Early farming in the Middle Nile Basin:

recent discoveries at Kadero

(Central Sudan)

LECH KRZYZANIAK*

Kadero, in the central Sudan, offers new discoveries pertinent to the old and valuable
question of early domesticates - both plant and animal - in the Middle and Upper Nile
region.

Excavations Archaeology in Cairo and the Poznan Archaeo-

The pioneer work of Anthony J. Arkell at the logical Museum.
Khartoum Hospital (1949) yielded the first data Looking at the Neolithic remains obtained so
on a food-gathering ‘Early Khartoum’ cultural far at Kadero (some Meroitic and Medieval
tradition which was widely spread in the Early inhumations were also found there), two pri-
Holocene sub-Saharan savanna zone, and mary developments have emerged. The field-
Shaheinab (1953) provided the earliest evi- work carried out in 1972-79 resulted in obtain-
dence on the production of food in that area. It ing information on the subsistence of local
contained remains of domesticated goat and Neolithic community, while the excavations of
sheep, dated to the 6th millennium b.p., and 1980-89 produced data on the social composi-
turned the attention of prehistorians investigat- tion of this group.
ing the origin and process of domestication of
animals in Africa to the environs of Khartoum. Site
This area situated well to the south of the then The Neolithic site of Kadero 1 is composed of
earliest known centre of African farming, two separate settlement middens and burial
namely Egypt, seemed to be a promising place grounds situated on a low alluvial spur, some 3
for discovering the spread of the farming econ- ha in surface area; a typical feature of the floor of
omies to the south. But no substantial field- the valley of the main Nile. Although 11seasons
work was done in the area of Khartoum, on of excavations have been carried out at Kadero,
Neolithic sites, for more than 20 years after the due to the detailed methods of recovery used,
work of Arkell. only a relatively small part of the total surface
Against this background, I have been for- area of the site has been investigated (cf. FIGURE
tunate to excavate the site of Kadero 1,situated 1). However, compared to the actual area
some 20 km to the north of Khartoum, on the exposed at other Early and Late Neolithic sites
eastern side of the Nile. Although the locality in the Central Sudan, Kadero 1 seems to be
was already reported previously (Chittick unique in that a large surface area has been
1955), it had never been tested. Thanks to help investigated in both the settlement and the
extended by the Sudan Antiquities Service, I burial grounds.
was able to relocate the site in 1971 and ini- The excavations in the middens resulted in
tiated tests in the following year. The exca- typical settlement remains: a high frequency of
vations are still being continued under the lithic artefacts; fragments of grindstones and
auspices of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean flaked and polished implements; potsherds;

* Muzeum Archeologiczne w Poznaniu, 61-781 Poznan, U1 Wodna 27, Poland.

ANTIQUITY
65 (1991): 515-32
516 LECH KRZYZANIAK

I. Plan of the Neolithic site. 1 - settlement middens; 2 a-b

FIG~IRE - pits excavated in the burial
grounds.

personal jewelry; a considerable amount of then dumping area of the mound after it was
animal remains, mostly food offal; and rare skinned.
plant remains. The middens which are situated The typology of the lithic artefacts and
on opposing sides of the (at present) flat mound potsherds from the middens at Kadero is similar
seem to be the result of deliberately- to that found by Arkell at Shaheinab, although
accumulated debris which was originally swept some differences can be seen as regards the
from the surface of the habitation area. This frequency of the occurrence of individual types.
could explain the virtual lack of conjoinable Also the chronology is similar to that of Shahei-
potsherds found in the excavated pits, a nab; this is confirmed by a suite of some 16
phenomenon also noted on other Neolithic radiocarbon determinations. They are within
settlements in the Central Sudan (Marks et al. the period 5960-5030 b.p.; after calibration, the
1985: 271). That the present middens were an absolute chronology of this site is assessed to be
accumulation of waste seems also to be indi- at 4850-4250 BC (Breunig forthcoming).
cated by the fact that the post-cranial skeleton of
a cheetah was found resting on its side in the Subsistence economy
northern midden; it is thought that the carcass The evidence obtained on the subsistence
of this carnivore was left and then buried in the economy at Kadero 1,which originated from the
 EARLY FARMING IN THE MIDDLE NILE BASIN 517

