AcrossBorders 2015: the fieldwork season approaches

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Julia Budka

In a few days, the first group of team members of AcrossBorders will be on the way back to Sudan. We will travel via Khartoum to Sai Island and will start our third season on January 1 (insha’allah). As in the previous seasons, AcrossBorders will focus on the New Kingdom on the large island of Sai. We plan to work in different sectors within the town area and to renew work in the New Kingdom cemetery SAC5.

The 2015 fieldwork will concentrate on the continuous excavation at SAV1E and SAV1W in the New Kingdom town, the new excavation of presumed tombs in cemetery SAC 5 and the documentation of already excavated material from SAV1N, SAV1E and SAV1W (sorting and recording of the material in the courtyard and working room).

One of the main goals of the project is to improve our understanding of the population on the island and to explore the nature of the coexistence of Egyptians and Nubians. A comparison between the material culture from the Egyptian style cemetery and the Egyptian town will be highly relevant in this respect; human remains will offer multiple aspects for analytical research, especially for studies of biological identities.

SAV1 East

Continued fieldwork in the site to the east of the Pharaonic town, labelled SAV1E, investigated for the first time in 2013, is planned for 2015. The orthogonal structure called “Building A” was largely exposed; we aim to finish the complete excavation of this important complex of the mid-18^th Dynasty. Contemporaneous to the excavations, the pottery will be studied.

SAV1 West

New fieldwork in a site to the west of the Pharaonic town, labelled SAV1W, was started in 2014. The western enclosure wall was traced in two squares and brick work datable to the 18^th Dynasty exposed. Very promising New Kingdom deposits have been noticed within the town, to the east of the enclosure wall – several phases for these structures are visible in sections of Post-Pharaonic pits. This interesting area of 18^th Dynasty occupation will be the focus of the 2015 season. Contemporaneous to the excavations, the pottery will be studied. Work will also focus on a detailed study of the stone tools from SAV1W by Silvia Prell.

Sector SAV1 West.

SAC 5

In 2011, a geophysical survey was conducted in the area of the most important New Kingdom cemetery of Sai, SAC5 to the South of the Pharaonic town. We plan to excavate unexplored tombs visible on the magnetometric map of the cemetery, starting with the surroundings of tombs 14 and 15 in the southern part of the cemetery. Our work will include besides the study of the architecture, finds and human remains Structure-From-Motion techniques to create a 3D model of the cemetery and especially of the newly exposed tombs.

The New Kingdom cemetery SAC 5 to the south of the Pharaonic town (view from the north).

I am especially happy that Florence Thill (Lille University) will join us during the excavations in the cemetery and will offer her expertise based on her previous work in SAC 5.

Other tasks

This year, the team will be strengthened by two geoarchaeologists, Miranda Semple and Sayantani Neogi. They will build upon the geological survey conducted in 2014 and will focus on questions of the location and nature of the ancient harbour and the ancient stone quarries. Furthermore, they will collect samples to investigate the micromorphology of the Pharaonic town, focusing on formation processes and cultural activities. It is planned that they will compare the different excavation areas (SAV1N, SAV1W and SAV1E as well as SAV1) to each other. Environmental and climatic settings and changes during the New Kingdom will be focal points in the next years – being investigated by surveying, drilling and test pits.

Furthermore, I am very happy to welcome Frits Heinrich (archaeobotanist) and Jaime van der Heul from Groningen University as external experts – they will conduct archaeobotanical research and will take relevant samples in different areas of the town.

Without doubt another busy season is waiting for us – with renewed work in the cemetery, there will be fresh challenges and for sure a lot of new material. Thanks to all of the support by our Sudanese friends and colleagues and of course due to the joint efforts of all team members, I am more than confident that the results will be amazing and the 2015 season again very productive and highly interesting.

Looking much forward to travel to Sudan and wishing all team members & friends of AcrossBorders very happy holidays and a perfect start into 2015!

