The Kushite cemetery of Dangeil (WTC): preliminary analyses of the human remains

Page 1

S UDAN & N UBIA The Sudan Archaeological Research Society

Bulletin No. 18

2014


ASWAN

1st cataract

LIBYA EGYPT

Red Sea A di Wa

Dal

ad

3rd cataract

Kawa

Kurgus

H29 H25 Magashi

4th cataract

5th cataract

Dangeil

eb

ba

SUDAN

llaqi

W a

ba bga Ga di

Ro osko Kor

2nd cataract

Wadi

D a m- D

r

El M

m Wa d i Muq a dda

CHAD

a Ho w

i lk

6th cataract

ra Atba

KHARTOUM

Meroe Hamadab Musawwarat Wad es-Sufra ben Naqa il e eN Blu

ite Wh

Ni le

Dhang Rial

CENTRAL AFRICAN REBUBLIC

ETHIOPIA SOUTH SUDAN Jebel Tukyi Maridi

Ancient sites MODERN TOWNS

ZAIRE 0

200km

JUBA

Jebel Kathangor Jebel Kachinga Lokabulo

Lulubo Laboré

Itohom

UGANDA

KENYA

ERITREA


S UDAN & N UBIA The Sudan Archaeological Research Society

Bulletin No. 18

2014

Contents Kirwan Memorial Lecture From Halfa to Kareima: F. W. Green in Sudan W. Vivian Davies

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Reports Animal Deposits at H29, a Kerma Ancien cemetery in the Northern Dongola Reach Pernille Bangsgaard

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Kerma in Napata: a new discovery of Kerma graves in the Napatan region (Magashi village) Murtada Bushara Mohamed, Gamal Gaffar Abbass Elhassan, Mohammed Fath Elrahman Ahmed and Alrashed Mohammed Ibrahem Ahmed

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The graffiti of Musawwarat es-Sufra: current research on historic inscriptions, images and markings at the Great Enclosure Cornelia Kleinitz

The Korosko Road Project Recording Egyptian inscriptions in the Eastern Desert and elsewhere W. Vivian Davies

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Preliminary report on some New Kingdom amphorae from the Korosko Road Philippe Ruffieux and Mahmoud Suliman Bashir

44

93

Meroitic Hamadab – a century after its discovery Pawel Wolf, Ulrike Nowotnick and Florian Wöß

104

Post-Meroitic Iron Production: initial results and interpretations Jane Humphris

121

Kurgus 2012: report on the survey Isabella Welsby Sjöström

130

The 2014 season of excavations at Kurgus

The Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project in the Northern Dongola Reach

Excavations in the cemetery, site KRG3 Scott D. Haddow

138

Excavations in the fort, site KRG2 Matthew Nicholas

148 156

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QSAP Dam-Debba Archaeological Survey Project (DDASP). Preliminary report on the NCAM mission’s first season, 2013-2014 Mahmoud Suliman Bashir

165

El-Eided Mohamadein (H25): a Kerma, New Kingdom and Napatan settlement on the Alfreda Nile Ross I. Thomas

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Archaeology in South Sudan past and present: Gordon’s fort at Laboré and other sites of interest Matthew Davies

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Miscellaneous

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Dangeil 2013-14: porches, ovens and a glimpse underground Julie R. Anderson, Mahmoud Suliman Bashir and Salah Mohamed Ahmed The Kushite cemetery of Dangeil (WTC): preliminary analyses of the human remains Anna Pieri

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Wad ben Naga: a history of the site Pavel Onderka

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Introduction Derek A. Welsby and Ross I. Thomas

47

Excavations within the Kushite town and cemetery at Kawa 2013-14 Derek A. Welsby

Front cover: Examining the pharaonic inscriptions at Khashm el-Bab on the Korosko Road, November 2013 (photo: D. A. Welsby). Sudan & Nubia is a peer-reviewed journal 1