middens, contributes considerably to, and cultivated) and of Nymphaea sp.; impressions
expands the informational basis yielded earlier of the drupes of Celtis were also found.
by the Shaheinab settlement. However, a dis- Impressions of the wild sorghum as well as of
proportion continues to exist as regards the other tropical grasses were also found on
amount of data available on plant and animal potsherds excavated from several other Early
exploitation, with a clear preponderance of the Neolithic sites in the riverain reaches of the
latter. Central Sudan (Stemler in press). This under-
Similar to the situation at Shaheinab, there is standably raised the question of the cultural
very little direct evidence on plants used for status of these plants: were they only collected
food at Kadero 1. The most frequent plant wild or were their morphologically wild forms
remains are mineralized drupes of the fruit of already cultivated in this period?
the African hackberry tree Celtis integrifolia. This question is still far from being answered
Hundreds of these were found in the excavated with any assurance. A stand in favour of the
parts of the middens and it is presumed, on the cultivation was taken by Haaland (1987: 181-2,
basis of the ecology, that it may have grown at 204-5) who argues that such characteristics as
Kadero at this time; its fruits may have been the large dimensions of the Early Neolithic base
collected for consumption and their drupes settlements, high frequency of the grindstones
consequently left in the middens. Two stones of in the middens and the occurrence of a parti-
the fruit of the dom palm Hyphaena thebaica cular lithic tool, have all been associated with
were found in clear association with one of the the cultivation and use for consumption of the
Early Neolithic inhumations. This indicates morphologically wild form of sorghum. How-
that this popular savanna tree was also growing, ever, these arguments of a theoretical nature are
and its fruits - sporadically eaten today - were not supported at this moment by more solid
used for funerary purpose and perhaps eaten. evidence; for example the lithic tool, thought
More information on plant use at Kadero is traditionally to be a blade used in hewing wood
hoped to be obtained by the investigation of and named by Arkell a ‘gouge’, is regarded by
samples of charred plant remains recovered by Haaland as a blade of a hoe used in tilling the
wet flotation of the soil excavated from the soil for cultivated sorghum. The function of this
northern midden in 1989. So far, unfortunately, tool is, however, unclear and could only be
no pollens were found to be preserved in the resolved by use-wear studies and by practical
soil samples collected. experiment. As regards the evidence of the
In an attempt to expand the information presence of the grindstones, recent observations
available on plant use at Kadero we may take made at Kadero 1 by me suggest that a con-
into account another kind of evidence on plant siderable part of these, possibly even the major-
exploitation. This information can be obtained ity, may have been used for other purposes than
from imprints of plants found on potsherds crushing and milling grain; evidence suggests
excavated from both middens. Most recent that they may have been used in crushing lumps
studies carried out by Stemler (in press) of ochre and pulverizing this pigment andlor as
revealed that most of these impressions belong a kind of an anvil used in manufacturing the
to a morphologically wild sorghum Sorghum lithic and bone ground tools and similar activi-
verticilliflorum, and, less probably, to its primi- ties. Finally, the Early Neolithic settlements
tive domesticated form, which is very similar to which have been classified by Haaland as ‘base-
the wild one. This tropical cereal may have been sites’ have so far been explored by small tren-
exploited for its seeds at this site, as may have ches only (with the exception of Kadero 1); in
been - but less intensively - other grasses. Most this situation, any attempt at a generalization as
numerous in this sample were the negatives to the size of the settlements seems to be
ofthe fruiting structures of the grass of the premature. Haaland, referring to the botanical
morphologically wild sorghum spikelets, very argument presented by Stemler (1980), pro-
similar to the Sorghum bicolor spp. arun- poses that the Early Neolithic agriculturalists of
dinaceoum. Second in frequency are the the Central Sudan were simply sweeping the
imprints of the grains of, probably, panicoid grain of the morphologically (still) wild
grass Setaria and other grasses, negatives of the sorghum off the ground of the cultivated field or
seeds of watermelon Citrullus sp. (wild or were stripping the stalks by hand, not using any
518 LECH KRZYZANIAK

