Cultural Convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley: a Prehistoric

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hitpe rn Ramsey Bronk Christopher Introduction Wengrow David Africa in place Egypt’s perspective on prehistoric a Valley: Nile of the Neolithic the in convergence Cultural 3 Egypt’s root to attempts 2 recent but criteria; with comparative 1 of 2003, variety Reid a can duration on & adequately long deﬁned of O’Connor be be milieu course cannot (see cultural African of Egypt context an constitutes of African What prehistory literature). wider earlier later of a reviews the from that isolation decades in some understood for clear been has It Keywords: ANTIQUITY C niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity ereMsu fEyta rhelg,Uiest olg odn ae lc,Lno CE6T UK 6BT, WC1E London Place, Malet London, South College Building, University Perrins Archaeology, Dyson Egyptian Oxford, of of Museum University Petrie UK Art, 3QY, of OX1 UK History 0PY, Oxford WC1H the Road, Parks London & Square, Archaeology Gordon for 31–34 Laboratory London, Research College University Archaeology, of Institute 0 scneprr ytm,adar-rwn forpcueo fia om fsocial of forms African of picture our of re-drawing well as a traditional organisation.” of and discoveries systems, substantial to contemporary lead prejudging as well without could interconnections, units, of and demarcation networks the empirical of mapping “Systematic 8(04:9–1 http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/088/ant0880095.htm 95–111 (2014): 88 gp,Shr,psoaim rmr atrlcmuiy aain lmt change climate Badarian, community, pastoral primary pastoralism, Sahara, Egypt, km Nile Valley Area ofthe FerkBrh17:258) 1978: Barth (Fredrik 1 Cairo ihe Dee Michael , 2000 Khartoum 2 2 N aa Foster Sarah , 95 rca oeo ueaypatcsadbody and the practices emphasises funerary decoration. of also in role adaptation It crucial cultural Africa. of north-east drivers as stress environmental and change climate emphasise that studies recent challenges The picture society. resulting of kinds new these of detailed the development charted has Egypt, Neolithic Middle in from sites determinations AMS assisted new chronology, by BC. the millennium of ﬁfth re-examination of the A parts in Valley Sudanese Nile and the Egyptian the the both horizon, in cultural emerged which important community’, pastoral ‘primary an civilisation in Egyptian lie of origins African The 1 lc Stevenson Alice , 3 &

Research Cultural convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley early development in an African setting have focused upon questions of environmental adaptation, and in particular on environmental stress as a driver of cultural change among the early pastoralist societies of this region (e.g. Wendorf & Schild 1998; Kuper & Kroepelin 2006). Too often, perhaps, Evans-Pritchard’s (1940: 16) quipping injunction—cherchez la vache—seems to suffice as a descriptor of the relationship between prehistoric economy and society in African contexts. The aim of the present article is to define an important horizon of cultural change, belonging to the fifth millennium BC, linking Egypt’s early development firmly to that of its southern neighbours in Nubia and central Sudan. This north–south axis of Neolithic development, first discussed in earlier publications by one of the present authors (Wengrow 2001: 95–97, 2003, 2006: 26–29, 44–59; and more recently also Edwards 2004: 49–59, 2007: 216–17; Gatto 2011a), has been overshadowed by climate-driven explanations of cultural change, with their focus upon the mid-Holocene desiccation of the ‘Green Sahara’ as a ‘motor’ of social evolution (see especially Kuper & Kroepelin 2006). Its emergence nevertheless defines a clear break with the Early Holocene past, and the establishment— throughout the entirety of the Nile Valley—of a remarkably consistent set of concepts and material practices relating to the treatment of human bodies in life and death. Our point of departure is the comparative observation that there is nothing distinctively ‘African’ about the adoption of mobile cattle pastoralism as a response to climate change, or about the privileging of cattle as ritual and symbolic media. Similar patterns of response have now been documented across a much broader zone of the Middle Holocene Old World, including the southern portions of both the Arabian Peninsula (McCorriston & Martin 2009; McCorriston et al. 2012) and the Indian Subcontinent (Boivin 2004; Fuller 2011). Instead, as we will suggest, it is by charting the spatial and temporal distribution of specific cultural practices focused on the body—its skin and hair; its diverse contents and substances; its emissions and cavities; and its passage between life and death—that the beginnings of a distinctly African context for the later prehistory of the Nile Valley may yet come into focus.