Kick-off: Year 3 and new perspectives in micro- and geoarchaeology

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Julia Budka

Time flies by: AcrossBorders is by now already in its third year! Having just returned from a very successful season at Elephantine (thanks to our good cooperation with the Swiss Institute Cairo), I am more than happy that we just held a kick-off meeting in Vienna (Dec 8-9): Our new colleagues from the Charles McBurney Laboratory for Geoarchaeology in Cambrigde, Sayantani Neogi and Miranda Semple, joined us for two days of sharing information, ideas and thoughts about possible applications of micromorphology and geoarchaeology on Sai Island.

Microarchaeology, commonly applied to investigate formation processes on sites in Britain, Turkey and Syria (and very successfully by our colleagues working at Amara West), can provide astonishing results in uncovering human activities in seemingly insignificant traces within archaeological sections. Micromorphology and geochemistry will therefore be applied to investigate formation processes and cultural activities within the town site of Sai. Both anthropogenic activities and natural processes will be investigated by chemical analyses, petrographical studies and thin sections of archaeological deposits. There will be a particular focus on floors, walls and archaeological deposits within open areas.

Miranda explaining some of her previous studies at sites in Syria.

Miranda is our new specialist for investigating activity areas and more in the different sectors of the Pharaonic town – the focus of her research will be on sampling contexts from our current excavation in SAV1 West.

Sayantani has conducted landscape archaeology in different parts of the world, e.g. in India and Spain.

Sayantani will concentrate on the landscape archaeology and the environmental setting of Sai Island during the 2^nd millennium BC. For the upcoming season, sampling of relevant sections, drilling and test pits are planned as well as a detailed geoarchaeological survey in the area of the Pharaonic town and the New Kingdom cemeteries.

All of this will happen of course in close exchange with us working on the architecture, pottery, faunal remains and other finds.

Giulia explaining some of her observations on the petrography of our ceramics.

Giulia sharing some of her observations on the petrography of our ceramics.

I am much looking forward to our 2015 season and I am delighted that thanks to the strong interdisciplinary approach of AcrossBorders, the project is now applying multiple methods, including micro- and geoarchaeology with physical and chemical analyses of samples. This would not be possible without the support of several colleagues and here I am especially grateful to Charles French and his lab in Cambridge (Charles McBurney Laboratory for Geoarchaeology).

Home game: presenting AcrossBorders in Vienna

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Julia Budka

I was fortunate to present AcrossBorders at several conferences in the last two years (Prague, London, Neuchâtel), as well as on the occasion of invited guest lectures, e.g. in Khartoum, Münster, Göttingen, Warsaw, Swansea and Pisa. Having for the first time a home game in Vienna (19/11/2014, 5:30 pm) is very much appreciated – especially because it gives all current (and a number of future) team members plus Viennese friends and colleagues the chance to join the presentation tomorrow.

The paper will focus on results of our field work from 2013 to 2014 in the areas SAV1 East and SAV1 West. New insights about the environmental setting, the outline and internal structure of the Pharaonic town will be summarised. Selected finds, including highlights of the 2014 season, and the most important object groups will be discussed.

As mentioned earlier (and elsewhere), objects of Egyptian type dominate the material assemblage at Sai and find many parallels at Egyptian sites in both Egypt and Nubia. Interestingly, the artefacts and ceramics testify to an obvious coexistence between Egyptians and Nubians, from the foundation of the town in the early Dynasty 18 through the remainder of the New Kingdom. During my lecture, I will give some examples, e.g. hybrid forms of pottery, Nubian style female figurines and the small number of hieratic dockets on vessels.

An outline of our planned work in the upcoming season will end this short summary of AcrossBorders’ fieldwork in 2013 and 2014 – I am very excited that the 2015 season is approaching and will give us more to think about!

Heading to the International Conference for Nubian Studies 2014

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Julia Budka

Amazing how time flies – the Nubian Conference in London 2010 seems almost like yesterday, but now we are already heading for the next one: From today until Saturday the idyllic town of Neuchatel (Neuenburg) in Switzerland will be hosting this year’s Nubian conference, welcoming the international archaeological community working in Sudan.

The programme is very rich and diverse, promising a lot of new insights and vivid discussion. I am especially looking forward to hear the latest from Kerma by the organiser of the conference, Matthieu Honegger and his team.