harvesting tools such as sickles and knives. This In general, excavations made so far at Kadero
type of cultivation would not lead to the selec- 1 have discovered burials which seem to reflect
tion of the domestic race of this cereal. Taking different patterns of spatial organization in the
into account the present state of evidence it burial ground. The first burial ground was
becomes obvious that the question of the use of found during the earlier stage of the exca-
sorghum and other plants in the Neolithic of the vations. It was situated well outside of the
Central Sudan can only be answered by more middens, on the north-eastern slope of the
field-work and related research. Certainly more mound (cf. FIGURE1: 2a) where some 1 7 inhu-
light can be shed on this question by the study of mations were found; they form two clear clus-
charred remains of plants recovered by wet ters (FIGURE2). The more southern cluster is
flotation. A small sample of such remains was composed of nine burials arranged in an elonga-
obtained at Kadero 1 in 1989 and is presently ted group whereas the northern one is com-
being studied. An intense application and posed of six; two other burials are situated well
expansion of this recovery technique will be a outside these clusters. The southern, larger
major part of the programme of the field-work at cluster, consists of three adult male inhu-
this site planned for the 1991 season. mations, two women and three children. One
In contrast to the information today available grave containing the remains of an individual
on plant use, we know considerably more about 13-15 years old of undetermined gender was
the exploitation of animals at Kadero. A sizable the only grave devoid of any furnishing. The
sample of animal remains (some 100 kg), recov- inhumations of men were the richest as regards
ered from both middens, was composed of some furnishings in this group; weapons (discoidal
2000 identifiable pieces and, undoubtedly mace-head of porphyry), fine pottery vessels
representing food offal, consisted of both dom- (painted with ochre and black-topped) and
estic and wild species (Gautier 1984). The necklaces composed of beads of carnelian and
former, however, heavily predominate and con- bone, lip-studs, lumps of ochre and shells of
stitute some 82% of all identifiable remains river bivalve being found. Inhumations of adult
which are made up of cattle, sheep and goat women contained pottery vessels of a medium
with cattle being about four times as frequent as class ware, personal adornments such as neck-
the remains of sheep andgoat combined. laces of carnelian beads, beads made of marine
The wild land animals are represented by shells (used for decorating a loin cloth?) and
some 23 species (excluding birds) and here the small lumps of amazonite/malachite. Graves of
sample is clearly dominated by smaller and children contained medium class pottery
medium-size antelopes and by the Nile moni- vessels, personal adornments (necklaces of
tor. Hunting, then, was still being practised but carnelian beads, nose-studs) and lumps of
its importance was evidently less than in the ochre. Following the criteria used below, one
Early Khartoum times; it seems also to have grave in this cluster is of Class I, two are of Class
been of lesser importance than it was at Shahei- 11, four of Class I11 and two of Class IV.
nab. Another aspect of food-gathering practice The other grave cluster was also composed of
is represented by the collecting of swamp snails burials of adult men (4), a woman and a child
Pila and river bivalves. Due to the considerable but their furnishing was poorer in quality and
distance to the Nile waters (now 6.5 km) fishing quantity than those of the preceding group. The
was of marginal importance. graves of the men were furnished with medium
class pottery vessels, personal adornments
Social group (necklaces of carnelian beads and beads made of
In the course of the excavations carried out marine shells) and shells of river bivalve. The
outside the settlement middens at Kadero 1 , eroded graves of a woman and a child were
contemporary burials were found. The data found in association with potsherds which may
collected in the cemeteries shed light on the originally have been intact vessels of a medium
social structure of the group. It may be worth class pottery. Following the criteria used below,
mentioning here that until very recently Kadero none of the graves in this cluster belong to Class
1 was the only Early Neolithic site in the Central I, four are of Class 11, one is of Class I11 and one of
Sudan where burials of this time period had Class IV. It can be noted, then, that each cluster
been found. contained graves of different wealth of fur-
 0-
1

