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Holocene resource exploitation along the Nile: diet and subsistence strategies of Mesolithic and Neolithic societies at Khor Shambat 1, Sudan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2021

Julie Dunne Open the ORCID record for Julie Dunne [Opens in a new window] ,
Maciej Jórdeczka Open the ORCID record for Maciej Jórdeczka [Opens in a new window] ,
Marek Chłodnicki ,
Karen Hardy ,
Lucy Kubiak-Martens ,
Magdalena Moskal-del Hoyo ,
Marta Osypińska Open the ORCID record for Marta Osypińska [Opens in a new window] ,
Marta Portillo ,
Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka Open the ORCID record for Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka [Opens in a new window]  and
Selina Delgado-Raack
...Show all authors
Julie Dunne*
Affiliation:
Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK
Maciej Jórdeczka
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, PAS, Poznan, Poland
Marek Chłodnicki
Affiliation:
Archaeological Museum in Poznan, Poland
Karen Hardy
Affiliation:
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain Departament de Prehistòria, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Lucy Kubiak-Martens
Affiliation:
BIAX Consult, Biological Archaeology & Environmental Reconstruction, Zaandam, the Netherlands
Magdalena Moskal-del Hoyo
Affiliation:
W. Szafer Institute of Botany PAS, Krakow, Poland
Marta Osypińska
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław, Poland
Marta Portillo
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Institució Milà i Fontanals, Spanish National Research Council (IMF-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka
Affiliation:
Faculty of Archaeology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
Selina Delgado-Raack
Affiliation:
Departament de Prehistòria, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Przemysław Bobrowski
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, PAS, Poznan, Poland
Paul S. Breeze
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, King's College London, UK
Nick Drake
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, King's College London, UK The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
Katie Manning
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, King's College London, UK
Richard P. Evershed
Affiliation:
Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK
*
*Author for correspondence ✉ [email protected]
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Abstract

The subsistence practices of Holocene communities living in the Nile Valley of Central Sudan are comparatively little known. Recent excavations at Khor Shambat, Sudan, have yielded well-defined Mesolithic and Neolithic stratigraphy. Here, for the first time, archaeozoological, palaeobotanical, phytolith and dental calculus studies are combined with lipid residue analysis of around 100 pottery fragments and comparative analysis of faunal remains and organic residues. This holistic approach provides valuable information on changes in adaptation strategies, from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic herders exploiting domesticates. A unique picture is revealed of the natural environment and human subsistence, demonstrating the potential wider value of combining multiple methods.

Keywords

SudanMesolithicNeolithicdietarchaeobotanylipid residue analysis
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 95 , Issue 384 , December 2021 , pp. 1426 - 1445
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.

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