Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

FOURTH CATARACT - HAGAR EL-BEIDA

SUDAN

distinguished: the most common niche
graves, trenches in the shaft bottom and one
example each of a rectangular and an L-
shaped chamber [Fig. 3]. The burial shafts
were oval or cylindrical in horizontal cross-
section. In the tumuli with L-shaped and
rectangular burial chamber, the shaft was
rectangular with rounded corners.
No observable preference in body
orientation was apparent, the E-W position
being just as common as the N-S one.
Anthropological examination of the skeletal
remains1 in the two seasons demonstrated
that eleven of the tombs contained male
burials, aged mostly between 30 and 45.
Four burials contained children's remains
and another four those of females. In four of
the graves no skeletal remains were dis-
covered.
The male burials included both the big
tombs with well preserved mounds and
those marked on the surface with concentric
rings of stones.
The mound of grave T.12 consisted of
gravel covered with loose pebbles. Oval in
shape, it was preserved in good condition,
measuring 5.00 by 5.50 m at the base. The
underground part comprised a vertical shaft
and side chamber oriented E-W. The grave
had been plundered in antiquity, leaving the
original blocking of the burial chamber
damaged. The skeleton of a male (35-40
years of age) was found partly level with the
blocking and partly still inside the chamber.
The original position could not be
reconstructed. Despite the plundering, the
grave offerings included two iron arrow-
heads, a ceramic cup and bottle, both de-
corated, and a rich collection of beads made
of stone, glass and ostrich eggs, as well as
a bird-shaped amulet (interpreted as a re-
presentation of Horus) [Fig. 4].

Grave T.25 did not have a mound.
Instead, the only marker on the surface of
this tomb was a circular concentration of
stones measuring 4.40 by 5.00 m [Fig. 5].
The burial chamber was of niche
construction, oriented E-W. The male (age
20-25 (30) buried in the grave was laid out
on the left side with legs pulled up, the head
to the east and facing south [Fig. 6}. A big
decorated bowl was deposited by the head
and a globular pot [Fig. 7], also decorated,
by the knees. Strings of ostrich-shell beads
were wound around the hips of the
deceased. A string of faience, stone and glass
beads decorated the neck. A silver ring was
found on the middle finger of the left hand.
Grave T.26 was marked on the surface with
a ring of stone 4 by 6 m in diameter. The
surface features were in poor condition,
presumably due to plundering of the grave
structure underneath. The burial niche
contained a male skeleton (estimated age at
death 30-35 years) in constricted position,
lying NW-SE with the head to the south
and facing west. The upper part of the
skeleton had been disturbed. Grave goods
included a large decorated bowl and a small
iron arrowhead.
The mound of T.28, which rose to
a height of 0.80 m, had an ovaloid ring of
stones elongated in an E-W direction. It
measured 9-30 m N-S by 12.20 m E-W at
the base. A dump to the northeast was proof
of plunder, as was a depression noted in the
center of the mound. This robbers' pit was
also clearly distinguishable in the section
through the mound [Fig. 8]. The burial
niche was oriented E-W. The skeleton had
been disturbed heavily by robbers. The age
of the male buried in this grave was estima-
ted at 40-45 years. Some of the grave goods
survived in the fill: piece of decorated bowl,

3 Carried out by the mission's anthropologist Karol Piasecki.

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