I will be presenting a short summary of AcrossBorders’ field seasons in 2013 and 2014 with excavations at SAV1 East and SAV1 West. The outline of the town enclosure will be discussed and I will focus on the new chronological data available for understanding the development of Sai as fortified Egyptian town.

Looking very much forward to the 13^th International Conference for Nubian Studies!

A possible foundation deposit at SAV1 West?

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Julia Budka

The highlight among the finds from the 2014 season, recently presented in Sokar 28 (Budka 2014), is for sure SAV1W 532: A mud object of oval shape, representing a cartouche (11.4 x 6.1 x 3.4 cm). This oval plaque bears incised hieroglyphs on the front, giving, as it seems, the name and epithet of a god. The deity is a falcon-god, possibly Horus, Horakhty or even Hauron – the group of signs in front of the god, most likely an epithet, is unfortunately still unclear to me. The other signs might be read in a very playful writing as “Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands, numerous in beauty”. “Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands” is a well-known epithet for Amun, Amun-Ra and Horakhty.

The find spot of SAV1W 532 in square 2, SAV1 West.

SAV1W 532 with its incised hieroglyphic cartouche reminds one of the stamped bricks attested from the early 18^th Dynasty onwards. However, it held most probably a symbolic character. It was found in the sandy pit cutting the enclosure wall in Square 2 at SAV1 West – it is possible that it once belonged to a foundation deposit for the town enclosure. Comparable cartouche-shaped plaques are regularly found in foundation deposits in Egypt, but most often in other materials (faience or stone) and smaller in size. According to Weinstein (1973, 94), cartouche-shaped plaques are new additions to foundation deposits in the mid 18^th Dynasty (Thutmose IV/Amenhotep III). This could be of significance for the possible connection of SAV1W 532 with the town enclosure and its dating – at present, all is in favour to date the foundation of this wall as not prior to the reign of Thutmose III.

The only foundation deposits attested in Upper Nubia for town walls have been found at Sesebi (Thill 1997, 115 with further references) – at Sai itself, several deposits came to light in the foundations of Temple A.

SAV1W 532 finds a close parallel in the fragmented piece SAV1W 031, also from the sandy area in Square 2, and of comparable cartouche shape with incised hieroglyphic signs. Further exploration of the area in the upcoming season might allow us to contextualize these intriguing finds and to date them more accurately.

Overview of eastern part of Square 2 with remains of the town enclosure wall.

References

Budka 2014 = J. Budka, Neues zur Tempelstadt der 18. Dynastie auf Sai Island (Nordsudan) – Ergebnisse der Feldkampagne 2014, Sokar 28, 2014, 28–37.

Thill 1997 = F. Thill, Les premiers dépôts de fondation de Saï, Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 17/2, 1997, 105–117.

Weinstein 1973 = J. Weinstein, Foundation deposits in Ancient Egypt, Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania 1973.

The long-lasting ceramic tradition on Sai Island

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Julia Budka

It is well known that Sai Island has been occupied by various cultural groups from Palaeolithic times onwards – illustrating the good living conditions and also a favourable strategic position in the Nile valley which resulted in the importance of the site during the Kerma period and the New Kingdom.

The large Kerma cemetery in the southern part of Sai Island.

Even if AcrossBorders is focusing on the period of the Egyptian presence on Sai Island, I was always keen to set our ideas and studies into a larger context, the diachronic development of the site throughout the millennia. Therefore I am very happy that Elena Garcea, working since many years on the Prehistory of Sai, was willing to cooperate with my project and we can thus tackle interesting aspects of local and also regional phenomena within a very broad timeframe.

Elena Garcea at work on Sai Island (field season 2013).

The perfect opportunity to present some of our ongoing research on pottery production came up with the 14^th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies, hosted from July 14-18 by the University of the Witwatersrand at Johannesburg, South Africa.

Elena Garcea, Giulia d’Ercole and myself will speak about “THE SUCCESSFUL ‘RECIPE’ FOR A LONG-LASTING TRADITION: NUBIAN CERAMIC ASSEMBLAGES FROM SAI ISLAND (NORTHERN SUDAN) FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES TO THE NEW KINGDOM PERIOD”.