The inception of farming economies in north-east Africa The ‘primary pastoral community’, as deﬁned here and in earlier publications (Wengrow 2003, 2006), is a phenomenon of the Middle Holocene, but its foundations, including the adoption of a herding economy, were laid in the preceding millennia of the Early Holocene. The origin and spread of farming in northern Africa was a complex, protracted and regionally variable process. By contrast with some parts of neighbouring south-west Asia and Europe, domesticated plants and animals do not appear to have been adopted as part of a single cultural ‘package’. With the exception of Lower Egypt, some areas of which (e.g. Fayum) may have followed a more typically Mediterranean path of development (Phillipps et al. 2012), much of northern Africa witnessed the inception of herding practices centuries, or in some cases millennia, before the arrival of domesticated cereals (Marshall & Hildebrand 2002). Domestic varieties of sheep and goat were introduced to the African continent from south-west Asia, perhaps via multiple routes of transmission—maritime and terrestrial— including the Red Sea and Mediterranean coastlines (Hassan 2000: 70–72, with further C Antiquity Publications Ltd.

96 r tetdb h fhmlenu Ci hmclaaye flpdrsde nSaharan on residues lipid of analyses hand, chemical other in pastoral the BC the on millennium in dairying, (Dunne role fifth pottery and significant the Milking a by 1981). played attested Sherratt products have are (see animal initially regions ‘secondary’ not these some may of this that traction) economies reminder signals important and a community’ in wool as pastoral deployed as serves ‘primary (such be and term to on orientation, The value, cultural taking 2006). of new were Lernia stores suggests generally) (di mobile contexts more transactions as ceremonial social consumption roles and meat cultural ritual perhaps central in increasingly (and prominence animals important remained new domestic (Caneva foraging their that goat and but and fishing sheep pursuits, Hunting, cattle, 2009). seasonal of Martin herds developing & mixed by McCorriston on and 1991; centred mobile, strategies more pastoral becoming focused by these more circumstances Peninsula) characterise Arabian changing the that these and Africa to landscapes (Saharan responded areas hyper-arid both the in populations produce Human today. would regions and out’ Sahara ‘drying the gradual Kindermann across 2001; this watercourses (Nicoll and Arabia southern grasslands in of also contraction 83). a 2010: initiating (Honegger southwards, Sudan of of suggestions region upon Kerma of doubt the critique cast from 104, date 2012) a 2005: domestication (Linseele Usai early (for analyses see similarly faunal evidence acceptance a new contextual general and of 3), critique found Western note a Egypt’s especially for not 2000; in have Grigson cattle see 1998) African evidence faunal Schild of domestication & More Holocene (Wendorf 2001). Early Lernia Desert to (di an penning sheep for as Barbary claims native such including strident strategies herbivores, herding wild employed to groups access regularise some that indicates Desert Libyan otne,sc steFymdpeso fnrhr gp,cra cultivation—most cereal Egypt, northern of regime rainfall depression arid winter Fayum more Mediterranean the a the where during as areas populations such In African Holocene. continued, North Middle by the of adopted centuries strategies cultural only the ela rvdn cest ait fde-ae s n agrautcseissc as such species as aquatic animals, larger and and fish people deep-water of of movement variety (Drake the crocodile a and to for hippopotamus rivers access corridor and providing integrated lakes as revitalised loosely well of a shores Holocene formed the the around that of subject concentrated beginning populations is the Human time since 1996). Sahara this around the at of by Africa much ( place across northern and sway hunting of fishing, taken held upon milieu lifestyle—centred foraging—had Mesolithic had economic A interpretations. the introduction varying widely for to initial Evidence This BC. 6000 2008). Vermeersch references; nioso ao aecuss(aln 95 Salvatori 1995; immediate the (Haaland to For watercourses limited tools. been major stone have may ground of movements on seasonal environs pigment Holocene, bone ochre Early of the barbed of traces cereals, much and and beads usually ostrich-eggshell grasses is ornamentation to wild body confined for Evidence processing 1993). (Haaland for arrowheads and impressed stones points (with hunting grinding containers ceramic designs), of incised combination regular or a comprising Sahara, the across c. rmaon 00t 00B h rniro oso analbgnt move to began rainfall monsoon of frontier the BC 4000 to 6000 around From oiiyadicesdivsmn nhrig ikn n etcnupinwr not were consumption meat and milking herding, in investment increased and Mobility rhelgcltae fteeeryhne-oae-se rusaermral consistent remarkably are groups hunter-forager-fisher early these of traces Archaeological 000B) hnbt rpcladwne an dacdit h ein(Close region the into advanced rains winter and tropical both when BC), 000 10 tal. et 02 f eQelc2011). Quellec Le cf. 2012; ai Wengrow David tal. et 2011). 97 tal. et tal. et 06.Oe eido millennia of period a Over 2006). tal. et C 01.Rsac nthe in Research 2011). niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity

Research Cultural convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley probably in the seasonally watered mouths of wadis, rather than on the shores of Nile- fed Lake Qarun as previously thought (Phillipps et al. 2012)—was added to a diverse set of subsistence practices. In those areas where wild plant and animal resources remained abundant, sedentary (but not necessarily farming) populations are likely to have flourished. Examples of such environments would include the expansive soils and wetlands of the Nile Delta (facing the Mediterranean Sea; Butzer 2002) and the Sudanese Gezira (below the confluence of the Blue and White Niles; Edwards 2004: 27–29; Salvatori & Usai 2008: 153, 155). Although most of the evidence is inaccessible to archaeological investigation, it is therefore possible that the northern and southern boundaries of the mid-Holocene Nile Valley were densely populated by Mesolithic fisher-hunter-gatherers. It is to a more detailed account of the valley itself that we now turn.

The ‘primary pastoral community’ in the Nile Valley: chronology, landscape and the issue of cereal farming Strong correspondences between trajectories of Neolithic cultural development in Middle Egypt and in the vicinity of modern Khartoum, far to the south, were first pointed out more than a decade ago, leading to the proposal that a common form of early pastoral community was established throughout the entire Nile Valley during the fifth millennium BC (Wengrow 2001, 2003). What could not have been anticipated at that time (contra Gatto 2011a) was the subsequent publication—resulting mostly from recent salvage excavations—of a wealth of new data from cemetery and habitation sites of this period located on the Middle Nile, between the Fifth and Second Cataracts, with notable concentrations along the Dongola Reach and in the Kerma region of northern Sudan (summarised in Wengrow 2006: 49–55; Salvatori & Usai 2008: 147–56; Sadig 2010, with further references; Gatto 2011a & b). Further information has also come to light near the Fourth Cataract (e.g. Fuller 2004) and in Egypt’s Western Desert (see below and Figure 1). These new publications fill a crucial gap in the archaeological record of early Nilotic societies. Many are accompanied by radiocarbon dates, which we bring together here for the first time in a single model (Figure 2) that also incorporates new AMS determinations from the Middle Egyptian (‘Badarian’) Neolithic obtained as part of a current programme of radiometric dating at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art in Oxford (Table 1). The radiocarbon dates collated for this analysis are available in tabular form at the online radiocarbon database for Egypt (Egyptian Radiocarbon Database n.d.). This resource provides all the supporting information that was published with the dates (such as raw measurement, material type and context). A total of 127 dates were obtained, with only four samples excluded from the model because of outlying measurements (Gd- 6746, OxA-564, M-804 and duplicate dates OxA-26814 and OxA-26815). This amounts to all the available radiocarbon dates for the sites relevant to this discussion. The dates were grouped by site and modelled as single phases with start and end boundaries using the OxCal calibration program (Bronk Ramsey 1995). Every date was given a 5% probability of being inconsistent with the remainder of its group. During calculation, the sum function was used to produce averages of all the radiocarbon information for each site. C Antiquity Publications Ltd.