The Kushite cemetery of Dangeil (WTC): preliminary analyses of the human remains

have been used in other sites such as Gabati and Berber (Judd 2012, passim; Mahmoud Suliman Bashir 2010). Generally, only one articulated individual is found inside a tomb, with the remnants of other individuals piled on one or both sides of the burial chamber or scattered and fragmented in the soil filling the descendary and burial chamber. In contrast with other cemeteries of the same period (Francigny 2012, 58), there is no evidence of coffin use and only two surviving examples of shrouds covering the body; however, this absence may be due to differential preservation and cannot be taken to indicate that the bodies had not been wrapped in fabric or hide. Two individuals from WTC X, Tomb 62 (Plate 1) and WTC VII, Grave B, presented traces of severely

Anna Pieri The Kushite cemetery at Dangeil (designated WTC for Wad Toum cemetery) is situated less than a kilometre to the north west of the 1st century AD temple of Amun. The cemetery site was discovered in 2003 during the excavation of a drainage canal (Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed 2011, 80, pl. 1).1 On the surface, there are no visible traces of any built superstructures associated with the graves. Since the extent of damage to, or denudation of, the original surface is not known, the number of graves that originally may have had superstructures remains uncertain; however, magnetometer results from last season suggest that at least some of the graves do appear to have had superstructures. This remains to be further investigated in future seasons (Anderson et al., this volume). Almost all the graves show evidence of reuse, a common practice in the late Kushite period (see further Edwards 1998; Lefebvre 2006-2007; Rilly and Francigny 2011); however, outlines of the grave shafts can be easily defined and it appears that they never cut into each other. The fact that each grave was reused several times does not seem to be arbitrary and it might indicate that graves were associated with some sort of family group. This has interesting implications for the chronology of the cemetery, since graves might have been reused for an extended period (Edwards 1998; Lefebvre 2006-2007). The burials generally comprise an east-west descendary leading down to an oval or rectangular burial chamber aligned north-south. The entrances to these chambers were sealed with mud bricks or red bricks. The orientation of the bodies within does not seem to follow a specific pattern. In most cases, when found in articulation, the body is semi-flexed, resting either on the left or right side, with the head to the south. This pattern, however, is not the only one observed in the WTC cemetery, and there are several exceptions. There are a few examples of a flexed body with head to the north, while other individuals were buried in an extended position. This variability in burial practices, with a south-north contracted body as the most common position, also appears to

Plate 1. Sacrum with traces of fabric or hide and red pigment, from WTC X, Tomb 62.

decayed fabric, or perhaps hide, with red pigment, possibly red ochre or paint, still adhering to the fragmented pelvis, sacrum and distal femur. If these were traces of painted fabric it would be particularly interesting since the use of dyed garments appears to be quite rare during the Kushite period being largely associated with grave deposits of the elite (Francigny 2012, 58). Analysis on the human remains of the WTC cemetery started in 2012;2 however, not all of the skeletal remains excavated during the previous seasons were available for study. In total 50 graves, containing the skeletal remains of 142 individuals, have been analysed.3 The cemetery includes male and female burials, as well as subadults. Moreover almost all the categories of age, from foetus to old adult, are represented. Unfortunately, the skeletal material is not well-preserved and

The Berber-Abidiya Archaeological Project’s excavations at Dangeil (1997-2014) were co-directed by Julie Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed. Mahmoud Suliman Bashir (acting co-director 2013-2014) was the field director of the excavation team in cemetery WTC and the 2013 team comprised Fakhri Hassan Abdula Hassan, Hind elBadwy, Mohamed Saad Abdalab, Anna Pieri and Rowide Rashid. The BerberAbidiya Archaeological Project is grateful to the Institute for Bioarchaeology for its support of the bioarchaeological work at Dangeil. For additional mission participants and supporters to whom we are also grateful see Anderson et al. this volume pg. 77.

