Plant remains from the Napatan settlement in Wadi Umm-Rahau 77

1. Introduction

For several years, the northern Sudan has been acentre of interest for archaeologists. The GdańskArchaeological Museum Expedition (GAME) con-cession covers an area along a 250 km-long stretch onthe right bank of the Nile, between Karima and AbuHamed. The study area belongs to ancient Nubia,which played an important role in the history ofplant exploitation. In former times, Nubia probablyserved as a trade corridor between Egypt and moresoutherly regions of Africa. Rescue excavations havebeen conducted ahead of the construction of the newMerowe Dam in the Fourth Cataract region. So far,the GAME results indicate that this region offered afavourable environment for humans from at least theMiddle Stone Age onwards (PANER & BORCOWSKI2005).

Apart from archaeology, another method ofstudying the ancient economy of this region is ar-chaeobotany. Although the high temperatures andseasonal wetting and drying of the soil limit thepresence of plant remains, increasing numbers of

archaeobotanical investigations in the north ofAfrica deliver more and more results about thepast; this is especially the case in Sudan. The studyof plant macro-remains and pollen can be used toimprove our knowledge of not only the introduc-tion of economic plants to the desert area, but alsoof former vegetation and the processes involved inplant domestication (van ZEIST 1983; BARAKAT 1995;JAHNS 1995; NEUMANN 2003; EDWARDS & FULLER2005). The main aim of the archaeobotanical study,conducted within the framework of cooperationbetween GAME and the University of Gdańsk Lab-oratory of Palaeoecology and Archaeobotany, is todescribe the role of agriculture and plant gatheringin the economy of different cultures, and to collectinformation for the reconstruction of past environ-ments in the area of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Thepresent paper presents the first results of the car-pological analysis of cultural layers in the Napatansettlement HP736 against the background of the ar-chaeological interpretation of the site.

Monika Badura

Plant remains from the Napatan settlement in Wadi Umm-Rahau:An interim report

Abstract

This paper presents the first results from carpological analysis of cultural layers in the Napatan settlementHP736 against the background of the pertinent archaeological interpretation. The site is located in the WadiUmm-Rahau in the Fourth Nile Cataract region. Preliminary archaeological results suggest that the area wasinhabited by an early agrarian community. The archaeobotanical samples were obtained from five structuresand included large amounts of mineralised seeds and fruit remains as well as sheep/goat coprolites. Theanalysis of this material revealed the presence of both cultivated and wild plants. The majority of wild plantsfound at the site must have been brought into the settlement intentionally by humans. Palynological studiesare in progress and are expected to provide new data on both animal fodder as well as the natural vegetationof the area.

Keywords: Fourth Nile Cataract · archaeobotany · crops · macro-botanical remains · settlement site · wild plant use ·

Napatan period

Hans-Peter Wotzka (ed.), Proceedings of the Third International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract, Universityof Cologne, 13–14 July 2006. Africa Praehistorica 22 (Köln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut), 2012: 77–81.

78 Monika Badura

radiocarbon dates on charcoal samples, settlementHP736 dates to the Napatan period.

3. Methods of analysis

Archaeobotanical samples were collected from eachorganic layer of the architectural structures (Fig. 1).The volume of the soil samples analysed rangedfrom 1 to 3 kg; only in a few cases were the samplessmaller. After experimentation using different meth-ods, water flotation was applied as the most suc-cessful. Samples were sieved through 2.0 and 0.5 mmmeshes, and the fraction retained in the sieves wasexamined for plant remains under a microscope at10–20x magnification. A total of 20 samples were col-lected in this manner.

Most of the seeds and fruits were preserved inmineralised form; charred material was not plenti-ful. The mineralisation of the plant remains was due

Fig. 1 Site HP736, feature 6: section showing organic layers, indicated by arrows (phot. E. Kołosowska).

2. Site location and archaeological setting

The archaeobotanical material discussed in this ar-ticle was recovered from site HP736, that was exca-vated by GAME in 2006. The site is situated in theWadi Umm-Rahau, on one of the islands scatteredalong the bed of the dried up wadi, where the set-tlement was protected from destruction by waterduring the rainy season. Preliminary archaeologi-cal results suggest that the settlement was probablyoccupied by an early agrarian community (KOŁO -SOWSKA & MAH MOUD, this volume). Among thearchaeological features recorded at the site werestone structures that are thought to represent do-mestic buildings. Traces of fire were found in andaround some rooms, and some of the structureswere apparently used as storage places, an inter-pretation suggested by the presence of numerousfragments of large storage jars found in situ. On thebasis of the characteristics of the pottery finds and

Plant remains from the Napatan settlement in Wadi Umm-Rahau 79

to the presence of animal coprolites. Jugding fromtheir morphology, the coprolites derived from sheep/goats. Organic-rich coprolites were sampled suc-cessfully for pollen; these data will be the topic of aseparate report (Małgorzata Latałowa and JoannaŚwięta-Musznicka, pers. comm.).