98 iue1 prxmt oain fNoihcstsi h ieVle n daetdeserts. adjacent and Valley Nile the in sites Neolithic of locations Approximate 1. Figure ai Wengrow David 99 tal. et C niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity

Research Cultural convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley

Figure 2. Dating the ‘primary pastoral community’: a visual summary of radiocarbon evidence from sites in the Nile Valley and adjacent deserts that exhibit clear morphometric evidence for domestic fauna and a characteristic suite of material culture for decorating the body (e.g. cosmetic palettes, bangles, combs, complex bead assemblages). It is this distinct combination of environmental and cultural data (rather than the mere presence of domesticates) that deﬁnes the ‘primary pastoral community’ as an archaeological horizon. Distributions shown here were obtained by summing the dates available for each site, while allocating every measurement a 5% outlier probability (see Bronk Ramsey 2009). The number of dates associated with each site is given in brackets.

A word of caution should be added about the reliability of the data set. The samples comprise mostly charcoal and shell. Radiocarbon measurements on charcoal return the date of the cessation of exchange between the growing wood and the atmosphere. If the woodlay C Antiquity Publications Ltd.

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Cultural convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley unused for some time or the species was particularly long-lived, this may be significantly earlier than the date of burning. Shell dates also vary in reliability. Freshwater shellfish may incorporate dissolved bicarbonate, of geological origin and hence devoid of radiocarbon, in the synthesis of their shells. The severity of this problem varies considerably between species and may be addressed by examining values for modern shellfish. Recent studies of ostrich eggshell (Vogel et al. 2001) suggest that they may be subject to a systematic offset to older ages of approximately 100–200 years. On the whole, however, the uncertainty inherent in published data is very minor in light of the temporal scope of this paper. The overall number of dates for the Nile Valley in the fifth millennium BC remains relatively small, so any attempt to establish internal subdivisions or trends must remain tentative. On the basis of what is known, two observations can be made. The first is that the characteristic features of the ‘primary pastoral community’ may appear slightly earlier in the Sudanese than in the Egyptian part of the valley, suggesting a possible spread from south to north during the course of the fifth millennium. The second is that the Egyptian (‘Badarian’) extension of this cultural pattern so far produces radiocarbon dates that form an internally consistent group, suggesting a chronological range from roughly 4400 to 3800 BC, some two centuries longer than proposed by Hassan (1985, see also 1986) on the basis of a much smaller number of absolute dates. This in turn implies a later start-date for the Naqada I phase of Egyptian prehistory and an overall shortening of the ‘predynastic’ (Naqada I-II) to a period of roughly five centuries (c. 3800–3300 BC; see Dee et al. 2013). Considered as a larger set, the dates presented here for Middle/Upper Egypt and Sudan occupy a broadly similar time range that extends throughout the fifth millennium BC. They confirm the hypothesis that the Neolithic of the Nile Valley constitutes a cultural phenomenon of impressive coherence, scale and duration. It is during this period that burial grounds of varying size—but rarely exceeding a hundred individuals within a single cemetery—become a widely visible feature in the archaeological record of this region. They frequently occupy what would have been prominent topographic locations, on natural or anthropogenic mounds or at the mouths of wadis debouching into the mid-Holocene floodplain of the Nile. Over a period of centuries a new type of cultural landscape would therefore have taken form along the low desert bordering the valley. Studded with ancestral burial grounds covering richly furnished graves, its emergence represents a clear cultural break with the Early Holocene past, and suggests the inception of new forms of territoriality along the main north–south axis of the river (Edwards 2004: 40; Garcea & Hildebrand 2009). These developments are echoed in the changing location of herding and fishing camps along the margins of the floodplain. Seasonally occupied sites of this kind constitute our main evidence for the nature of human habitation along the Nile Valley during the fifth millennium BC. Comprising loose configurations of post-holes, dung deposits, hearths and thin ash-middens, the sites have a broadly similar character along both its Egyptian and Sudanese courses (e.g. Welsby 2000; Hendrickx et al. 2001; Honegger 2001; Sadig 2010) and are best understood as the remains of seasonal encampments, reflecting high levels of residential mobility among herder-fisher-forager populations (cf. Butzer 1976: 14; Trigger 1983: 28; Caneva 1991; Midant-Reynes 2000: 160). Indicators of sustained investment in cereal farming and sedentary life—such as durable architecture, heavy plant processing equipment, and high proportions of cereal grains in botanical samples—make C Antiquity Publications Ltd.

