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Affad 23: settlement structures and palaeoenvironments in the Terminal Pleistocene of the Middle Nile Valley, Sudan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2016

Piotr Osypiński ,
Mike W. Morley ,
Marta Osypińska  and
Anna M. Kotarba-Morley
Piotr Osypiński*
Affiliation:
Patrimonium Foundation, Wodna 27, Poznań, Poland
Mike W. Morley*
Affiliation:
Human Origins and Palaeo-Environments (HOPE) Research Group, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK Centre for Archaeological Science (CAS), School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia
Marta Osypińska
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Rubiez 46, Poznań, Poland
Anna M. Kotarba-Morley
Affiliation:
Centre for Archaeological Science (CAS), School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, OX1 2PG, Oxford, UK
*
*Authors for correspondence (Email: piotr.osypinski@patrimonium.pl; mmorley@uow.edu.au)
*Authors for correspondence (Email: piotr.osypinski@patrimonium.pl; mmorley@uow.edu.au)
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Abstract

The Epipalaeolithic of the Levant witnessed important changes in subsistence behaviour, foreshadowing the transition to sedentism and cultivation, but much less is known of contemporary developments in the Middle Nile Valley. Here, Affad 23, a 16000-year-old settlement, on the margins of a resource-rich, multi-channel floodplain, offers exceptional insights. Unusually good preservation has left the remains of pits and postholes, indicating the construction of temporary shelters and specialised functional zones. The Affad 23 community successfully exploited a wide range of riverine resources, and created a highly organised seasonal camp adjacent to convenient, resource-rich hunting grounds. Surprisingly, they continued to exploit Levallois-like tools, rather than adopting the new technologies (e.g. microliths) that were then evolving in Upper Egypt.

Keywords

SudanNileTerminal PleistoceneEpipalaeolithicepi-Levalloissettlementpostholehearth
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 352 , August 2016 , pp. 894 - 913
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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