0 -2
0 10 9-
3

e-

FIGURE 2. Plan of the pit containing two clusters

of the Early Neolithic graves excavated on the
slope of the mound. 1 - grave of Class I; 2 - grave
of Class II; 3 - grave of Class ZII; 4 - grave of Class
520 LECH KRZYZANIAK

nishing but in both cases the graves of the adult class wealth of furnishing no. of %
men are the richest. graves
There is no doubt as to the age of the graves in
both clusters. The types of the pottery vessels I no furnishing 38 69.0
and the shape of the mace-head found in their I1 1 pottery vessel 4 7.2
furnishing are characteristic of the local 111 1-3 pottery vessels and/or
settlement middens and also for the Shaheinab personal adornments 5 9.2
IV numerous and diversified
Early Neolithic site. In all cases the human
grave goods 8 14.5
remains share also such common traits as the
position of the skeleton, and discolouration. total 55
The excavation of the second burial place at
Kadero 1 was undertaken at a somewhat later TABLE1. Classification of graves according
stage in time. Initially a long trench was exca- to furnishing.
vated in order to explore the area situated
between the two settlement middens where no furnishing, taking into account its quality and
cultural remains had been noted on the surface. quantity, show four classes (TABLE 1).
This had led to the thought that this part of the The graves without any furnishing (FIGURE 4)
mound may have played the function of a will not be described in detail at this point.
Neolithic ‘kraal’ situated between the Similarly to the inhumations found in the
settlement areas (Krzyzaniak 1984: 310, figure north-eastern part of the mound, the human
1, 313). The trench was gradually developed remains share such traits as the position of the
into the largest area excavated at this site (cf. skeleton and discolouration noted in the fur-
FIGURE 1: 2b). Altogether, 55 Neolithic graves nished Neolithic burials. As can be also seen
were found in it and they were concentrating in from the distribution of the graves in the pit
the two opposite ends ofthe area (FIGURE 3). The (FIGURE 3), unfurnished graves form a cluster.
furnished graves contain Early Neolithic imple- In the graves of Class I1 a single pottery vessel
ments but in the 1989 season two burials with of a utility ware was usually found broken into
finds of the Late Neolithic type were also found sherds (FIGURE 5). In only a few cases in the
in the northern part of the area. There is no burials of Class I and I1 has a shallow and oval
doubt that this burial ground - as well as that grave-pit been recorded. The graves of Class 111
excavated in the northeastern part of the mound contain; 1-3 pottery vessels of a fine andlor
- contains inhumations of the inhabitants of the utility wares, carnelian beads forming a neck-
local settlement. lace; a bracelet made of shell; a sandstone
The graves in this area seem, however, to palette and small lumps of malachiteiamazonite
represent a somewhat different idea of spatial (FIGURE 6).
organization than the previously excavated The eight graves of Class IV differ sharply
group of graves described above. The graves from the preceding classes in their wealth of
occur in the part of the mound not occupied by furnishing and form a very distinct group of
the settlement middens; the inhumations found inhumations at Kadero 1. Six of them contain
in its southern part are situated just outside the the implements typical of the Early Neolithic
midden’s limits (compare FIGURES 1 and 3). It (nos. 60,66, 78,84,90 and 97) (FIGURE 7) and the
could also be seen that the graves form a cluster other two (nos. 113 and 114) of the Late Neoli-
in the southern part of the area and a somewhat thic. Their furnishing consists of: pottery
more loose concentration in the north (FIGUREvessels; personal decorations and associated
3). A most interesting picture seems to emerge implements; tools and weapons.
when we attempt an analysis of the spatial
distribution of the graves according to the Pottery vessels
wealth of their furnishing and grave construc- Pottery vessels were found in six rich graves.
tion as well as to the sex and age of the deceased. They all belong to the ‘table’fine ware. The most
It looks as if there was a certain pattern in the numerous assemblage of pots typical of Shahei-
organization of this burial ground which sheds nab and Kadero 1settlements of Early Neolithic
light on the social structure of the group. date was found in Grave 60 with the remains of
The classification of the wealth of the grave an adult, most probably a man. They belong to a
 EARLY FARMING IN THE MIDDLE NILE BASIN 52 1

0- 1
0 - 2

8 - 3

e-1

+-5

FIGURE 3. Plan of the pit with the Neolithic graves excavated in the centre of the mound, between the
two settlement middens. 1 - grave of Class I; 2 - grave of Class II; 3 - grove of Class 111; 4 grove of Class
~

IV; 5 - geolethic point.