102 ieo otgda hycmrs orypeevdsml femrwetfo Grave the from wheat at emmer burials of from sample are preserved Both poorly a contexts. domesticated comprise archaeological as They secure identifiable Mostagedda. from clearly of be derive site to to attributed a) b) originally both grasses and appear large-grained period cereals, of Badarian specimens the 64 to of Brunton out by 2 only fact, in that, reveals 90). recovery 1983: the Caton-Thompson on also doubt (see further sites these cast at Institute, to used Griffith Thompson methods Oxford’s Caton at that from and held letters materials noted Unpublished now datable times”. since Newberry, no P.E. later “contained has from period intrusive 216) this (Brunton been to (1993: have age” assigned Wetterstrom might granaries” great and and any “pits Boodle); of the of be from some to letter from appear citing specimens not 23, grain “do 1948: Badarian they examine that worryingly, to engaged suggested, millennium Matmar originally fifth botanist (i.e. However, Badarian The Caton-Thompson. to contexts. specimens and these BC) Brunton of attribution by the collected about remain samples questions among wheat) (Nesbitt London emmer in of Gardens Kew at and 2007) comm Hamdy & (Cappers Cairo collected in were Museum identification”. excavation for during experts to encountered at over “items out turned that carried cases were some but 216) remains in sites”, animal and (1993: Badarian Wetterstrom or the plant 11). of of 1948: studies Brunton any systematic (Matmar; “no 2522 that Grave observed 1937: from further a Brunton (Mostagedda; pot 13), 459 a Grave 1928: from in and bowl Caton-Thompson found black cereals 58), & a pots of and Brunton ripple-burnished 2224 (el-Badari; presence Grave two from 5600 reported bag of leather Cemetery contents The of the pots”. area to in general relate in and the to encampments] fill, appears seasonal graves the [i.e. Badarian through in sites scattered village pockets in as found and pits, “desiccated occasionally that were noted She cereals 216). 1993: carbonised (Wetterstrom characterised incomplete economy” and who Badarian unsatisfactory highly the 214–20), “a of as (1993: sample there recovered Wetterstrom remains Wilma animal and by plant the review both detailed a in discussed Hendrickx 87). (e.g. 2008: sedimentation to Bard fluvial closer 40; by located 2000: hidden villages Vermeersch habitation or sedentary & destroyed ephemeral) fully since to highly long peripheral and (and once floodplain, were surviving the spurs that desert low suggest the Vermeersch on to & sites commentators Hendrickx many 28; led Hendrickx 1983: Trigger has that 87; 2008: (e.g. view Bard held BC 39; widely Middle-Upper millennium 2000: in a fifth economy for Neolithic the the basis during of the Egypt component become significant a since formed have Brunton farming reports cereal 1928; Guy early Caton-Thompson by These & century 1948). twentieth (Brunton 1937, early Caton-Thompson the Gertrude in excavated and sites, Brunton cemetery and habitation Badarian further at with 76–82, 33, 2006: millennium Wengrow fourth 485–99; early the 2002: references). in Buchez later, only & Valley (Midant-Reynes Nile Egyptian BC the in appearance first their ytmtcrve fst eot n soitddcmnain(otrforthcoming) (Foster documentation associated and reports site of review systematic A Agricultural the at held region, el-Badari the from material plant of re-examination Recent was environs its and el-Badari from record botanical the of nature problematic The barley and wheat domestic of presence reported the on here required is comment Some )basotteoiia dnicto fdmsi eel 4csso alyad11 and barley of cases (4 cereals domestic of identification original the out bears .) ai Wengrow David tal. et 103 00 9 ulr&Hlern npes.This press). in Hildebrand & Fuller 19; 2010: tal. et C niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity pers.

