DOI Heft:
Sudan
DOI Artikel:Żurawski, Bogdan: Saffi island: Merowe Dam archaeological survey project
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42090#0330
FOURTH CATARACT - SAFFI ISLAND
SUDAN
invariably oriented N-S (if a longer axis
was present). Their role in funerary practice
and post-mortuary ceremonies is difficult
to assess.
Box graves constituted an equally abun-
dant category. Individual graves ranged from
0.50 x 1.00 m to 1.00 x 2.50 m and about
0.70 m in height and were always aligned
E-W. They were found on the silted or sandy
plains of the lower parts of the island, usual-
ly clustered in well organised cemeteries of
100 or more. However, concentrations as
small as one or two graves of this kind were
also registered. Sometimes they were ac-
companied by rectangular stone structures
which could have served as funerary chapels
or churches. Curiously enough, these graves
were also robbed even though preserved
examples produced few if any artifacts.
The third group of graves were the so-
called 'dome-tombs'. These were mostly
c. 3 m in diameter, although examples of
about 1 m in diameter were also noted.
Their height did not exceed 0.70 m and
they were raised on flat rock surfaces with
no grave pit. Clusters of these tombs oc-
cupied prominent landmarks, such as the
topmost part of rocky formations. Like the
other sepulchers, these tombs were plun-
dered and their superstructures pulled down,
leaving bones and potsherds strewn about.
The Saffi cemeteries are frequently as-
sociated with settlement sites. These are
recognized through large surface scatters of
pottery fragments, stone tools (including
querns and grinders), as well as animal
bones. On some sites of this kind, remains
of hearths or small kilns in the form of
burnt clay concentrations of about 2 m in
diameter were also found.
Grouped on the eastern bank of the is-
land were modern but already abandoned
villages, dating from the Funj-Modern Pe-
riod (partly overlapping the earlier Dongola
period settlements). They hold enormous
potential for ethno-archaeological studies
in view of the fact that they are usually
situated near or directly on archaeological
sites, in the same ecological context that
has remained constant for centuries.
328
SUDAN
invariably oriented N-S (if a longer axis
was present). Their role in funerary practice
and post-mortuary ceremonies is difficult
to assess.
Box graves constituted an equally abun-
dant category. Individual graves ranged from
0.50 x 1.00 m to 1.00 x 2.50 m and about
0.70 m in height and were always aligned
E-W. They were found on the silted or sandy
plains of the lower parts of the island, usual-
ly clustered in well organised cemeteries of
100 or more. However, concentrations as
small as one or two graves of this kind were
also registered. Sometimes they were ac-
companied by rectangular stone structures
which could have served as funerary chapels
or churches. Curiously enough, these graves
were also robbed even though preserved
examples produced few if any artifacts.
The third group of graves were the so-
called 'dome-tombs'. These were mostly
c. 3 m in diameter, although examples of
about 1 m in diameter were also noted.
Their height did not exceed 0.70 m and
they were raised on flat rock surfaces with
no grave pit. Clusters of these tombs oc-
cupied prominent landmarks, such as the
topmost part of rocky formations. Like the
other sepulchers, these tombs were plun-
dered and their superstructures pulled down,
leaving bones and potsherds strewn about.
The Saffi cemeteries are frequently as-
sociated with settlement sites. These are
recognized through large surface scatters of
pottery fragments, stone tools (including
querns and grinders), as well as animal
bones. On some sites of this kind, remains
of hearths or small kilns in the form of
burnt clay concentrations of about 2 m in
diameter were also found.
Grouped on the eastern bank of the is-
land were modern but already abandoned
villages, dating from the Funj-Modern Pe-
riod (partly overlapping the earlier Dongola
period settlements). They hold enormous
potential for ethno-archaeological studies
in view of the fact that they are usually
situated near or directly on archaeological
sites, in the same ecological context that
has remained constant for centuries.
328