522 LECH KRZYZANIAK

Frcuw 4. Grave no.

102 devoid of any
furnishing.

fine, decorated ware painted with the red ochre. are known from the Late Neolithic Central
Pots decorated with black-tops were carefully Sudanese cemeteries situated to the north of the
polished so that their outer walls have a shiny, 6th Cataract (Reinold 1987: 32-3).
lustrous -surface (FIGURE8). The pots (found
broken) were nested with the smaller on the top. Personal decorations
It seems likely to the excavator that they were Personal ornaments and toiletries were numer-
made as grave goods and not for household use. ous and typologically differentiated in the rich-
The assemblages of pottery vessels found in est graves. Diadems decorated the heads of the
graves nos. 1 1 3 and 114 are composed of the men and were composed of several strings of the
forms typical for both the Early and Late Neoli- beads made of marine shells (imports from the
thic; this latter period is represented by the Red Sea) (FIGURE 10).Necklaces and bracelets
decorated beakers (FIGIJRE 9). Similar beakers were made of strings of carnelian beads (FIGURE
 EARLY FARMING IN THE MIDDLE NILE BASIN 523

FIGURE 5. Grave no.

54 furnished with a
pottery vessel of a
utility ware.

11: I), and bracelets of elephant (FIGURE 11: 2) made of porphyry may be considered first. One
and hippopotamus ivory; a piece of a unworked mace-head of concave-topped type was found
hippo tusk was also found in one of the graves. in a cluster of graves excavated in the north-
Cosmetic sets composed of oval porphyry or eastern part of the mound and four mace-heads
sandstone palettes, pebbles used as grinders for of the conicalipear-shaped type (FIGURE 11: 4)
pigment, lumps of malachite/amazonite and red were found in the graves in the large pit. In all
or yellow ochre and shells of a Nile bivalve were cases they were in association with adult men.
also found. Objects interpreted traditionally as Other tools or weapons are represented by the
studs (nose-, lip-) were made of white zeolite. head of an axe made of a rhyolite originating
from the 6th Cataract area (FIGURE 11: 5); the
Tools and weapons heads of spears or harpoons made of bone found
Among the tools and weapons, mace-heads together (FIGURE11: 6-9). A few microlithic
524 LECH KRZYZANIAK

FIGURE 6. Grave no.

168 furnished with
sherds of two pottery
vessels of a table ware
and personal
adornments.

quartz lunates in the grave pits had the remains The cemetery in the largest pit yielded the
of the mastic used in fitting them into the handle analysis in TABLE2.
preserved on the retouched backs. In grave No. It should be added that in the Class I grave no.
114, containing the remains of an adult man, 46 and Class IV nos. 9 7 and 113 the remains of
three separate and regular rows of microliths two individuals were found; grave no. 46 con-
suggest that they were used to construct cutting tained the remains of a (?)female aged (?)25
tools; the rows were composed of between 4 and years at death and of a child of (?)5-6 years at
11 lunates (FIGURE 12). death, grave no. 97 the remains of a woman of
In three rich graves there were also found kits 20-30 years at death and a child of about 8 years
for the manufacturing of flaked tools. These at death, and grave No. 113 the remains of a
were the sets of pebbles of raw quartz, some of woman of 18-24 years at death and of an adult
them prepared for further knapping and others individual of an unidentified gender.
were microlithic cores. In all instances these In contrast to the graves of Class I and 11, the
were found in association with the burial of richest (Class IV) burials were made in deep,
adult men. well-cut pits, circular or oval in plan and
 EARLY FARMING IN THE MIDDLE NILE BASIN 525

class no. of age sex (sure and probable)

