2005: tutti a lavoro!
This year fieldwork was oriented to four different goals (Fig. 1):
1 -
Systematic and extensive exploration of Late Mesolithic Site 10W4, operated by Dr. Sandro Salvatori;
2 -
Systematic and extensive exploration of Early Mesolithic and Neolithic Site 16D5, operated by Dr. Donatella Usai;
3 - Systematic excavation of Mesolithic and Neolithic Cemetery 16D4, operated by Dalia Gasparini, archaeologist, in collaboration with Erik Becker, anthropologist;
4 - Survey and sampling of modern and ancient faunal and floral remains for palaeo-environmental and diet reconstructions, operated by Prof. Paola Iacumin.
Site 10-W-4
Excavations have been carried out at the Late Mesolithic (a C14 determination from a charcoal samples collected last year confirmed a date in the mid 5th millennium BC) site of 10-W-4 to investigate the shape of a large hut (Fig. 2) partially unearthed during the last season and possibly to locate other similar structures. Four 5x5 squares have been opened in an area largely affected by widespread traces of trucks tyres being the area a source of sand for building purposes.
Notwithstanding, the abandon layer of Hut 2 has been excavated and we have determined the shape of the hut which resulted to have been excavated for a conserved depth of 30 cm into the original sand layer of the area (Fig. 3). Considering erosion effects we can suppose the original structure could have been a semi subterranean living structure about seven meters long and 3.5 meters large. Traces of large postholes have been located at the eastern edge of the structure. The material culture confirmed that the area was settled during a late phase of the long Mesolithic sequence, a phase which duration we will try to determine with the aid of new C14 dates to be obtained from pottery and bone samples. The shape of the hut remains us the hut excavated and recently published by Wendorf at Site E-75-8 in Nabta Playa (F. Wendorf, R. Schild and Associates (ed.), Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2001.)
To the north of this structure an area of 150 sq meters was opened. To the east was immediately located a north-south cut in the old sand dune which faced a lower area were fresh water was seasonally present drained by a large system of wadies or by the Nile flooding. To the west of the longitudinal cut archaeological material concentrations were widespread on an area of at lest 100 sq meters. Unfortunately the repeated use of the area by Late Mesolithic people prevented to single out discrete units. We recorded all the surface spread of ceramics and lithic material by zenithal photographing survey to map single artefacts. A drawing restitution of the area will be accomplished by means of AUTOCAD software. Excavation of the area has later provided indications of the presence of at least 3 large huts in the area which were cutting each other during the life of the settlement. All the data collected point to a same orientation of the huts (north-south oriented and the bottom of the most eastern one has been investigated through stratigraphic recording of the different layer of use of the structure.
Large samples of pottery fragments (Fig. 4) and a surprising amount of stone tools and debitage has been collected in the huts deposits, while animal bones are pointing to a selective hunting practice of this Mesolithic group in the area. Apparently, the activity at the site was mainly oriented to gazelle hunting practice while fishing seems to have been a minor food supply during their permanence at the site. Detailed studies on the faunal remains at the site will be carried out in the next future.
As we mentioned in the previous year report the area of the site is in great danger both by growing sand exploitation activities and by the designed construction of a market and a school building. Actually the site represents the only seasonal Mesolithic settlement located south of Omdurman and its destruction would be a great loss for the cultural heritage of the country.
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