Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

OLD DONGOLA

SUDAN

FAUNAL REMAINS FROM THE
MONASTERY IN OLD DONGOLA (KOM H)
SEASON 2006

Marta Osypmska*

Osteological material collected during the
November-December 2006 season of the
PCMA expedition digging the site of the
monastery in Old Dongola (see above,
report by S. Jakobielski and M. Martens-
Czarnecka in this volume) was examined in
January 2007. The collection for analysis
comprised 264 faunal remains from the
SW-E area of the excavations carried out on
Kom H (units 13, 13A, 14, 16A, and Test
pit 1). Contextual dating of the remains
placed them in the terminal Christian
period, corresponding to the last phase in
the functioning of this part of the
monastery.
The state of the bones was very good
[Fig. 7]. Fragmentation was chiefly due to
consumption-aimed processing. The only
factor increasing bone brittleness was
environmental aridity, which leads to
collagen loss. Also recorded were well
preserved cattle horn sheaths. The high
percentage of determined remains (75%)
also stood in confirmation of the good
condition of the bones.
The archeozoological analysis con-
centrated on species and anatomical
determination of the osteological remains.
The data is presented as tables with
percentage shares calculated where possible.

The bones were examined also with regard
to the percentage share of individual carcass
parts, animal age and morphology.
Moreover, butchery and post-consum-
ptional traces were evaluated.
Osteometric research was based on
measurement methods described by von den
Driesch (1976) and Lasota-Moskalewska
(1997). Age of cattle, sheep and goats was
determined based on data presented by
Lasota-Moskalewska (1997). For cattle
morphology, osteometric data was
calculated into points (Lasota-Moskalewska
(1997). The osteological material was also
compared with analogously dated material
from the palace structure in Dongola
(Osypmska 2004a) and the church at
Banganarti (Osypmska 2004b).
Remains from the monastery comprise
bones and horns of mammals {Mammalia) to
the exclusion of all other kinds. The most
numerous are small ruminants, that is,
sheep (Ovis orientals f. domestica) and goat
{Capra aegagrus f. domestica) — a total of 114
bone fragments representing these two
species, constituting almost 58% of the
determined remains. Precise determination
was possible in the case of eight remains
from sheep and four from goat. A lesser
number of fragments was noted for cattle

* Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IAE PAN) Poznan Branch

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