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SocialclassandlocaltraditioninNubia:theevidencefromarchaeology
Adams,forthcoming).Withtheseexceptions,
neitherthedwellingplacenortheburialplace
ofanyrulerorcivilofficialhasbeenidentified
amongthescoresofChristianNubiansitessofar
excavated.Theonlyelaboratetombsclearly
recognizablearethoseofbishops,andtheyall
datefromtheClassicandLateChristianperiods.
Surprisingly,itisonlyatthebottomofthe
socialscalethatwecanrecognizeanysocial
differencesinthearchaeologicalrecordfrom
earliermedievalNubia.OnKulubnartiisland
Fig.11.LateChristianunithouseatMeinarti
Fig.12.TerminalChristiancastlehouseatKasanarti
PAMSupplementSeries2.1
andonthenearbymainlandaretwocemeteriesof
EarlyChristiandate,bothofwhichwere
excavatedalmostentirelybytheUniversityof
KentuckyNubiaExpedition.Althoughtheburial
ritualwasidenticalinthetwoplaces,the
differencesinpathologyandmortalityarestrik-
ing.Individualsburiedintheislandcemeteryhad
anaverageageatdeathof10.6years,asagainst
19yearsinthemainlandcemetery,andskeletal
anddentalpathologieswerealsoconspicuously
moreprevalentintheislandpopulation(Adamset
alii1999:48-49).
Coupledwiththecemeteryevidence,we
havethepresenceofextremelyrudestonehuts,
apparentlyofEarlyandClassicChristiandate
(Adams1994b:263-267;seeFig.9),which
contrastmarkedlywiththewell-builtClassic
ChristianhousesatMeinarti(Adams2001b:
52-58)andDebeira(ShinnieandShinnie1978:
3-20).Evenmoretellinghoweveristheevidence
ofasmallandhighlyirregularchurch,perched
precariouslyonaslopingledgeabovethe
riverbank(Dinkler1970:263-265;Dinkler
1985:10-12;seeFig.10).Itisfarandawaythe
mostprimitiveamongthe130knownchurches
fromnorthernNubia,andIcanonlysurmisethat
itwasbuiltbytheimpoverishedislandersontheir
owninitiative,ontheonlygroundthatwasmade
availabletothem.
Takingthesefindingstogether,Ithinkwe
maypostulateforKulubnartitheexistenceof
adistinct,impoverishedunderclass,whovery
possiblywerelandlesssharecroppers.Closely
parallelsituationshavebeenobservedindifferent
partsofmodernNubiabyAliOsmanandbyJulie
Anderson(forfurtherdiscussionseeAdamsetalii
1999:48-49,andAdamsandAdams2007).
InthelaterChristianperiodsocialdifferences
becomemorearchaeologicallyrecognizable,as
weseemtowitnessonceagaintheemergenceof
alocallandedgentry.Theylivedinwell-built
“unithouses”thatwereprobablytheworkof
professionalbuilders,andweremoresubstantial
thanthedwellingsofordinarypeasants(Adams
1977:492-493;seeFig.11).Inlatertimesthese
localmagnatesmovedintotheevenmore
elaborate,two-storeycastle-housesthattowered
overthelocalvillagesfromQasrIbrimtoDal
(Adams1994a;seeFig.12).
Thecastlehouses,likecastleseverywhere,are
surelytestimonytothepoliticallyandmilitarily
disturbedconditionsthatprevailedinNubiain
thelaterMiddleAges.Thecastle-dwellers
probablyenjoyedtheirstatuspartlyonthebasis
ofextensivelandholdings,butalso,likeEuropean
feudallords,becausetheycouldprovideadegree
ofmilitaryprotectionfortheirlessfortunate
neighbors.Inthepost-Christianperiod,when
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