Stone Age occupation of Jebel Shaqadud, Central Sudan: preliminary results from the 2023 field season of the Shaqadud Archaeological Project

0583879 - ARÚ 2024 CZ eng A - Abstract
Leplongeon, A. - Unger, Jiří - Varadzinová, Lenka - Varadzin, Ladislav
Stone Age occupation of Jebel Shaqadud, Central Sudan: preliminary results from the 2023 field season of the Shaqadud Archaeological Project.
Mikulov Anthropology Meeting III. Abstract book. Brno: Institute of Archaeology Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, 2023 - (Boriová, S.; Herčík, O.). s. 42-43. ISBN 978-80-7524-067-5.
[Mikulov Anthropology Meeting /3./. 13.09.2023-15.09.2023, Mikulov]
Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) LQ300022002
Program: Prémie Lumina quaeruntur
Institutional support: RVO:67985912
Keywords : archaeology * Stone Age * Sudan
OECD category: Archaeology
https://www.arub.cz/wp-content/uploads/MAM-III_Abstract-book-final.pdf

North-Eastern Africa is often considered a key area in questions related to hominin dispersals out of Africa, the ‘northern’ route via the Nile Basin and adjacent deserts leading to the only land bridge between Africa and Eurasia. The ‘northern’ route groups together different paths within North-Eastern Africa, via the Nile Valley and its main tributaries, via the Eastern Desert, or along the Red Sea. In particular, favourable environmental conditions during more humid periods (e.g. during MIS 5), may have facilitated human movements through the arid deserts adjacent to the Nile Valley. However, a gap remains in our understanding of Palaeolithic occupation of these regions, and in particular human adaptation to the (semi)-arid environments during this period. Here, we present preliminary results of the Palaeolithic investigations undertaken during the 2023 field season of the Shaqadud Archaeological Project directed by L. Varadzin. Jebel Shaqadud, located 115 km north-east of Khartoum, central Sudan, and 45 km from the Nile Valley is located in an arid savanna environment, dependant on local precipitations. Since 2018, the project investigates human adaptation to environment fluctuations during the Holocene at Shaqadud. The area preserves the longest continuous Holocene archaeological sequence in the eastern Sahel, with new dates pushing back the postglacial occupation of the region to the 12th millennium BP. Until recently, no earlier phases of occupation were documented at Shaqadud. However, the reconnaissance of the area in 2021 and 2022 brought to light the first Stone Age/Palaeolithic finds. As a result, a survey specifically targeting Stone Age finds took place during the 2023 field season, and led to the identification of several Stone Age find spots. In particular, Stone Age artefacts were found on the surface in two main areas around Kafut Canyon. Most of them present a heavy patina and an abraded aspect, suggesting they are lying in secondary position. From a typotechnological point of view, they are characterised by a dominance of Levallois centripetal preferential and recurrent production, from large cores (>10-15cms). Few retouched tools are present, and they mainly consist of scrapers and denticulates. These characteristics suggest a Late Acheulean or Early Middle Stone Age attribution. This is the first time that Pleistocene Stone Age evidence is documented in this area. These finds add to the evidence for Palaeolithic occupation of eastern Sudan such as in the Eastern Desert Atbara River area, in the Khashm el-Girba or along the Red Sea and have the potential to significantly contribute to a better understanding of the complex links between the Nile Valley and adjacent deserts during the Stone Age.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0351872