1

Anthropological analyses of the 2013 season were done with the assistance of Mohamed Saad Abdalah. 3 The results of the analyses of the material excavated in 2013 has been combined with that of the skeletons excavated in 2012 and in the previous field seasons, to provide a better view of the demography of this cemetery assemblage which remains still partially unexcavated. One consideration to note: as the material presented here was excavated by several individuals over different field seasons and some material was unavailable for analyses, this might have influenced the results. 2

78


Sudan & Nubia its general condition ranges from fair to poor. Most of the specimens analysed in fact present post-mortem damage caused by the subsequent phases of reuse of the cemetery and the activities of plunderers. In some cases damage was caused by taphonomic factors. Almost all the skeletal remains show damage caused by water table changes, heat, termite and rodent activity. For these reasons, in many cases the bones appear fragile, cracked and splintered. Moreover the graves themselves were dug into compact Nile silt which becomes extremely hard when dry, crushing the skeletal remains, with skulls being particularly affected.

skeletal remains, determining the age and sex of the adult individuals from the WTC cemetery was complex. The skull and pelvis were often damaged. The skull, if found intact, presented taphonomical distortions, caused by the pressure of the soil filling the grave or by damage caused by water or termites. Generally, the pelvis was recovered fragmented and incomplete and the pubic portion rarely survived. Nonetheless, when the skeleton was found in articulation inside the grave, it was possible to score some of its features in situ, before lifting the bone from the ground. Measurements of the head of femur and humerus were recorded and, when possible, compared with the data provided by the observation of the pelvis. In this way it was possible to create a range of dimensions from these two elements that could help in the determination of sex when the pelvis was not preserved. Subadults were very well represented in the cemetery. In almost all cases it was possible to determine the age at death by observing the stage of dental development (Schour and Massler’s chart, revised by Uberlaker 1989, fig. 71). These observations, when the data were available, were combined with the score of the epiphyseal fusion stage and with the bone measurements (Scheuer and Black 2000). In general it was possible to observe that skeletal measurements suggest a younger age than dental development. Owing to the poor state of preservation of some of the skeletons, it was not possible to determine the age and sex of one third of the adult individuals. Nonetheless, of the sexed individuals, there appear to be an equal number of males and females in the cemetery (Figure 1).

Demographic Profile

To determine the sex it is important to use the most dimorphic elements of the skeleton, which are the skull, the pelvis and some features of the limb bones (White and Folkens 2005, 362-369). The pelvis is the most dimorphic bone of the skeleton and the most reliable indicator of sex. The female os coxa usually has a wide sciatic notch and more elongated pubic portion for example (Walkers 1994, 16-21). Sex can be determined also by observing the cranial features. Male skulls are characterized by greater robusticity, with more prominent and heavier features such as nuchal crest, mastoid process, supraorbital margin, glabella and mental eminence (Walkers 1994, 19-21; White and Folkens 2005, 385-387); however, even if males tend to have robust skulls, an estimation of sex based only on the cranial features can be difficult because the features normally observed are sometimes not reliable and this appears particularly the case when studying Nile Valley populations (Masali and Chiarelli 1972). Finally, other post-cranial elements, such as the head of the femur or humerus, show some degree of dimorphism and can also be used to determine sex (Brothwell 1981, 63; Bass 1995, 229-232). Generally the estimation of the age at death is more accurate in the case of immature or young adults than with adults. Epiphyseal closure, length of the shaft and dental development can be measured to determine the age of subadults (Scheuer and Black 2000; Buikstra and Uberlacker 1994). Dental development in particular is extremely useful because teeth tend to survive better in archaeological contexts and their formation and eruption are more regular than bone development. To estimate the age through dental development, several charts have been created, providing a general view of the deciduous and permanent dentitions at different ages, and giving a series of broad stages of the dental development (Schour and Massler’s chart, revised by Uberlaker 1989, fig. 71; Gustafson and Koch 1974; Hillson 1996). In the case of adult individuals the estimation of age can be based on several skeletal features. The most reliable and commonly used are the observation of the pubic symphysis (Todd 1920; Brooks and Suchey 1990) and the auricular surface (Lovejoy et al. 1985) of the pelvis. The second one in particular is widely used because it tends to survives better in archaeological contexts. Due to the post-mortem damage that occurred to the

Figure 1. Distribution of sex in the cemetery. The sex of subadult individuals cannot be determined; however, they are represented in the chart to allow better observations on the general demography of the cemetery.

