A mysterious burial from the Kerma Culture (second millennium BC) in the Bayuda Desert of Sudan

Abstract

During work carried out in the Bayuda Desert in Sudan at the site of BP937 in 2018 the grave of a man was discovered. The grave was classified as belonging to the Kerma Culture and dated to the early phase of the Old Kush II period (c. 2050–1750 BC). In addition to faience beads, the grave goods consisted of two clay vessels. One was placed standing upright, while the other was placed upside down. This may constitute an element of the funeral rites. One of the vessels contained charred plant remains (diaspores, wood), animal bone fragments, coprolites and insect fragments. These were probably the remains of a campfire, which was an important element of the funeral ritual, intentionally placed inside the vessel. In addition to archaeological, anthropological, radiocarbon and ancient DNA analyses, anthracological, carpological and entomological analyses were also carried out. As a result, this multi-proxy study provides valuable information on the burial traditions, as well as the environmental conditions, that prevailed in this arid area in the early second millennium BC.