Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

FOURTH CATARACT - HAGAR EL-BEIDA

SUDAN

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE
EXCAVATION OF A KERMA-HORIZON
CEMETERY AT HAGAR EL-BEIDA 11

Michal Sip

Site 11 at Hagar el-Beida was discovered in
January 2005 during a survey of the PCMA
concession on the Fourth Cataract (for the
survey results, see above, M. Chiodnicki
et al. in this volume). The site (N 19°19'06.5";
E 32°45'13.6") is situated at the top of a hill,
on the edge of an old flood-terrace of the
Nile. It occupies an area of more than 50
ares. The surface is covered by gravel and
scree, and interestingly, the graves did not
extend beyond the hill top. The surface

collection comprised sherds of Neolithic
and Kerma-horizon date.
The first season of excavations1 in
November-December 2005 changed the
original estimate of 50 graves to near 170.
Testing in a trench measuring 10 by 10 m
in the southwestern part of the cemetery
revealed the outlines of four tumuli, namely
T37, T38, T39, T40, to which two more
(T167 and T168) were added once regular
excavations began [Fig. 1].

DESCRIPTION OF THE TUMULI

All of the tumuli except T40 turned out to
be plundered. T167 was hidden mostly
under the trench wall and was not in-
vestigated this year.
Tumulus 37 (Dia. 2.14 m; D. of shaft
0.55 m) consisted of a stone circle without
mound on the surface. Loose stones spread
east of the circle presumably came from the
destroyed blockage of the grave pit. A layer
of rock rubble filled the tomb shaft starting
at a depth of 0.25 m below surface level; it
was missing from the southern part of the
shaft, presumably dug up when the grave
was plundered. At the level of the burial,
the shaft narrowed down forming a kind of
ledge on the southwestern side. An
incomplete human skeleton, namely the

bones of the pelvis and lower limbs in
anatomical position, was recorded at a depth
of 0.52 m. The original position of the
skeleton was contracted on the right side.
The body had been wrapped in a kind of
leather shroud dyed with ochre; this had
been preserved fragmentarily. The fill
contained fragments of the skeleton, pieces
of the leather shroud and 148 potsherds.
The stone circle of Tumulus 38 (Dia.
2.42 m; D. 0.71 m) was situated directly to
the southeast of T37. The grave had been
plundered, but the stone blockage was still
mostly in place. A small ledge hewn in
bedrock was noted on the northeastern side.
The burial was accompanied by a complete
vessel and two beads, one a barrel-shaped

1 The investigations were supervised by Mr. Michat Sip from the Patrimonium Foundation in Poznan.

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