A large proportion of the individuals buried in the cemetery are subadults. Almost 50% of the whole skeletal assemblage is represented by individuals younger than 20 years and all the age phases are present in this cemetery. Figure 2 shows that there is a peak in death amongst children between one and five years, and in the age span between 20 and 35 years for adults, while very few individuals could be aged between 35 and 50. 79


Another type of carious lesion can develop on the root surface. This lesion normally develops in dentitions that suffer gingival recession, along the cement-enamel junction or further down if the roots are highly exposed (Hillson 2001; 2005, 250). Furthermore there is a well-established hierarchy in the tooth types that generally are involved in carious lesions. Normally left and right sides are equally affected and cheek molars appear to be more involved than anterior teeth. The hierarchy is determined by the amount of exposure time the different teeth have in the mouth and for this reason the most affected teeth are the first molars, especially on the occlusal, buccal and lingual surfaces; however, the other molars and premolars can be involved as well (Sheiham 1997, 108), while incisors and canines are the least prone to develop this type of pathology. Moreover the prevalence of caries seems to increase with age, especially in the molar teeth (Hillson 2005, 290-303). One very important factor that needs to be taken into account when studying archaeological assemblages is the rate of occlusal attrition. A heavy degree of wear might in fact obliterate the fissures of the crown and remove the carious tissue; nevertheless, heavily worn teeth, where the enamel is reduced to a ring around an area of exposed dentine, can be susceptible to caries in some populations. Moreover strong occlusal wear might induce a high degree of root exposure and a higher risk of root caries at an earlier age. In the WTC cemetery carious lesions appear to be not very frequent and they could be observed only on five individuals; two of the 61 subadults and three of the 64 adults with teeth preserved (Figure 3, Plate 2). One juvenile and one adolescent

Figure 2. Age distribution of the WTC cemetery.

Pathologies

It should be noted that the fragmentary preservation of the assemblage might generate an underestimation of the real frequencies of the different diseases. Nonetheless, several pathologies could be observed, in some cases even on fragmentary and damaged bones. Dental pathologies appear to be the most common. Enamel hypoplasia is defined as growth disruption caused by some ‘stress’ factors during the period in which the enamel was formed (generally between birth and 13 years) (Lukacs 1989, 267). The causes producing hypoplasia can be nutritional deficiency, poor health, thyroid dysfunction and lack of vitamin D. It can be identified by the presence of irregular defects on the surface of the tooth enamel. The frequency of these lines can indicate repeated periods of ‘stress’ or a recurring seasonal scarcity of food (Hillson 2005, 166-167; Reid and Dean 2000, 135-136). From the analyses of the WTC cemetery, it is interesting to observe that enamel hypoplasia appears to be more common in subadults. These defects in fact could be recorded on 14 of the 64 subadults analysed, while only 8 of the 61 adults with teeth preserved presented it. The areas with more defects appear to be the anterior teeth, incisors and canines, but defects could also be observed in premolars. Other dental pathologies are more common in adults but do not appear to have a specific age and sex pattern, with the only exception being caries. Dental caries, as well as dental wear, are important ways to reconstruct and understand the diet of ancient populations. Tooth decay is mainly caused by fermented carbohydrates and by bacteria from the genus streptococcus (Cucina and Tiesler 2003, 2). The carious lesions that originated in the enamel of the crown can be identified as coronal. In more severe cases, they can also involve the underlying dentine and lead to a periapical absess. Coronal caries may be subdivided into (e.g. Hillson 2005):

Figure 3. Dental pathologies in the WTC cemetery.

had small cavities in the occlusal surface of the first molars. All the adult individuals affected had interproximal caries and generally more than one tooth appeared to be involved. The results indicate that mainly females suffered from carious lesions, and moreover caries were more concentrated in the second and third molars with no specific prevalence between upper and lower dentition. Nonetheless, numbers are small. Other pathologies could be observed.4 Individual 1 from

Occlusal caries originally developed from the fissures, fossae or grooves of the occlusal surface of a tooth. Contact point caries. Often these lesions can develop in the mesial or distal crown surface, the contact point between two teeth.