Our paper aims to illustrate that in Nubia (Northern Sudan) pottery making has a very ancient tradition with long-lasting aspects of production techniques and raw materials. We will present a comparative study on diverse Nubian ceramic assemblages from Sai Island, covering a period of over 5000 years: from prehistoric times (Khartoum Variant, Abkan and Pre-Kerma) until the New Kingdom period (especially Dynasty 18).

The pottery data are presented according to both stylistic and technological aspects, taking into account the entire manufacturing sequence, from the raw material procurement to the firing of the vessels. In order to address the different archaeological questions, macroscopic and analytical approaches have been combined, by means of petrographic (OM) and chemical (XRF and INAA) analyses.[1]

We do believe that the ceramic production reflects aspects of the general development of economic choices and corresponding lifestyles. Much research has still to be undertaken, but the first results, especially deriving from the INAA, are very promising! We are very much looking forward to the conference and in particular to feedback from our colleagues working in different areas of Africa!

[1] We are very grateful to the Center for Earth Sciences of the University of Vienna for its support concerning the petrography (thin sections and OM), especially to Dieter Mader and Claudia Beybel. We also wish to thank the Institute of Atomic and Subatomic Physics, Vienna for the INAA and here first of all Johannes Sterba who is doing a great job working with our Sai Island samples! For some analyses of the Prehistoric samples we are also very thankful to the Department of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bari, Italy, especially to Giacomo Eramo and Italo M. Muntoni.

Faunal remains from Sai Island, New Kingdom town: Pigs at SAV1 North

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Nadia Saliari

In the last months, a total number of 492 faunal remains were identified and analyzed from the New Kingdom town of Sai Island. The identification and analysis of species was carried out on Sai Island during the field season 2014 and it was continued in Vienna (Austria) at the Museum of Natural History (1^st Zoological Department, Archaeozoology) and at the Department of Palaeontology (University of Vienna). My sincere thanks go therefore to the Sudanese Authorities (NCAM and especially our inspector Huda Magzoub) and also to Dr. Erich Pucher and Dr. Karl Kunst for their constant support here in Vienna!

The bone deposits derive from SAV1 North within the New Kingdom town of Sai, from three levels numbered from 5 to 3, datable to the 18^th Dynasty (see Budka and Doyen 2013). Human intervention related to butchery techniques has been detected on the faunal remains from all levels investigated.

Diagram 1: Distribution of mammals and birds from Sai Island, SAV1 North according to the Number of Identified Specimens (NISP) for levels 3-5. The prevalent species are mainly sheep/goats and cattle, but with some differences from level 5 to 3.

The faunal composition demonstrates the prevalence of domesticated mammal species at SAV1 North (Diagram 1). However, the very limited number of bones available from good archaeological contexts (levels 5-3) has to be stressed ‒ the material did not allow statistical processing and all results are of a tentative character based on a restricted corpus of faunal remains. Yet, I do believe that there is rich potential in the study of the animal bones from the New Kingdom town area of Sai, especially with the new stratified material from recent excavations as in SAV1 West, still waiting for analysis. Today, I would like to present some first data concerning one of the interesting species among the attested mammals: the pig (Sus scrofa f. domestica).

Pigs are recorded at a relatively higher percentage, after sheep/goat, at level 5, but a reduction follows at level 4. The profile changes at level 3, where the number of the bones is again increasing.

Pigs correspond to 8 bones from level 5, 10 from level 4 and 55 from level 3. As it is illustrated in Diagram 1, they are found at a relatively high percentage at level 5. Evidence from level 4 demonstrates that cattle and caprine prevail, whereas pigs are found in a smaller number. Pigs remain just the third prevalent species at level 3, although the total number of bones is higher.

For level 5 and the small number of bones, the skeletal part distribution is not well understood. A small amount of vertebrae, humerus and dentes are noted for this level. Dentes, tarsals and pelvis have mainly survived from level 4. More remains have been recovered from level 3. Mandibles prevail (14.5%) followed by humerus (10.9%), costae (9%), radius (7.2%) and pelvis (7.2%). Smaller bones (carpals, tarsals, and phalanges) lack completely.