graves
adults: children: females males not
17-55 0-16 identified
years years

i 38 31 8 4 13 17
I1 4 3 1 1 1 2
111 5 1 4 1 - 4
IV 8 9 1 2 6 2

total 55 44 14 8 20 25

2. Breakdown ofgraves according to age and sex.

TABLE

cylindrical or semi-cylindrical at the bottom clear cluster although two out of five graves of
where the corpse and furnishings were laid. Class 111were also found within it and other two
They were covered with reddish soil which had of Class 111 in its vicinity, in the northern part of
the appearance of a heavy concentration of this pit. Most of the graves of Class I and I1 occur
powdered red ochre which seems to be the in a dense but irregularly shaped cluster situ-
remains of either a paint applied to the con- ated in the southern part of the pit, away from
tainer for the corpse or powdered ochre sprayed the previous concentration (see FIGURE 3). The
as paint or dry powder on the corpse and the furnishing, mostly pottery vessels, found with
furnishing. four graves in the southern cluster is of the Early
A pattern can be seen in the distribution of the Neolithic type. The furnishings of the richest
graves of different classes in the largest pit. First graves in the northern cluster are of both the
of all, the richest burials (Class IV) occur as a Early (6 burials) and, most probably of the

7. Rich Early Neolithic grave no. 60.

FIGURE
526 LECH KRZYZANIAK

8. A selection of table ware vessels from the rich Early Neolithic grave no. 60.
FIGLIKE
 EARLY FARMING IN THE MIDDLE NILE BASIN 527

furnishing suggest the existence of an elite, and

it seems that the dynamics of this elite may also
be visible. It was in existence from the earliest
phase of the Early Neolithic interments and its
earliest members were buried in the richest
cluster of graves found in the cemetery in the
northeastern part of the mound, away from the
middens. In the next stage but still in the Early
Neolithic the members of the elite started to be
buried in the central part of the mound, between
the two middens in a clearly secluded place.
The wealth of their grave furnishing and con-
struction of the grave pit now became more
sophisticated. The Blite continued to be buried
in this place until the beginning of the Late
Neolithic (graves nos. 113 and 114) while the
graves of the other members of the group were
located elsewhere. The cemetery of the Blite
may have been used, therefore, for several
hundred years.
The Kadero elite burials were of adult men
and women but also included children. Adult
men, however, seem to have played a dominant
social role as their grave furnishing indicates.
The furnishing of the graves shows that the elite
had been able to obtain rare and prestigious
FIGURE 9. Beaker found in the rich Late Neolithic goods; the most ‘diagnostic’ objects being
grave no. 1 1 3 . weaponry (mace-heads, and bone heads of
spears/harpoons), personal ornaments of
earliest phase of the Late (2 burials) Neolithic imported materials (marine shells, malachite/
chronology. The furnished graves of Class I11 amazonite), local luxuries (ivories) and fine
and I1 found within the limits of the northern, pottery vessels. Adult men of this elite may
rich cluster or in its vicinity are of Early have been specialists in the manufacture of the
Neolithic date. It may be suggested that, speak- flaked tools.
ing in most general terms, the burial group in The present sample of the material from
this pit was initiated and was functioning in the Kadero 1 is too small to attempt a reconstruction
Early Neolithic period but continued into the of the size of the local Neolithic population, its
Late Neolithic times. demography and dynamics. Comparing the sur-
The typology of some artefacts found in the face excavated so far to the total size of the
graves - pottery vessels and mace-heads - mound and taking into account the known
indicate that the two clusters of burials found in distribution of the graves it seems that the site
the northeastern part of the mound may be may eventually yield several hundred burials.
dated to the earliest phase of the Early Neolithic When attempting to interpret the level of the
while these found in the largest pit located in social organization of this population, the rela-
the centre of the mound may be dated to the tively high level of the concentration of goods
later phase of the Early Neolithic and the by the Blite as documented by its funerary
beginnings of the Late Neolithic. It is, therefore, remains must be considered. This phenomenon
likely that the two burial grounds so far exca- most probably was associated with a concentra-
vated systematically at Kadero 1 are those of the tion of power and reflects social differentiation
group which inhabited the nearby mound. in this population. A relatively high level of
The information seems to be sufficient to social development of this group seems to be
comment on the social significance of these indicated by rich burials of children. If the
burial grounds. The considerable differences in present thinking in cultural anthropology is
528 LECH KRZYZANIAK

