DOI Heft:
Sudan
DOI Artikel:Osypiński, Piotr: Es-Sadda 1 excavations of a post-meroitic cemetery (two seasons)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42091#0352
FOURTH CATARACT - ES-SADDA
SUDAN
ES-SADDA 1
EXCAVATIONS OF A POST-MEROITIC
CEMETERY (TWO SEASONS)
Piotr Osypinski
Excavations of the site of Es-Sadda l,1 while
a salvage project par excellence, were planned
as a multidisciplinary research program
including a study of the ancient population,
the mortuary practices and material culture
of a Post-Meroitic community. Every effort
was made to secure relevant archeological,
anthropological, archeozoological, paleo-
botanical and geomorphological data.
Two seasons were carried out in 2005: in
January and in November. The spring
SPRING s:
he six grave groups are determined by the
graves' location on six separate bars between
channels [Fig. 2], The 74 grave structures
visible on the surface were classified by
types based on existing classifications.-1
Excavations of tumuli in Group 1 revealed
more graves where the entire surface
structure has been eroded away or removed
season was dedicated to identifying the
differences between the six grave clusters
followed by a detailed exploration of all
tombs from a selected group. The result was
a classification of burial forms, reflecting
a division into a number of categories.
Research was continued in the fall2 3 with
a survey of the area situated west of the
tumuli in Group I. A site grid was traced
with units 100 by 100 m and a contour plan
completed [Fig. 1],
.SON 2005
by hand. Only isolated stones coming from
the broken blockages mark these plundered
graves on the surface. They were most likely
small mounds of type 1 (see below). Apart
from differences in the superstructures, the
explored tumuli also differed in the
underground part, which translated into
variations with respect to grave contents.
1 For a general view of the site, see PAM XVI. Reports 2004 (2005), 371 and Fig. 2. There also, map of the Polish
concession and localization of Es-Sadda, Fig. 1 on p. 370.
2 Both seasons of excavations at Es-Sadda 1 were carried out thanks to the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology
of Warsaw University, the Poznan Archaeological Museum and the Patrimomum Foundation. The present author, who
directed the work in the field, wishes to thank the Director of the project, Dr. Marek Chlodnicki, and to acknowledge
the contribution of those who worked with him on the site: Mr. tukasz Gauza, photographer, field assistant; Mr. Michal
Sip, surveyor; Ms Iwona Marciniak, textiles expert, documentalist. Not the least, he wishes to thank Mrs. Marta
Osypinska, field assistant in the first season, who waited impatiently for the team's return from the field in autumn
and subsequently provided her expertise in the fields of archaeozoological analysis, not to mention inking all of the
documentation from the season.
3 D.A. Welsby, Survey above the Fourth Nile Cataract (London 2003); P. Wolf, The SARS Anglo-German Expedition at
the Fourth Cataract of the Nile: the 2003/2004 season, Sudan & Nubia 8 (2004), 17-26.
348
SUDAN
ES-SADDA 1
EXCAVATIONS OF A POST-MEROITIC
CEMETERY (TWO SEASONS)
Piotr Osypinski
Excavations of the site of Es-Sadda l,1 while
a salvage project par excellence, were planned
as a multidisciplinary research program
including a study of the ancient population,
the mortuary practices and material culture
of a Post-Meroitic community. Every effort
was made to secure relevant archeological,
anthropological, archeozoological, paleo-
botanical and geomorphological data.
Two seasons were carried out in 2005: in
January and in November. The spring
SPRING s:
he six grave groups are determined by the
graves' location on six separate bars between
channels [Fig. 2], The 74 grave structures
visible on the surface were classified by
types based on existing classifications.-1
Excavations of tumuli in Group 1 revealed
more graves where the entire surface
structure has been eroded away or removed
season was dedicated to identifying the
differences between the six grave clusters
followed by a detailed exploration of all
tombs from a selected group. The result was
a classification of burial forms, reflecting
a division into a number of categories.
Research was continued in the fall2 3 with
a survey of the area situated west of the
tumuli in Group I. A site grid was traced
with units 100 by 100 m and a contour plan
completed [Fig. 1],
.SON 2005
by hand. Only isolated stones coming from
the broken blockages mark these plundered
graves on the surface. They were most likely
small mounds of type 1 (see below). Apart
from differences in the superstructures, the
explored tumuli also differed in the
underground part, which translated into
variations with respect to grave contents.
1 For a general view of the site, see PAM XVI. Reports 2004 (2005), 371 and Fig. 2. There also, map of the Polish
concession and localization of Es-Sadda, Fig. 1 on p. 370.
2 Both seasons of excavations at Es-Sadda 1 were carried out thanks to the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology
of Warsaw University, the Poznan Archaeological Museum and the Patrimomum Foundation. The present author, who
directed the work in the field, wishes to thank the Director of the project, Dr. Marek Chlodnicki, and to acknowledge
the contribution of those who worked with him on the site: Mr. tukasz Gauza, photographer, field assistant; Mr. Michal
Sip, surveyor; Ms Iwona Marciniak, textiles expert, documentalist. Not the least, he wishes to thank Mrs. Marta
Osypinska, field assistant in the first season, who waited impatiently for the team's return from the field in autumn
and subsequently provided her expertise in the fields of archaeozoological analysis, not to mention inking all of the
documentation from the season.
3 D.A. Welsby, Survey above the Fourth Nile Cataract (London 2003); P. Wolf, The SARS Anglo-German Expedition at
the Fourth Cataract of the Nile: the 2003/2004 season, Sudan & Nubia 8 (2004), 17-26.
348