The analysis of the age profile shows that the vast majority of the material coming from level 3 belongs to individuals between 1 and 2.5 years. Some of them are younger than 1 year and only in one case up to 3.5 years. The dental examination confirms the young age for the majority of the animals (16 months). Level 4 presents mainly individuals younger than 2-3 years and in one case older than 3.5 years. From level 5 only one individual is recorded, which seem to be younger than 1 year.

The butchery marks recorded on pigs are mainly related to disarticulation and portioning.

Mandibula of a pig from Level 4.

Proximal part of a humerus from Level 4.

To conclude, pigs recovered at SAV1 North were slaughtered at the optimum age for meat consumption. The very rare cases of older pigs could be related with the needs of reproduction. It is noteworthy that as far as we know pigs in Nubia are mainly connected with Egyptian presence. For instance, the pyramid tomb G301 at Cemetery D of Amara West (19^th Dynasty) brought to light a neonate piglet from the western chamber (Binder et al. 2011, 53). On the other hand, pigs have not been found at Kerma in the town or cemeteries (see the studies by L. Chaix, e.g. 1988 and the extensive list of publications available at http://kerma.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=79#animal).

In New Kingdom Egypt, pig is among the most numerous species killed for meat and a preference for young animals is traceable in settlements (see e.g. at Amarna, Kemp 2012, 219-220).

It can be very tentatively suggested that the presence of pigs in the earliest level 5 at SAV1 North corresponds to the analysis of the ceramics from the same contexts: The material is New Kingdom in date and Egyptian in character, supporting the assessment that a Pharaonic settlement was founded on the island very early in the 18^th Dynasty (cf. Budka 2011; Budka and Doyen 2013).

For now, only some preliminary tendencies for the faunal material from the New Kingdom town of Sai have been outlined. The low amount of the material studied so far has to be taken in consideration, implying that the results might significantly change during the next campaigns. However, the case study of the pig remains from SAV1 North illustrates that the study of the faunal remains from Sai will significantly contribute to the interpretation of the character of the site during the 18^th Dynasty.

References:

Binder et al. 2011 = M. Binder, N. Spencer & M. Millet, Cemetery D at Amara West: the Ramesside period and its aftermath, British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 16, 2011, 47–99.

Budka 2011 = J. Budka, The early New Kingdom at Sai Island: Preliminary results based on the pottery analysis (4^th Season 2010), Sudan & Nubia 15, 23–33.

Budka and Doyen 2013 = J. Budka & F. Doyen, Living in New Kingdom towns in Upper Nubia – New evidence from recent excavations on Sai Island, Ägypten & Levante 22/23, 2012/2013, 167–208.

Chaix 1988 = L. Chaix, Cinquième note sur la faune de Kerma (Soudan). Campagnes 1987 et 1988. In C. Bonnet et al., Les fouilles archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan), Genava, n.s. 36, 1988, 27–29. http://kerma.ch/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=247

Kemp 2012 = B. Kemp, The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Amarna and its people, Cairo 2012.

Impressions from the SARS colloquium 2014

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Jördis Vieth

On this Monday, May 19, the annual colloquium organized of the Sudan Archaeological Research Society took place as usual at the British Museum, London. The one-day colloquium focusses on recent archaeological fieldwork in Sudan and this year especially on projects within the framework of the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project.

For me it was the first time joining the SARS colloquium and so I was very much looking forward to it and of course to hear the latest about research, surveys and excavations in the 2013-2014 season.

The first session of the dense programme was dedicated to the excavations in the Northern Dongola Reach and comprised talks by Derek Welsby on the very interesting work going on at Kawa this season (e.g. erecting fences to protect archaeological zones, excavation of domestic houses and further work in the cemetery), by Pernille B. Jenson (animal deposits at a Kerma Ancien cemetery) and Ross Thomas (intriguing new rural settlement with strata from the New Kingdom). The second session started with an informative contribution by Matt Nicholas and Scott Haddow showing us the new excavations in the medieval fort and cemetery KRG3 at Kurgus. Further speakers were Julie Anderson (presenting on-going research at Dangeil representative of the sacred landscape of the late Kushite period), Neal Spencer (about work which was done in the desert hinterland of Amara West this season, about the potential and meaning of the western suburb as well as protecting the archaeological zones through fencing). The key lecture of the day was given by Matthew Davies, who talked about a survey in South Sudan he conducted for the British Institute in Eastern Africa in 2009.