See further Ortner and Putschar 1981; Aufderheide and RodriguezMartin 1998.

4

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Sudan & Nubia detailed analyses. Even though this individual was a young male (aged 20-35), he suffered severe antemortem tooth loss, possibly caused by dental abscesses, mainly concentrated on the right maxilla. Furthermore osteoarthritis could be scored on the cervical vertebrae, mainly on the first and the second (atlas and axis), on the glenoid cavity of the right scapula and on the left patella and femur. Conversely, individual 1 from Tomb 9 was not as well preserved. The diameter of the head of the femur, the length of the clavicle and of the glenoid cavity were used to determine that this individual was possibly female, while a fragment of preserved auricular surface suggested that she also was a young adult. This individual does not present any dental pathologies with the exception of moderate calculus. As with the male individual from Tomb 56, the skeleton showed mild changes on the glenoid cavity of the right scapula but not on the knee joint. There are several factors that can cause osteoarthritis including age, genetics, sex, trauma and movement. The last one in particular is a fundamental element contributing towards the development of this condition; however, it is in general difficult to determine, from the observation of the bone and the joint, which was the original cause for the development of this pathology (Waldron 2009, 29-30). The observations on the skeletal remains made on site allowed us to observe a very interesting pattern related to

Plate 2. WTC X, Tomb 60. Interproximal carious lesion involving lower left second and third molars. The caries probably developed in the space between the crown and the root of the second molar, while the third was affected in a subsequent moment. First and third molars were damaged post mortem; however, it is still possible to see the carious lesion involving the third one.

T53, an adult female, suffered significant loss of bone mass resulting in thin and fragile bones, suggesting she might have suffered from osteoporosis (Plate 3). Generally, this condition is more severe in females than males and it normally does not manifest before the fifth decade. If the rate of bone loss becomes too great there is a considerable risk of fracture, especially on the femoral neck or vertebrae (Waldron 2009, 118-122). This individual in fact presented a compressed fracture involving the bodies of the 4th and 5th thoracic vertebrae. The trauma shows evidence of healing and the two vertebral bodies were fused together. Apart from this example, traumatic lesions were not very common in the skeletal assemblage and they appear to be related to minor injuries, like impacted foot phalanges (Table 1).

Table 1. Frequency of pathologies in the WTC cemetery. Pathology Osteoarthritis Knee Joint Osteoarthritis Atlas/Axis Intervertebral Disc Disease Aneurism or Tortuosity Abnormal Bone Growth Trauma Osteoporosis Osteoma

Discussion

Among the adult individuals analysed to date, two are of particular interest: individual 1 from WTC IX Tomb 9, and individual 1 from WTC X Tomb 56. Both individuals were found articulated in a flexed position and both wore an archer’s loose on the thumb. The presence of this object suggests they may have been archers. The skeletal remains found in tomb 56 were in good condition and it was possible to make

No. of cases 2 1 3 1 2 5 1 1

No. of individuals observed 35 27 27 27 35 60 60 32

the burial practices of the subadult individuals. Among the graves that were excavated, Tomb 59 is remarkable, being the only one containing only non-adults. The articulated skeletons of four individuals comprising one full-term foetus, one infant and two children were inhumed in this small and shallow grave, possibly on two or three different occasions. Individual 2 (aged 42 weeks-1 year) was found in close contact with individual 3 (aged 2-4 years) as the first was partially resting on the left shoulder blade of the other. The position of these two individuals might suggest they had been buried at the same time. Individual 4 (aged 2-4 years) was buried in an extremely contracted position on the south edge of the grave and it was not possible to determine if the child was inhumed on the same occasion as the other two or during a separate event (Plate 4). Finally, individual 1 was clearly buried in a later phase, when the other three were already inside the grave. Individual 1 was found inside the burial chamber and mostly articulated but in an upper level of the fill. This might

