Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
CHAPTER3
COLLECTIONSANDARCHAEOLOGICALCONTEXTS
3.1INTRODUCTION
Theobjectsforanalysiswereselectedfromthe
largestEuropeanandSudanesecollectionsof
Nubianbeads:theScandinavianJointExpedition
(SJE)materialsstoredintheMuseumofArchae-
ologyattheUniversityofStavanger(MAUS)in
Norway,theNationalCorporationofAntiquities
andMuseums(NCAM)materialsstoredattheSu-
danNationalMuseuminKhartoum(SNM),and
thoseintheMuseumofArchaeologyinPoznań
(MAP)andtheNationalMuseuminWarsaw
(MNW).Thesitesarepresentedaccordingtothe
museumcollectionsfromwhichthesamplema-
terialoriginated.Anoverviewofthecollections,
sitesandthenumberofsamplesusedinthestudy
isgiveninTable3-1.
Ingeneral,thebeadswereexcavatedatburial
sitesinLowerNubia,betweentheFirstandSec-
ondNileCataract(SJE),inUpperNubia,between
theSecondandThirdCataract(SNM01-SNM34),
intheFourthCataractregion(MAP,MNW,
SNM60-SNM74),andbetweentheFifthandSixth
Cataracts(SNM35-SNM57)[Fig.3-1].Thegraves
weredatedtotheMeroiticandpost-Meroiticpe-
riods,thatis,fromthe1stcenturyBCtothe6th
centuryAD.
3.2SJE
Theglassbeadsinthisstudycomefromoneof
thelargestcollectionsofLowerNubianbeadsin
Europe,whichisnowstoredintheMuseumofAr-
chaeologyattheUniversityofStavanger(MAUS).
TheywereexcavatedbytheScandinavianJoint
Expedition(SJE)toSudaneseNubiain1961-1964
(Säve-Söderbergh1981),atsiteswhichlieonthe
eastbankoftheNilejusttothenorthoftheSec-
ondCataractandencompassingabeltofabout50
kminlength(Säve-Söderbergh1981).
Theobjectsinthisstudycomefromgraves
thatwereexcavatedateightburialsites:Serra25,
Ashkeit63,332and349,WadiHalfa123,Abka250
and416,andGamai432.Theitemsunderdiscus-
sionwerefoundin26privategravesattributedto
theMeroiticorpost-MeroiticPeriods,orwithun-
specifieddating.Ingeneral,thesitesrangedfrom
afewtoadozenormoretumulisuperstructuresof
upto12mindiameterandcontainingeithersin-
gleormultiplegraveunits.Site25inSerraEast
isalargecemeteryatwhichmorethan300units
wereinvestigated,mostofwhichhadbeenheav-
ilyplundered(Säve-Söderbergh1981:70).Site349
atAshkeitcomprisedonlyonegravewhichwas
situatedonanoutcropofthemountain.Thegrave
consistedofamoundandasimplecircularshaft
containingachildburial(Säve-Söderbergh1981:
148).Site63atAshkeitisapost-Meroiticcem-
eterywithsixdisturbedmounds,varyingindiam-
eterfrom3mto12mandwithheightsfrom1.50
mto0.50m,andcontaining12graveswithshafts
ofdiHerenttypesandinstatesofvaryingpreser-
vation(Säve-Söderbergh1981:139).Similarly,Site
332atAshkeitisacemeterywithafewgravesof
Meroiticorpost-Meroiticdate(Säve-Söderbergh
1981:146).WadiHalfaSite123isasmallcem-
eteryofaboutfifteenmounds(Säve-Söderbergh
1981:152).Site432atGamaiisaburialgroundof
mainlyMeroiticdatecomprisingnineunits,allof
whichhadbeendisturbed(Säve-Söderbergh1981:
174).Abka250isagainalargecemeteryofMeroit-
icdate.Itmeasures55mby25mandconsists
of75-100units(Säve-Söderbergh1981:158);45
tombswereexamined.Site416atAbkaisacem-
eteryofMeroiticandpost-Meroiticdatewhere29
graveswerefound(Säve-Söderbergh1981:167).
Variousartifactswerefoundinthegraves:
metalcups,tools,weapons,toiletutensils,fit-
tings,andjewelry,bracelets,anklets,ringsand
PAMMonographSeries10
17
