British Museum blog

Milena Grzybowska, physical anthropologist

Once documentation of the chapel and pyramid of grave G309 was complete, we started excavation of the substructure. As expected, a shaft leads to two burial chambers carved into schist bedrock, all arranged on an east-west axis.

Milena excavating at the base of the shaft in G309

However, some details of construction were unusual for this cemetery: a schist slab was used as a door jamb for the western chamber, and the shaft was partly lined with mudbrick and then plastered.

Near the base of the 2.5 metre deep shaft, an intact burial was found. This skeleton of a 15-20 year-old female was found in a prone position (lying on her front), extended with her arms placed along her sides. This suggests the body was tightly wrapped in a shroud – or possibly mummified.

The woman was found on a mat, probably of reed, which will be confirmed by botanical analysis. Blue, red and white beads were found around her neck, while both of her hands were adorned with bracelets of faience beads.

A scarab, found in her left hand, is carved with a depiction of two baboons greeting the sun – symbolised by an obelisk.

Establishing the sex of an individual is often problematic in osteology, but the skeleton of a foetus, found still within the pelvic area of the mother, left no doubts. According to a preliminary skeletal analysis, the baby reached the 28th week of its intrauterine life and did not exhibit any skeletal abnormalities.

Burial of a woman at the base of the shaft in G309

The reason of death for both individuals might never be established. The foetus was found in a position not suggestive of a child-birth death, and ff the mother succumbed to some other pregnancy-related complications it might not leave evidence on the skeleton. A thorough analysis of potential pathological conditions identifiable in the mother’s remains might, however, shed some light on this matter in the future. For example, on the basis of healed porosity of the cranium and orbits, we might suspect that the mother had suffered and recovered from anaemia during her life.

Find out more about the Amara West research project

Filed under: Amara West, Archaeology

Mat Dalton, archaeologist

Two weeks into excavations in the street (E13.12) outside house E13.4 at Amara West have helped answer some questions raised during last year’s season, confirmed our thoughts about major building phases in this part of the town, and provided some tantalising new clues as to how life in this neighbourhood changed over time.

The six workmen in my team and I have so far removed around 60cm of deposits from the street, which we have exposed along a 14 metre stretch.

View west down street, with door into house E13.4, and pit through street deposits

In some ways we are lucky to have a huge, late pit slicing through the street; this cut gives us a preview of the deposits we will remove, including their thickness and probable formation processes. This side-on view is particularly informative, showing us the street is composed of hundreds (if not thousands) of laminated wind-deposited lenses (very thin layers) of silt and sand.

These deposits built up over time as sand and silt eroded from houses over the street, people dumped sweepings from their houses outdoors, and sand blew in with the strong north-westerly winds from the Sahara desert.

The street deposits are packed with small potsherds, eroded by foot traffic and exposure to the elements. There are also the likely remnants of animal manure and waste from craft production, including small scattered spreads of red and white pigment around the door into house E13.4. The street functioned as something of an informal, small-scale rubbish dump.

Upright schist stone (right) protecting outside corner of house E13.4

On three wall corners within the street we have found evidence that large upstanding stones were put in place to stop street traffic from damaging the vulnerable mudbrick walls. On one corner in particular, the smooth and rounded damage seems to match up well with the shape and height of a donkey; it doesn’t take much to imagine the narrow streets of Amara West bustling with human and animal traffic.

Sandstone doorway from street into house E13.4 (walls of house E13.7 visible beneath)

Underneath the softer, silty street deposits we have encountered a thick flat layer of hard building rubble, apparently dumped into the street at the same time as house E13.7 was levelled and filled with a very similar material to allow construction of later house E13.4. This new house required several new doorways from the resurfaced street. As this major re-arrangement of the neighbourhood occurred not only in one house, but also in adjacent public spaces (like the street), we must wonder what could have prompted such a major rebuilding exercise that would have clearly affected many people’s everyday lives.

Filed under: Amara West, Archaeology

Åshild Vågene, physical anthropologist, Institute of Bioarchaeology Amara West Field School

Excavation of tumulus G308 in cemetery D at Amara West revealed a grave roughly three metres in diameter, with an interior structure of a type typical of the Kerma period. The interior of the grave is circular, consisting of two steps leading down towards a smaller circular grave pit in the southwest corner.

Tumulus G308 prior to excavation

These features set the grave apart from the other tumuli dug here – yet another grave type found in cemeteries C and D.

The remains of a single individual were found within the grave, heavily disturbed, but with enough skeletal elements to suggest that the individual was buried in a flexed position: another difference with most burials at Amara West.

The interior structure of G308

The presence of a few beads and sherds indicates there were originally grave goods placed with the deceased. However, the disarticulated state in which the skeleton was found, coupled with the sparse number of finds, suggests that this grave had been looted.

Planning of G308 during excavation, with Åshild and fellow Field School participant Mohamed Saad

Despite this, some notable pottery was found close to the surface on the outer edges of the interior grave. Two complete ceramic vessels were uncovered and their position far from the body itself might indicate they are the remains of funerary offerings, not grave goods.

Kerma pottery, awaiting transport back to the expedition house....

Being typical examples of Kerma pottery, with trademark red exterior and black rim, they suggest the burial is of the Kerma period (2500-1500 BC). This would be much earlier than the other burials – and indeed the occupation of the town.

Study of the ceramics – drawing, analysing the fabric, and comparing to published examples from other sites – should allow the date range to be narrowed down.

Filed under: Amara West, Archaeology