Social complexity set in stone? The A-Group site of Afyeh.

2006

2009

1988

15th International Conference for Nubian Studies. University of Warsaw & Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology, 29 August–4 September 2022, 2022

Archaeology and rock art studies conducted in the past twenty-five years deeply changed our perception of human occupation of the Lower Nile Valley during the Neolithic, Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods (c. 6000-2600 BC). The fundamental function played by the deserts as highways for goods and people, although demonstrated by archaeology in the recent past regarding both the Western and Eastern Desert, still needs further investigations from a socio-ecological perspective. As far as southern regions are concerned, Upper Egyptian and Lower Nubian communities shared common origins and cohabited for several centuries before entering into conflict by the time of the formation of the Egyptian State. The nature of this cohabitation, the often-suggested regionalisms regarding material and iconographic cultural manifestations, the use of strategic desert entry routes to the valley but also the discovery of archaeological structures belonging to exogenous people both in the Egyptian Nile Valley hinterland and the deserts, are all pending issues. Crossing data recently obtained by the Aswan-Kom Ombo Archaeological Project in Wadi Rasras - a highly engraved eastern desert route connecting Lower Nubia with Egypt - but also in the Sudanese Eastern Desert and in Egypt at Wadi Shatt el-Rigal and el-Hosh, this paper aims to demonstrate the potential of rock art as an archaeological source able to highlight the strong interculturality of the Lower Nile Valley prior/concomitantly to the formation of the Egyptian State and to inform about the evolution of its socio-ecology. Moreover, when considered inside its larger Nilotic context, which we would call Egypto-Nubian although these terms are to a certain extent meaningless when it comes to Prehistoric times, rock art is a major source to discuss the transformation of the socio-spatial landscape during these critical times for the whole region.

2011

Recent fieldwork at Amarna, the short-lived capital city of Egypt in the late 2nd millennium B.C., added a second area of peripheral settlement, the Stone Village, to the well-known Workmen’s Village, the subject of an intensive excavation campaign in the 1970s and 1980s. Both villages were evidently involved in tomb cutting and/or stone quarrying, but the Stone Village is smaller, conveys a particularly vernacular style of architecture, and seems to have had less state support than the Workmen’s Village. This paper describes the Stone Village as a source for the study of urban life in ancient Egypt. The two village sites offer a case study of the tensions that arose from controlling human populations in a border zone and from long established belief frameworks concerning desert landscapes and sacred space.

Layout and setting: Maciej Jórdeczka cover designer: Maciej Jórdeczka

ICE XII: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists, 3rd - 8th November 2019, Cairo Ola El-Aguizy (éd.), Burt Kasparian (éd.), Cairo: 588-594., 2023

The Naqada Period in Thebes 567 ThewesternpartofWadiGwasdividedbythemissionintofiveareas:Ga,Gb,Gc,Gd,Ge andGf(fig.1). 15 Themission'sobjectivewastoinvestigatesystematicallyforthefirsttimethe archaeologicalremainsintheseareasofthewadi,toinvestigatethepossibleshaftsandcliff-tomb suggestedbyCarterandthegraffitipreviouslyrecordedbybothCarterandČerný. 2. EXCAVATION RESULTS DespiteCarter'sfindinggraffitiofPredynasticdateinthisarea,itwasinterestingtodiscover specificevidenceofhumanactivityinWadiGdatingtotheNaqadaPeriod.Thisevidenceappeared intheformoftwopotentialhutsinareasGaandGe,flintandsandstonetools,thecharcoalleft fromthreesmallfiresonthebedrock(twoinareaGaandthethirdinareaGb),togetherwith NaqadaIIpotterysherds.Carterhadrecordedgiraffesandostrichgraffitionthecliffsinarea Gbtothewestofthe127-niche.However,themainconcentrationofgraffitiinWadiGistobe foundinthe127-nicheitselfwhichliesinGa.Thisnicheformsanaturalshelterwhichwasreused inCoptictimes,judgingbythegraffitiinsideit,anditwasatthemouthofthisshelterthatthe principalPredynastichutwasfound 16. 2.1. AREA GA (INCLUDING THE 127 NICHE AND THE SMALL "CAVE") AreaGacontainedasingleroomhutsituatedatthemouth,andtotheeastofthe127-nicheup againstthesoutherncliffwall.Thismeasuredapproximately1.70mE-Wby1.50mN-Swithan entranceopeningtothewest.Threeflintobjectswerefoundthere.Onewasprobablyapotstand andonebearssomesignsofwearonsideasthoughithasbeenusedforsmoothingorrubbing. Athirdsmallflintobject,shapedlikeanapplecore,hasnoobvioususe.Anotherlimestoneobject showssignsofwearandmayalsohavebeenatoolofsomesort.Heretooabundleoftiedplant stalkswereexcavateddirectlyonthebedrockfloorofthathut.Inaddition,thereweretwosets ofcharcoalfragments,oneonthesandy,siltfloorofthehut,theotheronthelimestonebedrock totheeast. NearbywefoundaPredynastic(NaqadaII)decoratedjar,decoratedwithwavyhorizontal linesofredpaintconnectedbyverticallines(fig.2A). 17 Thispotisrepresentativeoftheoldest prehistoricactivityrecordedonWadiG.Thesefeatureswerecoveredbysiltysanddepositsmixed withlimestonechipsthatwerecontainingmaterialfromavarietyofperiodsincludingPredynastic Naqada II,OldKingdomandPtolemaic. Alsonearthishut,sherdsfromanotherdecoratedpotofNaqadaIIdatewasfoundonthe bedrock (fig.2B).Thesherdsformedpartofaglobularjarwithaledgedrimandtwosmallvertical handles(TypeDinPetrie'sclassification). 18 Thejarwasmadeofmarlclayanddecoratedwith redpaint(10R3/1)onabeigebackground(5YR7/3),theverticallinesimitatingwater.Afew 15. Litherland 2015, p. 73. 16. The full publication is in progress by NKRF team.