Plate 3. WTC X, Tomb 53, individual 1. Female with osteoporosis. 81


Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology. Cambridge. Bass, W. M. 1995. Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual. Columbia. Brooks, S. and J. M. Suchey 1990. ‘Skeletal age determination based on the os pubis: A comparison of the Acsádi-Nemeskéri and SucheyBrooks methods’, Journal of Human Evolution 5(3), 227-238. Brothwell, D. 1981. Digging Up Bones. Ithaca. Buikstra, J. E. and D. H. Uberlaker 1994. Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Arkansas Archaeological Survey Report No. 44. Fayetteville. Cucina, A. and V. Tiesler 2003. ‘Dental Caries and Antemortem Tooth Loss in the Northern Peten Area, Mexico: A Biocultural Perspective on Social Status Differences Among the Classic Maya’, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 122, 1-10. Edwards, D. N. 1998. Gabati. A Meroitic, Post-Meroitic and Medieval Cemetery on Central Sudan, Vol. 1. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Publication No. 2. London. Francigny, V. 2012. ‘Preparing for the Afterlife in the Provinces of Meroe’, Sudan & Nubia 16, 52- 59. Gustafson, G. and G. Koch 1974. ‘Age Estimation Up to 16 Years of Age Based on Dental Development,’ Odontol Revy 25, 297-306. Hillson, S. 1996. Dental Anthropology. Cambridge. Hillson, S. 2001. ‘Recording Dental Caries in Archaeological Human Remains’, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11(4), 249-289. Hillson, S. 2005. Teeth. Cambridge. Judd, M. A. 2012. Gabati. A Meroitic, Post-Meroitic and Medieval Cemetery in Central Sudan. Vol. 2. The Physical Anthropology. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Publication 20. London. Lefebvre, A. 2006-2007. ‘Le fonctionnement d’une sépulture méroïtique: l’exemple de la tombe 315 du site 8B5A de l’île de Saï’, Cahier de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Egyptology de Lille 26, 253-262. Lovejoy, C. O., R. S. Meindl, T. R. Przybeck and R. P. Mensforth 1985. ‘Chronological Metamorphosis of the Auricular Surface of the Ilium: A New Method for the Determination of Adult Skeletal Age at Death’, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 68, 15-28. Lukacs, J. R. 1989. ‘Dental Paleopathology: Methods for Reconstructing Dietary Patterns’, in M. Y. Işcan and K. A. R. Kennedy (eds), Reconstruction of Life from the Skeleton. New York, 261-286. Mahmoud Suliman Bashir 2010. ‘A Recently Discovered Meroitic Cemetery at Berber, River Nile State, Sudan. Preliminary Report’, Sudan & Nubia 14, 69-74. Masali, M. and B. Chiarelli 1972. ‘Demographic Data on the Remains of Ancient Egyptians,’ Journal of Human Evolution 1, 161-169. Ortner, D. J. and D. J. Putschar 1981. Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. Washington DC. Reid, D. J. and M. C. Dean 2000. ‘Brief Communication: The Timing of Linear Hypoplasias on Human Anterior Teeth’, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 113, 135-139. Rilly, C. and V. Francigny 2011. ‘The Late Meroitic Cemetery at Sedeinga. Campaign 2010’, Sudan & Nubia 15, 72-79. Scheuer, L. and S. Black 2000. Developmental Juvenile Osteology. London. Sheiham, A. 1997. ‘Impact of Dental Treatment on the Incidence of Dental Caries in Children and Adults’, Community Dent. Oral Epidemiol 25(1), 104-112. Todd, T. W. 1920. ‘Age Changes in the Pubic Bone: I. The White Male Pubis’, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 3(3), 467-470. Uberlaker, D. H. 1989. Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis, Interpretation. Washington DC. Waldron, T. 2009. Paleopathology. Cambridge. Walkers, P. L. 1994. ‘Sex Differences and Age Changes in Adults’, Cpt 3. in J. E. Buikstra and D. H. Uberlaker (eds), Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Arkansas Archaeological Survey Report No. 44. Fayetteville, 15-38. White, T. D. and P. A. Folkens 2005. The Human Bone Manual. New York.

