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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Supercar: [QB] From the Matthieu Honegger report of [i]Prehistoric settlements in Nubia from the 8th millennium to the 3rd millennia cal. BC[/i] [a snippet was also posted [URL=http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=001962#000000]here[/URL]] the following pieces of information were made available… [i]So far, [b]thirty-seven sites predating the Kerma civilisation have been identified.[/b] [b]Five of them have been radiocarbon-dated[/b], and their artefacts are currently being studied. [b]Among these sites, three settlements have been excavated more or less extensively.[/b] Dated respectively from around 7400 cal. BC (Early Khartoum), 4600 cal. BC (Neolithic) and 3000 cal. BC (pre-Kerma), they have provided crucial data on architecture and spatial organisation. Using these three examples, we shall try to summarise our knowledge of Nubian settlements between the 8th and the 3rd millennia cal. BC.[/i] Apparently, Kerma region prior to the “Kerma” cultural complex, is by ordinary definition [i]pre-Kerma[/i], but the application of dating and terminology here, are meant to delineate the times contemporaneous to the various settlements in question, and the cultural elements attached to them. Kenndo’s often emphasis on the pre-Kerma stretching back to as far as the 5th millennium cal. BC, is understandable to the extent that pre-Kerma, as I mentioned earlier, can mean prior to the “Kerma” cultural complex, and that radio-Carbon dating is based on the items thus far dated in the archeological sites, and so, providing best estimation of dates. Certain things need to be taken into account however,… Concerning the [i]Neolithic[/i] settlements [i]Around Kerma, [b]several sites[/b] date from the Neolithic period, but [b]only one of these has been excavated[/b].It occupied the [b]same location as the eastern cemetery[/b] of the Kerma civilisation… This site is part of a group of [b]several stratified Neolithic settlements. They had all been subject to erosion by the Nile, before being covered by flood silt, showing that this location was reoccupied on several occasions, and that it was not protected from Nile floods.[/b] These settlements [b]may have been seasonal[/b], and have been linked to populations [b]practising animal husbandry[/b] who occupied the alluvial plain [b]during the dry season seeking pastureland.[/b] The site yielded [b]hearths and postholes, as well as pottery, stone objects (flints, grinders and grindstones) and faunal remains…[/b] [b]For the **fifth millennium**, excavated settlements are rare in Nubia and in the rest of Sudan.[/b] The [b]best-documented examples are again located in central Sudan.[/b] They [b]contained artefacts and hearths[/b], but [b]no structure outlined by postholes[/b] has been found, [b]although we know that they existed in Egypt at this time[/b]. That this society [b]practised animal husbandry has, already, been noted[/b] on several occasions, and the [b]paucity of known settlements[/b] has sometimes been interpreted as [b]reflecting the mobility of human groups.[/b][/i] Whereas by 3000 cal. BC,… [i][b]Three Pre-Kerma settlements are known[/b], and [b]one has been extensively excavated over about ten years.[/b] It consists of a village, uncovered over an area of about one hectare, that was also located at the site of the eastern necropolis of the Kerma civilisation. Unlike the Neolithic sites, this settlement was not covered by Nile silt…[/i] Which brings me to the following mentioned on the [URL=http://www.nubianet.org/about/about_history3.html][i]Nubianet.org[/i] site[/URL]: [i]In 1986 the expedition of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, under the direction of Dr. Charles Bonnet, was excavating at the [b]ancient city site of Kerma, which dates to about 2500-1500 BC.[/b] Beneath the cemetery of this city, about 1.5 mi (2.7 km) east of the Nile, they found ruins of [b] second, older town, dating from about 3500-2700 BC. This town is now called the "Pre-Kerma settlement" and its culture the "Pre-Kerma."[/b] [b]Mixed with these remains[/b] were [b]traces of an even older town[/b], which have yielded [b]carbon dates[/b] stretching back [b]to about 4800 BC.