Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

FOURTH CATARACT - SAFFI ISLAND

SUDAN

SAFFI48

The group of four graves making up site
Saffi 48 lies at the western edge of a rocky
plateau that occupies the center of the
island. It is not far from Saffi 7. The dis-
tance between the stone circles ranges from
a few to a few dozen meters. Three of the
graves lie in a line aligned more or less N-S,
the fourth, northernmost one was at a dis-
tance of a few dozen meters to the west.
The southernmost of the sepulchers,
Grave 1 (N18°47'22.1"; E32°01T8.2")
{Fig. 4] had the biggest superstructure:
5.40 m from north to south and 4.90 m
from east to west. The mound comprised
different size stones and partly ensconced
the grave pit, presumably avoiding the effort
of hollowing it out in the rocky ground.
Nothing but some small bone fragments and
sherds were found in it. The same was true
of grave 2 (N18°47'22.6"; E32°01T8.7")

which had a superstructure of equal size
(5.45 m N-S by 4.75 m E-W), rising to
0.50 m in height [Fig. 5}.
A stone circle, 4.90 m N-S and 4.00 m
E-W, surrounded grave 3 (N18°47'23.8";
E32°01'19.2") [Fig. 6}; toward the east the
stones of the circle were scattered up to 2 m
away, possibly as a result of plundering ac-
tivities. The remains of a child's skeleton —
skull and leg bones — were found directly
upon the rock in the northeastern part of
the pit. The body must have been laid in
contracted position, aligned NE-SW, with
the head pointing to the northeast. Re-
mains of a necklace, altogether 42 faience
beads, were found near the neck. The last
of the graves (no. 4, N18°47'25.4";
E32°01'18.8") also had a stone circle
measuring 4.30 m in diameter. It was se-
riously destroyed. Only the leg bones re-


Fig. 4. Saffi 48, grave 1, looking east
(Photo A. Obtuski)

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