TY - JOUR
T1 - Technological variability in foragers’ pottery productions at the early-mid Holocene site of Sphinx, western part of Jebel Sabaloka, Sudan
AU - Garcea, Elena A.A.
AU - D'Ercole, Giulia
AU - Sterba, Johannes H.
AU - Dunne, Julie
AU - Manning, Katie
AU - Gillard, Toby
AU - Evershed, Richard P.
AU - Varadzin, Ladislav
AU - Varadzinová, Lenka
PY - 2020/7/30
Y1 - 2020/7/30
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 and examining the correlation between pottery production, cultural change and chronological variability. We undertook 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, 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 in Trench 7 reveals the existence of a relative sequence suggesting consistent technological variability throughout the site's occupation.
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 and examining the correlation between pottery production, cultural change and chronological variability. We undertook 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, 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 in Trench 7 reveals the existence of a relative sequence suggesting consistent technological variability throughout the site's occupation.
KW - Early Khartoum culture
KW - Jebel Sabaloka
KW - Mesolithic
KW - Pottery production
KW - Sudan
KW - Technological variability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079071165&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.01.020
DO - 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.01.020
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85079071165
SN - 1040-6182
VL - 555
SP - 110
EP - 125
JO - QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
JF - QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
ER -