[/b][/i] It is a wonder that if Honegger reports “three” Pre-Kerma settlements and that “one has been extensively excavated over 10 years“, then in which one of these settlements is the Nubianet.org piece referring to, where traces of an older town have come to the fore? Well, let’s analyze: Back to the Honegger report,… [i][b]Two rectangular buildings[/b], quite different from one another, were identified close to the palisades. They probably fulfilled a specific function, [b]but it is difficult to imagine what this may have been as no artefacts were preserved at surface level[/b][/i]… I suspect that these two structures, are the ones that the Nubianet.org site was referring to, and apparently “imagining what they may have been” used for based on… [i]Between 1995 and 1998, 5000 sq. m. of [b]the Pre-Kerma town[/b] were cleared, revealing part of a complex plan including the remains of some 50 round houses, which could be identified only by their surviving patterns of post holes… [b]Two other buildings in the Pre-Kerma town were rectangular in plan.[/b] Comparing these [b]with seemingly similar structures in use today[/b] by rural Sudanese nomads, we can [b]suggest that they might have been elevated platforms used to store animal fodder.[/b] There were also [b]double lines of holes, suggesting where fences[/b] had been built as animal corrals. The [b]modern fences of the Sudanese nomads are built in exactly the same way.[/b] [/i] So, from the looks of things, the Honegger report was referring to Nubianet.org’s “Pre-Kerma town”, as the one that has been excavated over ten years, and with the implication of being the site which has provided more material information on “architecture or spatial organization”, than the other sites, presumably the other two “known” Pre-Kerma settlements, mentioned earlier. Speaking of which,… [i]…[b]Other Pre-Kerma or A-Group sites with settlement structures have been discovered between the first and the third cataracts of the Nile valley[/b]. Unfortunately, these [b]have yielded precious little information concerning architecture or spatial organisation, though they are often represented by storage pits (Arduan, Sai, Khor Daoud).[/b] It would seem that the latter developed during a relatively late phase of Nubian prehistory, [b]as this type of structure is not known at sites predating the second half of the fourth millennium BC.[/b] The appearance of these generally numerous and grouped pits could be linked to the rising importance of agriculture in the economy and, in consequence, to increasingly permanent habitation sites. [/i] On a final note, at least for now,… [i]…Indeed, the settlement of the Kerma region, with [b]its numerous phases of rebuilding and ample storage areas, seems to point to a permanent occupation lasting over several decades.[/b] Compared to the Neolithic, where animal husbandry played a major role, the Pre-Kerma and A-Group periods may have [b]seen a progressive transformation, characterised by the increasing development of agriculture, even though animal husbandry still played an important role.[/b] This [b]evolution[/b] of the [i]subsistence economy was probably one of the conditions necessary for the emergence of more complex societies, such as the one present at Kerma during the second half of the third millennium BC.[/i] To conclude, several parallels may be drawn between the Pre-Kerma settlement and the ancient city of Kerma, whose earliest structures date from around 2300 to 2200 cal. BC. This town displayed certain architectural traditions which were inherited from the preceding period, such as huts, storage pits and palisades. But this was the full extent of the similarities: the dominant architectural forms at Kerma were built of mud bricks, which were apparently unknown during the Pre-Kerma period. The buildings were generally rectangular and possessed internal subdivisions. This spatial organisation reveals a desire for urbanism, with monumental buildings and a system of hierarchised streets and passages. All these elements were new to Nubian architecture. We are still lacking the intermediate stages, and need to define the importance of influences from the Egyptian civilisation.[/i] - M. Honegger It would seem that the “older town”, “traces” of which appear in the “Pre-Kerma Town”, is not the [i]Pre-Kerma[/i] town, and has yet to be named, and perhaps its further relation with the “Pre-Kerma town” has to be specified. These could well be traces of older structures during the transition to increasing “permanent settlements” into the region, in contrast to the situation implied in the earlier/Neolithic settlements, i.e. as Honegger put it, [i][b]paucity of known settlements[/b] has sometimes been interpreted as [b]reflecting the mobility of human groups.[/b][/i] [and perhaps "seasonal" settlements]. For anyone interested in reviewing the full Honegger report, click [URL=http://rmcisadu.let.uniroma1.it/nubiaconference/honegger.doc]here[/URL]! [/QB][/QUOTE]
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