Research Cultural convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley

459 (see above), and barley husks from the naturally preserved abdomen of a human burial in Grave 467 (Brunton 1937: 58). No plant remains or durable architecture were reported from Mahgar Dendera, the only Badarian habitation zone excavated on a significant scale since the early 20th century. Located 150km to the south of el-Badari, on the low fringes of the desert, this latter site was interpreted by its excavators as a camp used seasonally by herding and fishing groups (Hendrickx et al. 2001). Despite these limitations, evidence for cereal cultivation along the northern reaches of the Nile Valley during the Badarian period can now be provided by direct dates on two grain samples (Kew 26884 and 26889) obtained as part of the new dating programme (Table 1). Both derive from Guy Brunton’s excavations at Mostagedda (1928–29). Regrettably their precise archaeological contexts can no longer be securely identified. The dates are significant but—in the absence of other forms of evidence—they should not be taken as proof of a strong reliance on agriculture or sedentary life. The overall patterning of the archaeological record in Middle-Upper Egypt suggests, instead, that low-level cereal farming on the floodplain was practiced within the context of a seasonal herding, fishing and foraging economy. The existence of more fixed and permanent settlements closer to the Nile floodplain cannot be entirely ruled out. But it is equally possible that fully sedentary villages may only have existed on any scale to the north and south of the valley, upon and adjacent to the Nile Delta (as exemplified at Merimda Beni Salama; Eiwanger 1982) and on the Sudanese Gezira (Usai & Salvatori 2005). Within the valley itself enduring attachments between people and place appear to have been established primarily through elaborate funerary rites, collective feasting and repeated use of burial grounds, while habitation sites—on current evidence—remained for the most part fluid and ephemeral in nature (Reinold 2001; cf. Wengrow 2006: 49–50, 63–71).

Body cultures: the ritual milieu of the primary pastoral community (c. 5000–4000 BC) The importance of funerary sites as foci of territorial attachment is exemplified with particular clarity at a group of three small Neolithic cemeteries, recently discovered at the foot of a promontory called Gebel Ramlah, which lies within Egypt’s south-western desert approximately 100km distant from the Nile (Kobusiewicz et al. 2004, 2009, 2010). Dating to the mid fifth millennium BC, these burial grounds are significant—not just as evidence for close cultural links between the Nile and the Sahara at this time (see also Briois et al. 2012)—but also because of their remarkably undisturbed condition. Successive burials were repeatedly established on the same portion of ground, creating dense clusters of interlaced graves. Where disturbance was caused by new burials, this was rectified on the spot by such ad hoc procedures as the repositioning of displaced teeth within the skull, or the careful reassembly of bones to ensure that ornaments remained in those places on the body to which they were originally attached: ‘keeping it all together’, as the excavators put it. Health profiles reconstructed for the individuals buried at Gebel Ramlah are informative concerning wider matters of diet and economy. It is especially notable that not a single sign of caries is reported from an analysis of nearly 800 human teeth, suggesting that domestic C Antiquity Publications Ltd.