Paléorient , 2015

Research on the Neolithic of Syria has been based on the results obtained from salvage excavations in the Middle Euphrates region. However, archaeological investigations over the past decade in other areas such as Northwestern Syria have increased our knowledge on the Neolithisation process on a broader scale, showing regional diversity in Syria during the Neolithic. This article presents results from the sounding at Tell Ain Dara III in the Afrin Valley, Northwestern Syria, and considers this site's cultural affinity with neighbouring sites during this time period. The excavation, undertaken in 1991 by the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, revealed a Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB, late 8 th millennium BC) settlement with architectural remains associated with a rich variety of stone artefacts made from various raw materials. The site's material culture, especially the lithic industry, closely resembles those from other Neolithic sites in Northwestern Syria. New evidence from this research at Tell Ain Dara III reinforces the previously suggested theory that sites in Northwestern Syria could have formed a cultural unity during the Late PPNB to the Early Pottery Neolithic periods (late 8 th – early 7 th millennia BC). Résumé : La recherche sur les sites néolithiques de Syrie a longtemps reposé sur les résultats des fouilles de sauvetage dans la région du Moyen Euphrate. Cependant, les recherches archéologiques effectuées depuis de nombreuses années dans d'autres régions comme la Syrie du Nord-Ouest ont élargi nos connaissances sur le processus de néolithisation, montrant la diversité régionale en Syrie durant le Néolithique. Cet article présente les résultats d'un sondage réalisé à Tell Ain Dara III dans la vallée d'Afrin, au nord-ouest de la Syrie, et analyse l'affinité culturelle de ce site avec des sites voisins au cours de cette période. La fouille, entreprise en 1991 par la Direction générale des Antiquités et des Musées, a révélé un site du PPNB récent (fin du 8 e millénaire av. J.-C.) où des vestiges architecturaux étaient associés à une grande variété d'objets de pierre fabriqués à partir de diverses matières premières. La culture matérielle du site, en particulier l'industrie lithique, ressemble beaucoup à celle d'autres sites néolithiques du Nord-Ouest de la Syrie et renforce la théorie proposée antérieurement que les sites du Nord-Ouest de la Syrie auraient formé une unité culturelle durant le PPNB récent et le Néolithique céramique ancien (fin du 8 e-début du 7 e millénaires av. J.-C.).

2006

This contribution discusses ongoing collaborative archaeobotanical research at Amara West, an ancient settlement in Upper Nubia (Northern Sudan). The region of Upper Nubia was occupied by pharaonic Egypt between c.1500 and 1070 bc, and Amara West acted as the administrative centre of the region for the last two centuries of Egyptian rule, from c.1300 bc onwards. Since 2008, a British Museum research project has undertaken excavations at the site to investigate the lived experience of the inhabitants of the town, with a particular focus on seeking evidence of interaction between Egyptians and indigenous populations. This can be tracked through urban architecture, artefact assemblages, funerary preferences, skeletal remains and, perhaps, plant use patterns. The excellent preservation of both settlement and associated cemeteries, including evidence for use during the post-colonial period (1070-800 bc), has allowed recovery of reliable archaeobotanical evidence that is being used to study plants used for food, fuel and craft activities. The identification of wood and charcoal from the cemeteries and settlement is ongoing; ultimately this may not only reveal deliberate selection practices but shed some light on changes in local vegetation over time.