FIGURP 10. Diadem

made of strings of
marine shells
decorating the head of
the deceased in the
grave no. fiO.

accepted, these children obtained their rich involved in long-distance trade (marine shells,
goods and high status by being born to the amazonite/malachite), probably controlling it.
families of the elite; membership in this elite
may have been then of a hereditary character Broader implications
(Wenke 1980: 349). Such an advanced social The Kadero 1 evidence contributes consider-
differentiation would have been made possible ably to our knowledge of the Neolithic develop-
by a successful economy, probably mainly ment in the environs of Khartoum and it is
through the pastoralism of cattle which may interesting to consider it against the background
have supplied the elite with a considerable of the broader, late prehistoric cultural
surplus; this elite also seems to have been sequence in the Central Sudan which consists
 EARLY FARMING IN THE MIDDLE NILE BASIN 529

3 4

5 6
11. A selection of personal adornments and tools and weapons found in the richest graves.
FIGURE
530 LECH KRZYZANIAK

FIGURE 12. A regular

row of lunates from
the Late Neolithic
grave no. 114.

of two consecutive major cultural traditions. Early Neolithic, lasted till c. 5000 BP. The
The Early Khartoum Tradition, dated to some Kadero 1 site yielded the first evidence that
9500-6000 b.p. (c. 8000-4900 BC) (cf. Hassan cattle were bred along with sheep and goat in
1986: 88),spread in the Early Holocene savanna this time (Krzyzaniak 1978: passim); similar
and sahel zones to the north of the tropical rain evidence has been obtained from other sites in
forest, representing a highly successful food- this area (Haaland 1987: 185-90). As noted
gathering mode of life specializing in the above, we still have not enough evidence to
exploitation of the water-side resources by fish- demonstrate ‘cultivation without dom-
ing, hunting and mollusc- and plant-collecting estication’ of sorghum but it seems very prob-
(the ‘African aqualithic’) (Sutton 1977: passim). ably that the early Neolithic groups were
The tool-kit of these groups included micro- processing this tropical cereal. The evidence
lithic implements, grinding stones and spears/ shows that foraging was still practised,
harpoons made of bone. An important innova- although the individual forms of this mode of
tion was pottery; earliest pottery in the environs subsistence seem to have played a different r61e
of Khartoum and, in fact, in the whole of Africa in different ecological settings on the Middle
is now reported from Sarourab 2 and is dated to Nile. The presently available evidence from this
9330.+100 and 9370+110 b.p. (Ahmed M. Ali sector of the Nilotic savanna seems to indicate
Hakim & Abdel Rahim M. Khabir 1989: 385). We the development of three adaptation strategies
know little about the size and structure of the which resulted from the exploitation of
Early Khartoum populations, the only sizable different ecological niches (cf. Krzyianiak
burial ground of this tradition being the 1984: 314-15); while the Shaheinab settlement,
Khartoum Hospital site (17 inhumations which situated on the river-bank represents a mixed
are believed to be a part of a larger burial food-producing-food-gathering subsistence
ground) (Arkell 1949: 31). As only 4 graves which apparently centred on the exploitation of
contained poor quality personal adornments, water-side resources through foraging and prob-
this group was most probably not socially ably only limited use of cattle and ovicaprids,
differentiated by the concentration of goods and the Kadero 1 and several other sites (Kadero 2 ,
power. Zakiab, Umm Direiwa 1 and 2) represent a
Food-producing modes of subsistence were mixed food-producing-food-gathering subsis-
present in the environs of Khartoum by c. 6000 tence which centred on the exploitation of the
BP (cf. Hassan 1986: 88-90) and its earlier stage extensive grasslands of the river valley. Inten-
of development, classified by this author as the sive animal husbandry (cattle and sheep and
 EARLY FARMING IN THE MIDDLE NILE BASIN 531

