TY - JOUR
T1 - Technological variability in foragers’ pottery productions at the early-mid Holocene site of Sphinx, western part of Jebel Sabaloka, Sudan
AU - Garceaa, Elena A.A.
AU - D'Ercoleb, Giulia
AU - Sterbac, Johannes H.
AU - Dunne, Julie B
AU - Manning, Kate
AU - Gillard, Toby
AU - Evershed, Richard P
AU - Varadzinf, Ladislav
AU - Varadzinováf, Lenka
PY - 2020/1/29
Y1 - 2020/1/29
N2 - The site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60) is located about 3.5 km from the present Nile in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka, upstream of the Sixth Nile Cataract, in Sudan. This site uniquely includes Early Khartoum (Mesolithic) artifacts with no intrusive elements and has been dated from the ninth to the end of the sixth millennium cal BC. Excavations at Trench 7, in particular, brought to light a 1.2-m thick deposit with the quantitatively and qualitatively richest artifactual materials. Analysis and classification of the pottery assemblage from this site have been conducted with the aim of observing manufacturing techniques from a broad perspective correlating pottery production to cultural change and chronological variability. Analyses of the ceramic assemblage regarded visual examinations of the manufacturing techniques combined with petrographic (optical microscopy, OM) and chemical analyses (instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, iNAA), observations of manufacturing and decorative techniques, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) on absorbed organic residues. The vertical distribution of the ceramic assemblage reveals consistent technological variability through the timespan of occupation of the site.
AB - The site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60) is located about 3.5 km from the present Nile in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka, upstream of the Sixth Nile Cataract, in Sudan. This site uniquely includes Early Khartoum (Mesolithic) artifacts with no intrusive elements and has been dated from the ninth to the end of the sixth millennium cal BC. Excavations at Trench 7, in particular, brought to light a 1.2-m thick deposit with the quantitatively and qualitatively richest artifactual materials. Analysis and classification of the pottery assemblage from this site have been conducted with the aim of observing manufacturing techniques from a broad perspective correlating pottery production to cultural change and chronological variability. Analyses of the ceramic assemblage regarded visual examinations of the manufacturing techniques combined with petrographic (optical microscopy, OM) and chemical analyses (instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, iNAA), observations of manufacturing and decorative techniques, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) on absorbed organic residues. The vertical distribution of the ceramic assemblage reveals consistent technological variability through the timespan of occupation of the site.
KW - Pottery production
KW - technological variability,
KW - Jebel Sabaloka
KW - Sudan
KW - Early Khartoum culture
KW - Mesolithic
U2 - 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.01.020
DO - 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.01.020
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
SN - 1040-6182
JO - Quaternary International
JF - Quaternary International
ER -