Chapters › Origins & Kerma · Sudan – Middle Nile
Khartoum Neolithic (Shaheinab)
4900 BCE – 3800 BCE Arabic under review
Approximate area of control
Research in progress No sourced map of this era's territory yet, so no area is drawn.
Dating note
Approximate; site coordinates from Wikidata (Esh-Shaheinab corrected from 16.13N). Kadero added as second Khartoum Neolithic site (coordinates approximate, Wikidata).
Key events
- Domesticated cattle, sheep and goat at Esh-Shaheinab
Capitals / sites
Esh-Shaheinab, Kadero
Geopolitics
No polities. Contact evidence only. Herringbone patterns in the Lower Wadi Howar point to possible contacts with the Nubian Nile Valley. Butana Group pottery (4th–early 3rd millennium BC) shares traits with Pre-Kerma wares, which Manzo (2017) takes as 'indirect evidence for long-distance networks involving the circulation of specific luxury items'. Whether the new Neolithic pottery traits spread by migration or by cultural transmission is still unclear (D'Ercole 2021, sections 'Ceramic Classifications and Cultural Spheres…' and 'Connecting Macroscopic Data…').
Culture
Arkell's 'Gouge Culture', named Shaheinab Neolithic after the type site of Esh Shaheinab (excavated 1949–50). Its pottery (c. 5000–3800 cal BC) is burnished and thinner-walled, with rocker or alternately-pivoting stamped decoration, black- and red-burnished fine wares, and a wider range of shapes. Funerary vessels, such as caliciform beakers from the Kadruka, Kadero and Ghaba cemeteries, are distinct from domestic wares. Pottery as grave goods begins in this period (D'Ercole 2021).
Economy
Began in the early 5th millennium BC. Large permanent sites (Esh Shaheinab, Geili, el-Kadada, Kadero) coexisted with small seasonal sites used for specific economic tasks (Zakiab, Umm Direiwa). A still-humid riverine savannah allowed fishing and hunting alongside cattle grazing. Fully specialised mobile pastoralism developed in the 5th millennium BC in areas such as the Butana and Wadi Howar (D'Ercole 2021).
Regional power
Research in progress We have not yet read a source for this section. It will be added once one is checked; nothing is filled in by guesswork.
Open data flags
- regional_power: no actors scored
- Pass 17 text: [WORKING TRANSLATION – needs native Arabic review] for every Arabic field
- Pass 20 text: [WORKING TRANSLATION – needs native Arabic review] for every Arabic field
- CONTESTED – migration vs transmission unresolved (AAR2021)
- geopolitics here = contacts/exchange only; no states
Sources
- Giulia D'Ercole (2021) Seventy Years of Pottery Studies in the Archaeology of Mesolithic and Neolithic Sudan African Archaeological Review 38 (Springer, open access) link [en]
- Wikidata Q109284524 (coordinates) Wikimedia link [en]
- Wikidata Q109284535 (coordinates) Wikimedia link [en]
- Wikipedia contributors Khartoum Neolithic Wikipedia link [en]