goats) and the collecting, or less probably at this brought to the south by the groups of the early
stage, cultivation of stands of wild sorghum are pastoralists migrating from the drying-out East-
likely, and foraging was less important in this ern Sahara (cf. Hassan 1986: 98-9; Smith 1984:
zone. The presently available evidence seems to 91-2). The present author also examines the
indicate that the Kadero 1site may have played possibility of the acquisition of these animals by
an exceptional function among these groups as Khartoum-area foragers through the other inter-
it was not only an extensive settlement but also group contacts, chiefly trade. That far-flung
a burial ground. No other site on the Upper trade was already developed by c. 6000 BP is
(main) Nile (i.e. between the 6th Cataract in the well documented by the marine shells and
north and Khartoum in the south) has so far malachite/amazonite objects found in the
produced Early Neolithic funerary remains. Kadero 1 graves and in the Shaheinab
Further away from the river, the wadis reaching settlement and its direction was generally
the valley on its western and eastern side may north-south, most probably along the Nile. The
have been seasonally exploited by the control of this trade plus the accumulation of
populations based on the river-bank and the wealth obtained through cattle-keeping seem to
seasonally flooded flat grasslands, or they may have been exercised by the earliest social Blites
have been exploited by foraging groups similar of the Neolithic populations near Khartoum and
to that localized recently at Shaqadaud, to the probably also on other sectors of the main Nile.
east of the Nile (Marks et al. 1985: passim). The The wealth of the Blite seems to be comparable
Kadero 1funerary evidence indicates that, with to that of the earliest Egyptian ones (Badari).
the introduction of pastoral economies, Blites It is interesting that in the 6th millennium
formed within the Early Neolithic social b.p. pastoralism in the Sudan seems to have
groups. been restricted to riverain environments. It is
The production of food in the environs of found in the Eastern Sudan (Kassala) in the 5th
Khartoum seems to have been a part of a broader millennium b.p. (after c. 3800 BC) where it is
process of the geographical expansion of that represented by the Butana and Gash Groups
mode of life in northeastern Africa. Its beginn- (Early Kassala) (Fattovitch et al. 1984: 177,
ings are contemporaneous with the beginnings 179ff.).Pastoralism spreading from the Atbara,
of the Neolithic in the Delta and the Fayum and Blue Nile and White Nile may well have
it seems that the production of food had reached reached further to the south, to the Turkana
the Nile, from the Delta in the north to the south (Rudolf) Lake area, c. 4500-4000 BP (Barthelme
of Khartoum, by c. 6000 BP (cf. data in Hassan 1985: 135-223, 335-7) and continued this
1986: 89-99). Much less clear are the origins expansion into southern Kenya and northern
and mechanisms of this development. Neolithic Tanzania from c. 3300 b.p. (Phillipson 1985:
economies in the Delta (Merimde site) and the 143-5; Ambrose 1985: passim).
Fayum were based on cultigens originating It can be seen from this brief overview of the
from south-western Asia (wheat, sheep, goat, late prehistoric development on the Upper
pig) and those available in their wild form also (main) Nile and in the neighbouring territories
in northeastern Africa (barley, cattle); the sub- that the Kadero 1evidence is of importance not
sistence of the earliest food-producing people only for the environs of Khartoum. This site
on the Egyptian Nile (Badari culture) was also remains a source of a most complex information
basing on the mixture of these cultigens (cf. on different aspects of an Early Neolithic
Krzyzaniak 1977: 69-70). The earliest produc- human group in the Sudan: its ecology and
tion of food near Khartoum was also composed technologies including the subsistence, demo-
of a mixture of cultigens available in their wild graphy, social structure and funerary customs.
form in Africa (cattle, sorghum) and in south- It should be, however, born in mind that the so
western Asia (sheep, goat) and there is no far obtained evidence has been yielded by only
question that the domesticated animals of the a relatively small part of the site. Future explor-
Central Sudan were of the northern origin. Most ation of this site is thus hoped to add both to the
of the researchers believe that they were quality and quantity of this evidence.
532 LECH KFUYZANIAK

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