104 rniin o xml,a oha nLwrNba nuuuldsoeyo ua burials human Pleistocene–Holocene ( of Pleistocene the discovery terminal unusual to the an back to Nubia, have Lower dated extending may in Toshka, Africa, wild practices at East (both example, Such For North remains 56–59). transition. in animal 2006: other antecedents (Wengrow and deep burials horns had human cattle within of domestic) inclusion the and by death. as indicated well as strongly as milieu, culture, life in material body exuberant the and of presentation complex 51), social 2004: a the (Edwards on of scarification focused impression and tattooing overall as the such reinforcing practices towards point period the rv odi gp,mk hi rtapaac ncnrlSdns uil tti earlier this at burials Sudanese central Krzy common in 1987; a appearance became Lecointe first later (e.g. their only time make which Egypt, Mace-heads, in horn. good cow grave ornamented Desert; or Western Egypt’s pottery in shell, Djara palettes, from cosmetic derive of BC, attestations millennium Riemer earliest sixth the mid–late the of to some by for dating 2009; pigments accompanied (Stevenson and palettes varieties) paint grave colourful grinding body the in ivory, and making stone selected among or carefully are articles are often bone fluids (themselves as of cosmetic pebbles pouring valley, Combs rubbing and of the ivory. mixing throughout or range for stone documented tusks clay, a goods hollowed of with include made used vessels They spatulas small and 3). as Figure well skin and as see hair implements body, the examples, of presentation Egyptian the (for with within relatively associated a artefacts of closely requirements similar are the functionally with lifestyle—and consistent mobile of so portable—and deposition highly the are too to These graves. corpse the of ornamentation and and adults to equally applied sexes. were both el-Badari, practices of (e.g. infants these elsewhere a el-Ghaba), as was towards Ramlah, R12, Gebel culture—that Kadruka, pointing At Valley. material Mostagedda, Nile practices, portable the depositional throughout of groups range of by associated shared pattern an similar remains, template—and human a ritual and and common tooth follow objects bone, of majority worked configuration great unique shells, rich a the pierced a constitutes with beads, burial decorated stone and each coloured mats While of ivory. reed or interment made skins Before ornaments animal face. of in the in array wrapped cupping usually laid often was typically body hands were intact and Individuals the contracted 50–59). knees sites, 2006: pits, Wengrow particular shaped of 2006; in roughly discussion Reinold uniform including remarkably 1991; follows, became Geus what the into on death see and references on in Valley, detailed body Nile (for emphasis the period the strong of this Throughout treatments This BC. and deserts, practices, millennium funerary common. neighbouring neck of fifth the system also head, the wider much are legs, of a characteristic with arms, studs consonant strongly ankles, is lip form wrists, human and the the of Nose decoration including waist. parts the body around of variety a pastoralists covered Nilotic early these (Kobusiewicz of diet the in role insignificant (Kobusiewicz relatively a played cereals etcnupini ieyt aefre nipratcmoeto hsritual this of component important an formed have to likely is consumption Meat hrdfaue fNoihcbra costeNl alyetn eodtetreatment the beyond extend Valley Nile the across burial Neolithic of features Shared Ramlah Gebel at good grave of category single largest the forms ornamentation Personal tal. et 09.Pget r oeie on ihnmnauecnanr fivory, of containers miniature within found sometimes are Pigments 2009). tal. et tal. et 00 204–207). 2010: 00 0) ayonmnssurvive ornaments Many 107). 2010: aik19) aknso nhooopi grnsof figurines anthropomorphic on Markings 1991). zaniak ˙ c. ai Wengrow David 2001 0 C nldsanme finterments of number a includes BC) 000 000–10 12 105 tal. et nsitu in C niaigta they that indicating , niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity

Research Cultural convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley

Figure 3. Grave goods from el-Badari, burials 5112 (above) and 5130 (below). Above: greywacke palette (UC9060), clay plugs (UC9055, UC9056), bone awl (UC9052), group of nine pebbles (UC 9065, UC9073), hippopotamus-ivory vase (UC9054), string of beads (UC9064), fragment of hippopotamus-ivory bangle (UC9047), lump of malachite (UC9061), copper pin (UC9059). Below: fragment of hippopotamus-ivory spoon handle (UC9193), shell and pebble beads (UC9195), hippopotamus-ivory comb (UC9194). Photographs by Ivor Pridden, courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London. in which elements of cattle skulls were placed with the dead (Wendorf 1968: 875; cf. Geus 1991). The keeping of increasingly large domestic herds would have augmented the potential for ceremonial feasting of this kind, and for the cementing of social bonds that accompanied such occasions. The range of materials and substances used for body ornamentation in the ﬁfth millennium BC greatly exceeds what is attested for earlier periods of prehistory in most of the Nile Valley and adjacent regions (a possible exception in the Kerma region is noted below). To an established repertory of ostrich-eggshell beads was now added a much wider spectrum of decorative resources. Represented among more than 500 individual beads C Antiquity Publications Ltd.

