After the Id, the celebration for the end of the Ramadam, the life returned to its normal routine in Khartoum and in all Sudan. Finally, we can go back to our work with the workers ready to start. The excavation of El Salha (the huge prehistoric settlement 10-X-6) and of the Post-Meroitic graveyard 10-U-21 started again. At 10-X-6 the work continued with the excavation of some levels representing the collapse of a mud-brick structure of possible Meroitic or Post-Meroitic period (Fig.1).

The pottery associated to these levels, mostly constituted by pieces of mud-bricks, silt and fragments of sandstone tools date, in fact, to this period. Meanwhile, all around this kind of deposit we found other children graves (Fig.2) with necklaces (Fig.3), bracelets (Fig. 4) and, in one case, a belt made of faience beads (Fig.5).

The deposits around the mud-brick structure are, unfortunately, mostly mixed up and contain pottery of both Mesolithic and Neolithic period. Some photographic examples of this pottery is showed (Figs. 6,7,8). After excavating the graves and the deposits in which their pits were cut through we came to a floor linked to the structure. Some possible post-holes seem to appear outdoor. These may witness less disturbed levels and a possible primary deposit.
Let us make now a brief parenthesis.
Many of those that follow us probably have a little or no knowledge of prehistoric excavation. They probably wonder why our work is so poorly eye-catching and slow. We would like to spend some lines to explain them the meaning of our work. What we find in settlements of this period are deposits rich in animal bones, food refuse, fragments of pottery, quartz flakes and microlithic tools made from small river pebbles, grinding stone and pestles left by their inhabitants.

The anthropic layers produced by human activities are, often, altered by natural phenomena, wind and water erosion, twisted either by anthropic (pit excavation, transport of soil from one part of the site to another to fill pits or depressions) or animal disturbances (rodent or fox barrows that transported archaeological material sometimes deeply disturbing the deposit and the original structures). To identify secondary and primary layers and the various disturbances which affected the original deposits, the excavation have to proceed with great attention and only with the use of small tools and brushes. In this way it is possible to identify the smallest chromatic variation of the soils that, together with other indications, like soil matrix and consistency, allow us to distinguish the alternating episodes of the settlement life. All the soil excavated is sieved to recover the smallest remain. In the meanwhile, after the excavation, there is the laboratory work, with a first screening of the material recovered: animal bones separated by genera; the lithic industry and all the debris produced during flintknapping activities; the pottery that is studied and catalogued on the base of manufacture techniques, decorations, ware typology, etc. All this makes the excavation of prehistoric sites a slow operation needing an infinite patience.
After this let’s come back to our fieldwork activity.
After the Id, we came back to the foot of the Jebel, to our excavation of the big oval cairn. With our surprise we found out that somebody had partially destroyed the cairn during our absence (Fig. 10). Having overcome the psychological impact of such an unexpected situation we started again the work cleaning the area and reaching the pit grave covering, consisting in large stone slabs (Fig. 11).

Under this level of stone there was a mud-brick cover (Fig.12), a sort of platform, interrupted, because of a collapse, only on part of the grave pit. At a lower level other stones appeared covering almost completely the buried individual (Fig. 13).
The dead, a young of about 20 years old, was lying flexed on the right side (Fig. 14) with an handmade bowl and jar, some bracelets and a necklace of faience, carnelian and glass beads (Figs 15-16). Some iron arrowheads were also part of the grave goods and, at the right hand finger, the young archer was wearing a copper ring and a stone archer-ring (Fig. 17).

After finished the excavation of this cairn we moved to another graveyard (10-U-3) located two years ago, during our survey activities, in the Jebel area. We decided to dig a group of three cairns two of which appeared particularly well preserved. The first one was a small circular cairn made of Nubian sandstone (Fig. 18). The excavation of the cairn was again disturbed by vandal acts. The excavation proceeded and, getting close to the grave pit, we noted the presence of the mouth of a handmade jar, protected by some flat stones (Figs. 19-20). At first we thought that the grave had not been looted in antiquity. But the less gratifying surprise was waiting for us. Under and among the stones filling the pit, we recovered a large number of beads but no trace of the inhumed was found. Not even the smallest fragment of human bone! Only a stone archer-ring suggested us that the pit once contained a male, a warrior or a hunter.

The second cairn caused us another, if not bigger, disappointment! The excavation of the cairn, on of big dimension, required, in fact, much effort (Figs. 21-22) and at the end a proportional disappointment! The ancient host should have been buried extended as the pit has an oblong shape, rectangular with rounded corners. No trace of the inhumed was found, with a great surprise of our poor anthropologist. Only few fragments of a Meroitic jar were recovered inside the structure.
In the following days we’ll start the excavation of a third cairn even if we have little hope to find it intact. We’ll inform you soon of our result.