SHEMKHIYA. SEASON 2006; APPENDIX: ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE FOURTH CATARACT REGION, 2006
SHEMKHIYA. SEASON 2006; APPENDIX: ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE FOURTH CATARACT REGION, 2006

Summary/Abstract: The volatile situation in the Dar Monasir region in January 2006 resulted in the expedition suspending the Hagar el-Beida part of the project and devoting most of the time to an exploration of the Shemkhiya region on both banks of the Nile, upriver from Umm Safaya and downriver from el-Shellal. The region had not been topmost on the agenda due to the fact that it is to be least affected by the Merowe Dam Lake inundation. Apart from the three leftbank strongholds located near the villages of el-Ar (SH1), el-Meghera (SH8) and el-Tina (island of Tanta), which were surveyed and, in the first two cases, tested archaeologically, salvage operations included two tumulus cemeteries, the Late Meroitic SH5 and SH10, as well as a Christian burial ground SH9 adjacent to the tumuli field of SH10, the latter two situated landwards from the fort at SH8. The khors joining the Nile downriver from Tanta were explored and discovered to abound in rock art. The osteological material originated from Post-Meroitic tumuli fields in the area of Es-Sadda, Hagar el-Beida and Shemkhiya, and a Christian burial ground near Shemkhiya, altogether 65 individuals, has been studied by an anthropologist.

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