4. Results and first conclusions

Of special interest is the evidence for cultivatedplants. Cereals are represented by spikelet base frag-ments of emmer, Triticum cf. dicoccum (= dicoccon)(Fig. 2). Despite its Middle East origin, emmer hasan ancient African heritage, and it remains a majorcereal throughout North Africa and the MiddleEast. It was probably the only type of wheat knownin Ancient Egypt, and it retained its dominance inthe Nile Valley until as late as Hellenistic times. Thiskind of crop was highly appreciated as a source offood and drink. It was replaced by naked durumwheat (Triticum durum) by the Ptolemaic rulers(ZOHARY & HOPF 2000; FAHMY 2003). At the settle-ment site HP736, single glumes of what was probablybarley (cf. Hordeum vulgare) were also identified. Re-mains of these winter crops, emmer and barley, werealso found in the vicinity of HP736, at the Meroiticsite 3-J-5, on the island of Umm Muri (EDWARDS &FULLER 2005).

Among the plant remains, single fragments ofwater-melon seeds, Citrullus lanatus (syn. C. vulgaris),were found. This plant from the Cucurbitaceae fam-ily was cultivated in the Nile Valley at least from thebeginning of the 2nd millennium BC (ZOHARY &HOPF 2000). Early evidence for this species comesfrom Egypt (WASYLIKOWA & van der VEEN 2004),and in Sudan water-melon remains were found inthe foundation deposits beneath the walls of twotemples near Semna, c. 1500–1480 BC (van ZEIST1983). It is thought that this plant is native to Africa;its fruits may have been an important water source intimes of drought (SCHERY 1972).

The material under discussion also containedwild plant species, a few of which have economicvalue. These plants were probably collected for foodor animal fodder by people living in the settlement.Colocynth (bitter apple, Citrullus colocynthis) seedswere found (Fig. 3). Colocynth is closely related tothe water-melon (ZOHARY & HOPF 2000). It is a desertplant with a rich history as an important medicinal

plant and a source of valuable oil. The fruits are stillcollected by nomads in the Sahara and the NearEast and sold to pharmacies. All parts of the plantare very bitter and used as a purgative. After specialpreparation, the seeds were used for human food(OSBORN 1968). Colocynth is native to dry areas ofNorth Africa, being common throughout the Sa-hara, in areas of Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, and east-ward through Iran to India and other parts oftropical Asia (BOULOS 2000). Known since biblicaltimes, it has been cultivated in the Mediterraneanregion for many centuries.

Fig. 2 Fossil spikelet base of emmer, Triticum cf. dicoccum

(= dicoccon) (phot. M. Badura).

Fig. 3 Fossil seed of Citrullus colocynthis (phot. M. Badura).

80 Monika Badura

Large deposits of glumes of wild grasses (Poaceae)mixed with coprolites were recovered from archaeo-logical structures. Grasses have a high nutritionalvalue, and they may, therefore, have been collectedfor animal fodder. Historically, wild grasses areknown to have been harvested and to have formed asignificant component in the diet of various Saharantribes (HARLAN 1989; PELLING 2003). At the siteHP736, Panicum turgidum, Echinochloa type and Setaria

type were recorded. Grains of these grasses wereprobably ground, cooked and eaten as a kind of por-ridge; the grain could also be roasted. These grasseswere also used for building material, fibre, broomsand medicine (WASYLIKOWA et al. 1995). Panicum

turgidum made especially good fodder for animals.This grass produces seeds that loosely resembleproso millet (Panicum miliaceum). It was once abun-dant across the Sahara and in desert lands as fareast as Pakistan (NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL1996).

Other remains represent desert plants (Arnebia

cf. hispidissima) and weeds (Solanum nigrum; Eleusine

cf. indica; Zaleya cf. decandra). The literature providesinformation that the appearance of Arnebia cf. his-

pidissima at the site might suggest that the plant wasgathered. Dry plants may also have been collectedfor fuel (WASYLIKOWA et al. 1995).

Some of the plant remains are still undeter-mined; this is due primarily to the lack of informa-tion on the morphology of seeds and fruits in theflora of the Sudan but also to limited access by theauthor to modern reference collections; this mate-rial will be investigated in the next stage.

A preliminary analysis of coprolites shows thatthe samples contain pollen (Małgorzata Latałowa

and Joanna Święta-Musznicka, pers. comm.). Thepollen in the coprolites may give a general indica-tion of the pollen fallout in the area and could indi-cate the food plants eaten by animals during theflowering season (AKERET et al. 1999; HUNT et al.

2001). Coprolites from HP736 contain assemblageswith Poaceae and diverse steppic flora, includingAsteraceae pollen. In addition, pollen of Tribulus sp.is present in the samples. The genus comprises sevenspecies that could have grown in the northernSudan (BOULOS 2000). They represent typical desertplants as well as weeds. All species can thrive evenin desert climates and on poor soils. So far, cerealpollen has not been found.

The present study of site HP736 in Sudan hasprovided a unique opportunity to compare archaeob-otanical information with assumptions as to thefunction of the settlement made on the basis of thearchaeological investigations. While the analysis isstill in progress, we have already gained evidencefor agrarian practices. All plant remains stem fromclearly defined archaeological structures, and theexamined archaeological objects contained more orless the same plant taxa. The analysis of this mate-rial revealed the presence of both cultivated andwild plants. Remains of cultivated plants are pres-ent in small numbers. The majority of plants foundat the site must have been brought to the settle-ments intentionally by humans. Some of the col-lected species could have been used by people asmedicine. Particular structures, with layers con-taining many coprolites, may have been used asgoat or sheep pens. Further palynological studiesshould provide new data relating to both animalfodder and the natural vegetation of the area.

Plant remains from the Napatan settlement in Wadi Umm-Rahau 81

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