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🇬🇧 [1976-1986] El-Kadada: rescue of Neolithic and Meroitic necropolises near Shendi

Under the direction of Francis Geus

Team: Jacques Reinold, Patrice Lenoble, Yves Lecointe, Pascal Ginailhac, Daniel Connoioux, René-Pierre Dissaux, Pierre Vandeplanque, Denis Piponnier, Annick Duflos, Paul Koren, Max Schvoerer, Claude Ney, Anne Rouannet, Florence Thill, Paul De Paepe, Sid Ahmed Kamier, Mohamed Hassan Basha, Khalil Mohamed Khalil, Salah Omer es Sadiq, Khider Adam Eisa, Damri Mohamed Abdel Latif, Amum Tor Akayding, Salah Mohamed Ahmed, Gamal el Din Mohamed Idriss

El-Kadada: the excavation site © V. Francigny

Discovered in 1976, el-Kadada is one of the few known Neolithic sites in the Shendi region.

The earliest traces of occupation are sherds of ceramic vessels whose wavy line decoration indicates settlement during the “Khartoum Mesolithic”, although no sites from this period have been found. The next transitional period is attested by dotted wavy line sherds identified at a small settlement at el-Kudra, less than 200 m away. However, there is no trace of occupation during the Khartoum Neolithic period, dated to the fifth millennium BC. Prehistoric settlements from this period appear to have moved to the site of el-Ghaba, 700 m further south.

The decoration of the ceramic material found in the tombs of el-Ghaba is comparable to that of the vases from esh-Shaheinab, the eponymous Neolithic site in Khartoum. The discovery of the Neolithic tombs at el-Kadada has confirmed the suggestion by English archaeologist A.J. Arkell, the inventor of the Khartoum Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, of a late prehistoric period. From the fourth millennium onwards, the Neolithic populations of el-Kadada developed a complex culture reflected in the refinement of their ceramic decorations and the novelty of their forms, the finesse of their lithic tools and the great wealth of their burial deposits.

El-Kadada also contains a large number of historical cemeteries, from the Napatan period to the post-Meroitic period, from the eighth century BC to the sixth century AD. The funerary material and ritual of the pre-Christian tombs reveal that the Meroitic funerary religion did not end with the “end of Meroe” but with the beginning of Christianisation in the sixth century AD.


Basic Bibliography:

  • P. Lenoble, “Enterrer les flèches, enterrer l’Empire. II, Les archers d’el-Kadada et l’administration de l’imperium méroïtique”, CRIPEL 20, 1999, pp. 125-144.
  • J. Reinold, “Les fouilles françaises et franco-soudanaises : el-Kadada”, in B. Gratien et F. Le Saout (éd.), Nubie. Les cultures antiques du Soudan, Lille, 1994, p. 51-66.
  • P. Lenoble, “Trois tombes de la région de Méroé : la clôture des fouilles historiques d’el-Kadada en 1985 et 1986”, Archéologie du Nil moyen 2, 1987, p. 89-119.
  • J. Reinold, “Le nécropole néolithique d’el-Kadada au Soudan central, quelques cas de sacrifices humains”, in M. Krause (éd.), Nubische Studien, Mayence, 1986, p. 159-169.
  • J. Reinold, “La nécropole néolithique d’el-Kadada au Soudan ; les inhumations d’enfants en vase”, Mélanges J. Vercoutter, Paris ADPF, 1985, p. 279-289.
  • F. Geus et P. Lenoble, “Évolution du cimetière méroïtique d’el-Kadada : la transition vers le postméroïtique en milieu rural méridional”, Mélanges J. Vercoutter, Paris ADPF, 1985, p. 67-92.
  • F. Geus, Rescuing Sudan Ancient Cultures, A Cooperation between France and the Sudan in the Field of Archaeology, Khartoum 1984.
  • F. Geus, “El-Kadada ; une civilisation du 4e millénaire sur les rives du Nil soudanais”, Archéologia n° 170, p. 24-33.
  • F. Geus et J. Reinold, “Fouilles de sauvetage à el-Kadada (Soudan). I. La campagne d’avril 1976 », CRIPEL 5, 1979, p. 7-157.

OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
sfdas (5 novembre 2024). 🇬🇧 [1976-1986] El-Kadada: rescue of Neolithic and Meroitic necropolises near Shendi. SFDAS Khartoum. Consulté le 21 mai 2025 à l’adresse https://sfdas.hypotheses.org/5642


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