Plate 4. WTC X, Tomb 59, individual 4.

explain why the skull of individual 1 was partially disturbed and incomplete. The other graves excavated contained both adult and subadult individuals. (Seven of the 11 tombs excavated in 2013 contained both adult and subadult individuals.) The analyses on the skeletal remains and the observations made during the excavation of the graves revealed that subadults appeared to be treated differently depending upon their age at death. All of the adults were inhumed inside the burial chamber while subadults could also be buried in the descendary. The analyses on the skeletal remains revealed that all individuals discovered inside the burial chamber were older than three years, while fetuses and infants were generally buried in the descendary. A very clear example was presented in Tomb 53 in which a single female individual was found inside the burial chamber while four other individuals, aged between 36 weeks and 3 years, were discovered clustered along the north side of the descendary. In Tomb 65, which contained the disturbed remains of six individuals, only one of the three subadults, the age of which could be estimated to 15 ± 36 months, was buried inside the burial chamber, while the other two, both younger than 3 years, were buried on the ramp. This pattern does not seem to be comparable to other contemporary cemeteries and it is quite difficult to attempt a hypothesis as to what could be the reason for this specific practice. The recent analyses on this skeletal assemblage revealed much important new information about this community in the late Kushite period; however, it is important to note that this assemblage so far has been only partially excavated and that the results are as yet incomplete. Future field seasons and anthropological analyses will provide new data and further information about this cemetery.

Bibliography

Anderson, J. and Salah Mohamed Ahmed 2011. ‘Dangeil 2010: Meroitic Wall Paintings Unearthed and Conservation Strategies Considered’, Sudan & Nubia 15, 80-89. Aufderheide, A. C. and C. Rodriguez-Martin 1998. The Cambridge

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The West Bank Survey from Faras to Gemai 1. Sites of Early Nubian, Middle Nubian and Pharaonic Age by H.-Å. Nordström London, 2014 xviii + 178 pages, 29 tables, 33 plates, 74 figures ISBN 978 1 901169 195 This volume completes the three-volume series devoted to the results of the survey and excavations conducted by the Sudan Antiquities Service between 1960 and 1963 during the UNESCO-sponsored Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia. The author reports in detail on the Pharaonic and earlier sites, the excavation of many of which he personally directed. Also heavily involved in the publication of the Scandinavian Joint Expedition’s work on the opposite bank, he is ideally placed to provide a synthesis of the evidence for human activity in this part of the Nile Valley, now largely inundated. Retail price £35. Available to members at the discounted price of £30 (p&p UK £4.90, overseas - Europe £9, rest of world £15)

Gabati A Meroitic, Post-Meroitic and Medieval Cemetery in Central Sudan. Vol. 2: The Physical Anthropology

GABATI A MEROITIC, POST-MEROITIC AND MEDIEVAL CEMETERY IN CENTRAL SUDAN Volume 2

by Margaret A. Judd, with a contribution by David N. Edwards London 2012 xii + 208 pages, 110 tables, 15 figures, 66 maps, 73 colour plates ISBN 978 1 901169 19 7 The cemetery at Gabati, dating from the Meroitic, post-Meroitic and Christian periods was excavated in advance of road construction in 1994-5, the detailed report being published by SARS in 1998. This complementary volume provides an in-depth analysis of the human remains. A final chapter, a contribution from David Edwards, the field director of the project, in conjunction with Judd, assesses the archaeological results in light of continuing research in the region over the last decade and more.

THE PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY M. A. Judd 1

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View upstream along the Wadi Murrat from the late 19th century Anglo-Egyptian fort. The pharaonic inscriptions are amongst the trees at the wadi edge in the far centre (photo D. A. Welsby).

Horus, Lord of the Desert. A natural rock outcrop along the route from Buhen towards Wadi Murrat (photo D. A. Welsby).

THE SUDAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY

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