Four thousand years of pottery technology by foragers in Jebel Sabaloka, Middle Nile Valley (Sudan)

Early Holocene foragers in the Middle Nile Valley, in current Sudan’s territory, have long been known for their expertise in pottery manufacturing. In central Sudan, they are associated with the Early Khartoum culture and, together with pottery, they feature other innovative technical (ground stone tools, microlithic industries, and bone, horn and shell tools) and social (cemeteries) solutions within (semi)-permanent occupations. Early Khartoum sites extend around Khartoum (Sudan’s present capital city), northward in the Middle Nile Valley, and in the surrounding savanna. Production of pottery vessels appeared since the beginning of Early Khartoum occupations. It displays high quality manufactures consisting of vessels with surfaces mostly decorated with impressions and incisions. The earliest safe evidence comes from Jebel Sabaloka, a volcanic mountain near the Sixth Nile Cataract 80 km north of Khartoum, investigated since 2009 by the Charles University Sabaloka Expedition. To-date, 30 Early Khartoum sites have been recorded along the western fringe of this mountain range and are dated from the ninth to early fifth millennium cal BC. One of them, Sphinx (SBK.W-60), 3.5 km from the Nile River, was extensively excavated with 11 trenches. Pottery at this site occurs throughout the 1.2-m thick deposit, increasing from the lower to the upper levels. Analyses of pottery technology aimed at correlating cultural change to technological and chronological variability. This paper aims at emphasizing the transformative technology of the production and use of pottery vessels not only as means for food processing, but also as forms for displaying cultural identities and social symbols.