106 sflydmntae o nrmna rcse fti idmyb ail saae by escalated rapidly be may kind 2012) this Frachetti 2009; of Linduff processes & incremental Hanks how (e.g. demonstrates pastoralism steppe usefully markers Eurasian of traditional origins other the and Kobusiewicz on gave 2002; assemblages that Gatto ceramic (cf. the ‘cultures’ milieu in to archaeological social observed them, of variations within shared and, internal a uniformities of within expansive kind geographically differences may such local It to extensive constructed. of simultaneously were this rise maintenance identities across the group and shared precisely ritual contrasts of be be local modes especially, to more perhaps which came and of terms) practices—including, what ethnic practice—out and or Instead, materials tribal the in BC. were articulated millennium region be could fifth that the sort the during throughout of (e.g. communities of identity distance that social a Valley, conscious Nile inconceivable the is of length it entire the Clearly community’? pastoral ‘primary h usinwl nvtby n ihl,b se:wa ido itrclentity historical of kind what asked: be rightly, and inevitably, will question The Conclusion considerably has apparent. thus currently here, possibility are described The than Valley 2). as Nile Figure community’, the (see in pastoral roots belong ‘primary deeper evidently the so that from they centuries open which some remains to by milieu isolated cosmetic cultural chronologically the remain with the of half therefore burials—replete first They the earlier within millennium. much ornamentation—fall sixth abundant these and skulls for cattle (Honegger dates palettes, BC sophisticated grinding millennium Current fifth its the 2010). and beyond 2005, time system, northern in 2004, ritual-territorial back of extend this region decoration, Kerma that body lands of the possibility modes grazing in west. further el-Barga, particular and the of east to raise cemetery both Valley, Sudan, attachments Neolithic Nile the signal the at beyond to discoveries spatially Recent rites Gebel extended from movement funerary evident of also of pathways now and use is what the confirm that 2002) Hobbs Ramlah: & Friedman 1997; references). Sadr further 1923; with 27, seasonal 2006: as Wengrow well 1992; as Majer at herds, (see rainfall routes grazing higher hunting wadi enjoyed for and have opportunities foraging along may providing prospection which 2008), Hills, (Vermeersch extensive Sea time Red and this the located attest regular and cemeteries valley carrying—further implies in the of floodplain between substances ease leading Nile various for these the holes of to presence suspension Ramlah—fashioned close common drilled Gebel The with at links. fish, found eastward a one to of including shape mica, the of malachite) Sheets into green painting. and limonite body yellow in ochre, (red used pigments coloured the supplied Valley. also Nile which the in cemeteries these contemporaneous complement broadly materials turquoise, at the manufacture and among found bead carnelian also for of are used serpentine plugs and green nose steatite alabaster, Jasper, and haematite, displays. ( lip effusive diorite, shells with Sea carnelian, together Red are shell, and and instance, agate turquoise, for limestone, Ramlah, white gneiss, Gebel from pendants and cainlfid fsmlrbrasde ihnteEsenDsr eg ury&Derry & Murray (e.g. Desert Eastern the within deep burials similar of finds Occasional valley, the of east the to outcrops and deposits mineral from derive materials these of Many ai Wengrow David 107 c. 80m hrdayhn prahn a approaching anything shared 1800km, tal. et tal et 00 5–7.Rcn work Recent 152–57). 2010: . Nerita C niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity p) rclt fivory of Bracelets sp.). is the

Research Cultural convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley the intensiﬁcation of stockbreeding as a mode of livelihood and common measure of value. They are not, however, unique to mobile or pastoral societies in Old World prehistory. We conclude by emphasising that our deﬁnition of a ‘primary pastoral community’ in the Nile Valley is a holistic one, giving equal weight to empirically observable uniformities in ritual practice, material culture and ecology. As such it stands in contrast to the recent and narrower focus on environmental stress as a long-term driver of cultural change in north-east Africa. It seems important to insist on this methodological distinction, not least because such recent catastrophes as the genocide in Darfur have been linked to what are supposedly millennia-old cycles of climate-driven demographic change (Kuper & Kroepelin 2006: 807). From an archaeological point of view we hope, at the very least, to have demonstrated that alternative interpretations of Africa’s deep past—and hence of its more immediate future—are not only possible, but also plausible.

Acknowledgements Research presented in this paper is funded by The Leverhulme Trust and forms part of the project ‘Origins of Nationhood: a New Chronology for the Formation of the Egyptian State’. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the many curatorial staff and excavators who assisted us in identifying and accessing appropriate samples for radiocarbon dating, in particular Stephen Quirke (Petrie Museum), Mark Nesbitt (Herbarium, Kew), Liam McNamara (Ashmolean Museum), Marta Lahr (Duckworth Laboratory), Carolyn Routledge (Bolton Museum and Art Gallery) and Donatella Usai.

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