited potential of these monuments, omnipresent in the archaeological land - scapes of central Sudan, for extending our knowledge of not only the burial rites, but also of the supra-regional distribution of artefacts, the character of the environment and, last but not least, of subsistence strategies in this particular period.727

The First Notes on the Second Khartoum Mesolithic Cemetery at Jebel Sabaloka (Sudan)

The site of Fox Hill (SBK.W-20) constitutes the second locality in the Sixth Nile Cataract region where a large communal burial ground of Early Khartoum hunter-gatherers was partially uncovered. In several aspects, this cemetery resembles in its characteristics the Early Khartoum burial ground explored between 2012 and 2015 at the site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60), located some 4 km to the north-east. The co-occurrence of these burial grounds with intensively occupied coeval settlements as well as the characteristics of the burial rite enable us to interpret these complex sites not only as mere places of life and death, but also as centres of collective identity based on social memory

Výzkum lokality Sfinga (SBK.W-60) v pohoří Sabaloka v centrálním Súdánu: poznatky z výzkumné sezóny 2014 // Exploration of the site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60) at Jebel Sabaloka in Central Sudan: findings of the 2014 field campaign

In the autumn of 2014, the interdisciplinary mission directed by the Czech Institute of Egyptology carried out its third excavation campaign at Jebel Sabaloka (West Bank). The site has been explored for remains of prehistoric occupation since 2011. A comparatively small area (7.50 m2 ) was explored in detail at the site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60) with the aim of identifying settlement layers and features, investigat - ing archaeological formation processes in co-operation with geologists and sedimentologists, and defining future meth - ods and procedures for exploration of prehistoric sites at Jebel Sabaloka. In addition to a number of important finds, several findings of methodological significance were made that contribute to the topical discussion on the character of cultural deposits of prehistoric dating in the Central Sudan and the possibilities and limitations of their stratigraphic excavation by means of traditional archaeological methods

Archeologie versus archeologizace: příkladová studie Usli, Súdán // Archaeology versus archaeologization: a case study from Usli, Sudan

The main aim of this paper is to show how detailed knowl - edge of the recent landscape may help us to identify formation processes in the context of archaeological localities. The research area used in this paper as a case study is called Usli and is located close to the Fourth Nile Cataract. Since 2009 this site has been one of the conces sions explored by the Czech Institute of Egyptology (Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague). Close to the site, composed of a complex of temples and palatial and other buildings dated mostly to the Napatan Period (ca. 795–350 B.C.), there is an abandoned modern village, originally built using traditional techniques and building materials. It is possible to recognise clearly how the walls and houses slowly decay and what type of anthropogenic sediment comes to being in consequence of these processes. In the present paper, the sedimentary records described at the archaeological site are compared with the subrecent sedimentary records found in the abandoned village. Additionally, anthropogenic features noted within the abandoned village are discussed in the context of the possible archaeological record

Výzkum pravěkého osídlení v pohoří Sabaloka v centrálním Súdánu: poznatky z výzkumné sezóny 2017 // Exploration of the late prehistoric occupation at Jebel Sabaloka in central Sudan: findings of the 2017 field campaign

In the autumn of 2017, the exploration of the late prehistoric occupation on the west bank of the Nile at Jebel Sabaloka came to its fifth season. The fieldwork focused on the site of Fox Hill (SBK.W-20), last explored in 2012. Four trenches (no. 21–24) measuring 24 m2 in total (fig. 3) were excavated, all on Terrace 3 of the site (fig. 2). The most significant findings of the field campaign include the following: (1) A large late prehistoric burial ground was uncovered on Terrace 3. Based on the hitherto finds of intact (14 individuals) and disturbed burials and their distribution in Trenches 21 and 22 only, the burial ground appears to have been confined roughly to the southern third of Terrace 3 and to have contained at least several dozen deceased (figs. 4a, 5, 6). The use of shells of Nile bivalves as burial goods was attested (B.5, B.6; figs. 7 and 8); other items serving this function were not detected. Of interest is the presence of stone piles, in some cases carefully built, which covered burials particularly in the eastern part of Trench 22 (fig. 5). Before carrying out AMS 14C analyses, a Late Mesolithic dating can be tentatively put forward for (at least part of) this burial ground based on similarities to the burial ground at the site of Sphinx (e.g. Varadzinová – Varadzin 2017). (2) Terrace 3 had been used for settlement as well, both during the Mesolithic and the Neolithic. Several settlement features were uncovered, of which at least two had shapes reminiscent of those characteristic of storage pits (F.54, F.57 – not dated more precisely so far; fig. 4a). Also, a stratification of settlement layers was detected (fig. 4b). (3) Of utmost significance is the discovery of fragments of what appears to be a stratified sequence of layers of Pleistocene dating (!) (fig. 9). They contained numerous assemblages of lithics with an unusually high representation of vein quartz, tiny cores ca. 1 cm in size used for production of microbladelets possibly by indirect percussion, and other pieces of lithics exhibiting advanced patination. The material has tentatively been assigned to the Late Stone Age. (4) The first of its kind was also a workshop for the production of Neolithic gouges on red rhyolite (fig. 1, 2, 11), detected in the western part of Fox Hill, with finds of raw material, primary shaping waste, finalisation waste, and unfinished as well as finished artefacts. The exploration of the site will continue in 2018