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DMP V: Investigations in 2009 of Cemeteries and Related Sites on the West Side of the Taqallit Promontory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

David Mattingly ,
Marta Lahr ,
Andrew Wilson ,
Hafed Abduli ,
Muftah Ahmed ,
Steve Baker ,
Franca Cole ,
Mireya González Rodriguez ,
Matt Hobson  and
Victoria Leitch
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David Mattingly
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
Marta Lahr
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Cambridge University
Andrew Wilson
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Hafed Abduli
Affiliation:
University of Sousse, Tunisia
Muftah Ahmed
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
Steve Baker
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
Franca Cole
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University
Mireya González Rodriguez
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
Matt Hobson
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
Victoria Leitch
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Farès Moussa
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh
Efthymia Nikita
Affiliation:
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Cambridge University
Anita Radini
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
Ian Reeds
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
Toby Savage
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
Martin Sterry
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
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Abstract

The ‘Burials and Identity’ team of the Desert Migrations Project carried out two main excavations in the 2009 season, at the monumental Garamantian cemeteries of TAG001 and TAG012, by the Taqallit headland. In addition, a detailed survey was made of cemeteries and other sites on the west side of the Taqallit headland, to set the two main cemetery excavations in context. A total of over 2,100 individual burials was recorded in this small area of a few square kilometres. This cemetery survey was combined with further research on the well-preserved foggara systems in this area, which originate at the escarpment among the cemeteries and run in a north-westerly direction towards the valley centre, where some additional Garamantian settlement sites were also located. The foggara research also involved excavation at four locations to try to elucidate issues relating to the dating of these.

A total of 22 burials was investigated at TAG001, an imposing cemetery of stone-built stepped tombs that had been badly damaged by illegal bulldozing in the 1990s. Although these had been subjected to robbing at some point in the past, many preserved considerable parts of the skeletons buried within and some surprisingly complete artifact groups. Of particular importance are a series of Garamantian necklaces in ostrich eggshell, carnelian and glass beads, which we were able to lift in perfect sequence and restring. At TAG012, about 2 km north of the Taqallit headland, we excavated an area of a mudbrick cemetery, exposing 12 square/rectangular tombs. Two further burials were excavated at the dispersed cemetery TAG006, in both cases involving tombs that had an interesting stratigraphical relationship with foggara spoil mounds.

Type
Archaeological Reports
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 40 , 2009 , pp. 95 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2009

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