Investigating human-environment interactions in the Middle Nile: the contribution of archaeometric techniques to understanding landscape use and social practices in Bronze Age Sudan

Abstract

This paper presents case studies from our recent investigation of landscape properties in the MUAFS concession area in northern Sudan and associated material remains, including materials from Sai Island, the main urban site of this region in Upper Nubia. It tackles various geoarchaeological methods and geological techniques, including rock sampling and petrographic analysis of sandstones, highlighting the potential of these methodologies to reconstruct past landscapes and patterns of mobility. The material culture, especially ceramics, is analysed from a multi-perspective approach that in-corporates a range of different scientific methods: the project integrates compositional bulk analysis (INAA) with mineralogical (XRD) and petrograph-ic data via optical microscopy (OM) to examine the physical properties, provenance and technology of production of the ceramic samples as well as Raman spectroscopy to determine the range of temperatures reached by the ceramics during firing. Overall, this paper highlights how advances in landscape archaeology and the archaeometry of material culture are expanding our understanding of the significant ecological and social transformations in the Bronze Age Middle Nile. We argue that this combined analytical approach, applied to the case study of the Attab to Ferka region, can be successfully extended to other regions worldwide.