A very enlightening talk was given afterwards by Vivian Davies about a survey of inscriptions along the Korosko Road, where he and his team recorded over 40 inscriptions, mostly of New Kingdom date, and where they were able to reconstruct the journey of personnel involved in gold-working industries from their home town to their destination, the Nubian Desert. The last session was held by Salah Mohamed Ahmed (for Mahmoud Suliman Bashir) about the survey and excavation between ed-Debba and the Merowe Dam, by Pavel Onderka, who informed about the past and present research at the site of Wad Ben Naga and finally by Jane Humphris. She gave a fascinating talk about the Post-Meroitic iron production in industrial Kush – a research project which has just started but obviously has much potential.

All in all it was highly informative and a great opportunity to gain the latest news of the several missions and projects so shortly after the end of the fieldwork season. The following reception offered the chance to chat and talk to the colleagues and to get to know one or the other, as in my case.

Every year: London calling

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Julia Budka

Like last year, some of AcrossBorders’ team members are heading this weekend for London to the SARS colloquium at the British Museum (Recent Archaeological Fieldwork in Sudan). The focus of this year’s presentations on Monday is on projects within the framework of the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project. The programme looks great as usual and it will be exciting to get all this first-hand information and fresh data. I am also very much looking forward to the social aspects and meeting our British and Sudanese colleagues to chat and exchange thoughts.

I am very happy to be able to combine this travel with a long-waited-for trip to Swansea – was kindly invited to give a lecture at the Egypt centre and will talk about settlement archaeology and especially our 2014 season at Sai. I will highlight the new findings at SAV1 East and summarize the importance of SAV1 West for our understanding of the town development! An exciting week is approaching and we’ll keep you posted!

Research on the New Kingdom settlement on Sai Island prior to AcrossBorders

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Julia Budka

Back in the summer of 2012, a joint paper by Florence Doyen and me was submitted to Egypt & Levant (Vienna), focusing on recent excavations on Sai Island within the area of the New Kingdom town.

We are very happy that this paper has now been published, being part of a major double-volume of the peer-reviewed journal, covering reports from Tell el-Daba and other Nile delta sites as well as various chronological studies and research concentrating on the archaeology of the Levant.

Our article gives a hopefully useful overview of the history of research on Sai up to 2012, focusing on the recent work by the Sai Island Archaeological Mission (SIAM) of Charles-de-Gaulle – Lille 3 University (UMR 8164 HALMA-IPEL), France.[i] It aims to illustrate the rich potential of the site and its importance for the history of Upper Nubia. The preliminary assessments of the ceramics and architecture from SAV1 North, undertaken in 2011-2012, allow a better understanding of the evolution of the town. As one of the major results of the 2012 SIAM season, the fortified wall in SAV1 North can be dated to the reign of Thutmose III. Until now, there is no enclosure wall attested prior to this king who is well known as being responsible for the heyday of Pharaonic Sai.

SIAM did undertake important steps forward to a closer understanding of Sai Island during the 18^th Dynasty – and today, AcrossBorders continues this path with new excavations and detailed assessments, focusing on the material culture and the intriguing mix of life styles at the site.

Full reference of the article:

Julia Budka & Florence Doyen, Living in New Kingdom towns in Upper Nubia – New evidence from recent excavations on Sai Island, Ägypten & Levante 22/23, 2012/2013, 167–208.

[i] Other than stated in the editor’s preface (p. 14-15), the study has nothing to do with my ERC Starting Grant nor the FWF START project – it rather summarizes the status quo from which the new projects were launched.

AcrossBorders

This is the blog of the ERC starting grant project AcrossBorders (ERC grant agreement n° 313668)

Category Archives: Fieldwork