DOI issue:
Sudan
DOI article:Żurawski, Bogdan: Shemkhiya: season 2006
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42092#0444
FOURTH CATHARACT - SHEMKHIYA
SUDAN
TUMULUS FIELD AT SITE SH10
The tumulus cemetery SH10 borders on
the burial ground of SH9 and indeed the
two could be taken as one, considering that
some of the box graves were found already
among the tumuli.3 Altogether there are
13 mounds on SH10, grouped in three
distinct concentrations. Group A made up
of five tumuli (T1-T5) is located more or
less at the foot of the gebel, group B, also
five tumuli (T6-T10), alongside a local
route and the gebel, and finally, group C
(T11-T13) on a gravely plateau raised
above a wide khor on the northern
peripheries of the graveyard . SH10/T1 and
the adjacent small SH10/T2, both ap-
parently relatively undisturbed, were
selected for archaeological exploration in
February 2006.
The ground was cleared and the south-
ern part of the mound of the medium-sized
tumulus T1 was explored. The mound was
clad with small and medium-sized stones,
mixed with pebbles. Beneath it,
a trapezoidal shaft with slightly inclined
sides and rounded corners, oriented
roughly NE-SW, was dug straight down
into the rocky alluvial ground to a depth of
1.20 m. It was filled with gravel, silt and
pebbles. The bottom was paved with flat
slabs. The burial chamber was roughly oval
(1.40 x 0.63 m, 0.40 m high) and was dug
in the northwestern side of the shaft. The
skeleton of a male in his fifties was found
in contracted position on the right side
with head to the south facing east, arms
bent and legs flexed. A huge stone slab,
0.45 m long, had been placed intentionally
in an effort to weigh down the body.
Shreds of textiles found with the bones
featured narrow parallel red and yellow
stripes. Neither beads nor other grave
goods were found in the burial chamber
and entrance shaft.
Offering pits, 0.40 m in diameter, were
found outside the original perimeter of the
tumulus. They contained organic matter,
fragmented animal bones, seeds, and ashes,
as well as some pottery (representing
a post-Meroitic repertoire), intentionally
sealed with a compact layer of big stones
and gravel.
The smaller satellite tumulus T2
(2.60 m in diameter, 0.45 m high) had
a mound consisting of huge, irregular
stone blocks mixed with smaller stones and
pebbles in the core, covered on the surface
with small stones and pebbles. A vertical
shaft filled with stones gave access to the
burial pit of irregular shape cut at the
bottom. A disarticulated skeleton of
a child was found, plausibly buried origi-
nally in contracted position on the right
side, with the head to the southwest,
facing east. A string of ostrich-egg shell
beads and a necklace of sun-dried clay
beads was found around the arms, head and
hips. Close to the neck a string of five
spherical beads made of glass paste was
found, and a hemispherical dark-red, polis-
hed bowl was collected from near the head.
3 The site was preliminarily investigated in the course of the 2004 survey of Shemkhiya (Chlodnicki and Zurawski 2005:
380). Regular excavations lasted from 26 February to 13 March, the field staff being headed by Edyta Klimaszewska-
Drabot and consisting of Anastazja Stupko, Mariola Orzechowska and Martyna Mazur. The site was surveyed by
geodesist Wiesiaw Maikowski.
441
SUDAN
TUMULUS FIELD AT SITE SH10
The tumulus cemetery SH10 borders on
the burial ground of SH9 and indeed the
two could be taken as one, considering that
some of the box graves were found already
among the tumuli.3 Altogether there are
13 mounds on SH10, grouped in three
distinct concentrations. Group A made up
of five tumuli (T1-T5) is located more or
less at the foot of the gebel, group B, also
five tumuli (T6-T10), alongside a local
route and the gebel, and finally, group C
(T11-T13) on a gravely plateau raised
above a wide khor on the northern
peripheries of the graveyard . SH10/T1 and
the adjacent small SH10/T2, both ap-
parently relatively undisturbed, were
selected for archaeological exploration in
February 2006.
The ground was cleared and the south-
ern part of the mound of the medium-sized
tumulus T1 was explored. The mound was
clad with small and medium-sized stones,
mixed with pebbles. Beneath it,
a trapezoidal shaft with slightly inclined
sides and rounded corners, oriented
roughly NE-SW, was dug straight down
into the rocky alluvial ground to a depth of
1.20 m. It was filled with gravel, silt and
pebbles. The bottom was paved with flat
slabs. The burial chamber was roughly oval
(1.40 x 0.63 m, 0.40 m high) and was dug
in the northwestern side of the shaft. The
skeleton of a male in his fifties was found
in contracted position on the right side
with head to the south facing east, arms
bent and legs flexed. A huge stone slab,
0.45 m long, had been placed intentionally
in an effort to weigh down the body.
Shreds of textiles found with the bones
featured narrow parallel red and yellow
stripes. Neither beads nor other grave
goods were found in the burial chamber
and entrance shaft.
Offering pits, 0.40 m in diameter, were
found outside the original perimeter of the
tumulus. They contained organic matter,
fragmented animal bones, seeds, and ashes,
as well as some pottery (representing
a post-Meroitic repertoire), intentionally
sealed with a compact layer of big stones
and gravel.
The smaller satellite tumulus T2
(2.60 m in diameter, 0.45 m high) had
a mound consisting of huge, irregular
stone blocks mixed with smaller stones and
pebbles in the core, covered on the surface
with small stones and pebbles. A vertical
shaft filled with stones gave access to the
burial pit of irregular shape cut at the
bottom. A disarticulated skeleton of
a child was found, plausibly buried origi-
nally in contracted position on the right
side, with the head to the southwest,
facing east. A string of ostrich-egg shell
beads and a necklace of sun-dried clay
beads was found around the arms, head and
hips. Close to the neck a string of five
spherical beads made of glass paste was
found, and a hemispherical dark-red, polis-
hed bowl was collected from near the head.
3 The site was preliminarily investigated in the course of the 2004 survey of Shemkhiya (Chlodnicki and Zurawski 2005:
380). Regular excavations lasted from 26 February to 13 March, the field staff being headed by Edyta Klimaszewska-
Drabot and consisting of Anastazja Stupko, Mariola Orzechowska and Martyna Mazur. The site was surveyed by
geodesist Wiesiaw Maikowski.
441