Pottery manufactures at Sai Island, Sudan

This paper presents the pottery manufactures from two sites (8-B-10C and 8-B-52A) in Sai Island, Sudan, where fieldwork was conducted by the present author, in charge of research on the recent prehistory. The ceramic assemblages taken into consideration come from excavations and surface collections dated to different periods. Site 8-B-10C belongs to the Khartoum Variant and 8-B-52A displays a series of granary pits that were assigned to the Pre-Kerma period. Ceramic analyses of each assemblage include observations on fabrics, surface treatment, and decoration. These data provide new insights on the role of Sai Island in Nubia from the 7th to the end of the 5th millennium BP and its relations with human groups in Upper Nubia, as well as Lower Nubia. They also offer some new evidence to better understand the spread and occasional overlapping of cultural traditions during such critical times as the latest foraging period, the beginning of food production and goods accumulation, and the relations with emerging complex societies.