Reappraising Middle Nubian Identity through Material Culture

Project Information

INBETWEEN

Grant agreement ID: 796050

DOI

10.3030/796050

Project closed

EC signature date 5 September 2018

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 14 January 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 178 156,80

EU contribution

€ 178 156,80

Coordinated by

OESTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN
Austria

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INBETWEEN (Reappraising Middle Nubian Identity through Material Culture)

Reporting period: 2019-01-01 to 2020-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

InBetween identifies and addresses difficulties and limitations of the culture-historical framework that was imposed upon ancient Nubia. According to old frameworks, the Nubian Nile Valley was populated by the Middle Nubian cultures (C-Group, Pan-Grave, and Kerma cultures). These modern labels create a false sense of cultural boundedness and homogeneity that does not fit with the complex archaeological reality.
The overall objective was to contribute an updated understanding of Middle Nubian Cultures, to identify the key problems, and to begin moving towards new perspectives. The starting hypothesis was that the ancient Nubian cultural landscape was more more interconnected than previously though and that this needs to be expressed in ontologies for and interpretations of these ancient communities. The key research questions were:
• What socio-cultural mechanisms underpin the cultural mixing seen at some Middle Nubian sites?
• How appropriate is it to divide the Middle Nubian cultures based on material culture?
• Should the Middle Nubian cultures even be considered cultures in a culture-historical sense at all?
Through archival work, museum-based research, fieldwork in Egypt, and collaborative scientific analyses, the project assessed the value of material technologies for understanding cultural complexity. The project encouraged recognition of the diversity not only in ancient Nubia, but of human culture more generally in ancient and in modern times. Through its Nubia-centric, post-colonial lens, the project highlighted the many drawbacks of interpretive models of the past, which are imbalanced and heavily biased toward societies perceived as 'superior' (i.e. ancient Egypt). This perspective became increasingly relevant as the project progressed in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, which saw nations around the world grappling with their colonial histories.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Old excavation reports from the early 20th Century were reviewed to identify any new interpretations in light of more recent research. It became clear that the definitions for the Middle Nubian groups devised by Reisner in 1910 did not fit the patterns of distribution and spatial organisation of numerous cemeteries in Lower Nubia.
A six-week secondment period at the University of Uppsala was undertaken to re-document finds collected as part of the Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia (the 'SJE'). Approx. 250 objects were documented including pottery, beads, tools, stone objects, jewellery and faunal remains. More than 100 new illustrations and thousands of photographs were produced, and archival documentation including field diaries, object lists, photographs, and negatives were digitised. Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) was applied to 28 objects from the collection to identify morphological traces of pottery-making technology, and 25 samples were collected for petrographic analysis.
Museum-based research was also conducted around the United Kingdom, including visits to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Manchester Museum, World Museum in Liverpool, the Egypt Centre in Swansea, and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology in London. Approx. 150 objects were documented, many of which were unpublished at the time.
A season of fieldwork in Egypt at Tell Edfu and Elephantine was conducted in Feb 2020. Nubian-style pottery was documented in the field, including using RTI for so-called ‘hybrid’ vessels displaying characteristics of both Nubian and Egyptian pottery traditions.
Analysis of the RTI files was conducted in collaboration with Mag. Martina Trognitz, Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage. Through the analysis, two different technological processes were observed, and the results of this study were presented at the Archaeological Finds & Analytical Methods workshop in Vienna. The petrographic analysis was conducted in collaboration with Dr Mary Ownby with the goal of identifying technological differences based on the raw materials and firing technology. Three fabric groups were identified and publication is in the final stages of preparation. The combined petrography and RTI results demonstrate the over-simplification in the existing system and the complexities of the archaeological evidence.
A two-day workshop, (De)Constructing Nubia, was organised by the researcher and hosted online on 8-9 Sept 2020. Day One comprised twelve invited presentations to an audience of over 100 attendees. The second day comprised a closed discussion among the twelve speakers and a handful of invited guests to intensively discuss and debate the key issues. An edited volume resulting from the workshop is in preparation.
Three articles were published during the project (one theory-based, one archaeology-based, one methodological), with one more article and an edited volume in preparation.
A total of 17 invited lectures and seminars were used to disseminate research and project outcomes. All lectures post-March 2020 were presented online to a worldwide audiences. Invited presentations for online workshops, specialist postgraduate seminars, public engagement activities, podcasts, and interviews were also used to disseminate project outcomes.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The combined results of the RTI and petrographic analysis of Middle Nubian ceramics demonstrated that there may be complex technological relationships between groups that had been separated in the old system. RTI revealed similarities between vessel-forming technologies of the Pan-Grave and Kerma traditions, whereas petrography suggested that C-Group and Kerma potters used similar raw materials. All of these factors together demonstrate the complexities of the relationship that go beyond stylistic and morphological criteria. These newly identified differences were also observed in spatial distributions; Pan-Grave and Kerma burials/objects are often in close proximity while C-Group is somewhat separate. The differences may be chronological, as the C-Group is slightly earlier than the Pan-Grave and Kerma cultures.
The project also highlighted the value of post-colonial, Nubia-centric approaches to understanding ancient Nubia. The researcher advocated searching for the 'Nubian-ness' inherent in ancient Egypt and encouraged a more balanced and nuanced approach to understanding the relationships between Egypt and Nubia. His publications advocated for taking theory-based approaches to understanding cultural interactions, as well as a more integrative approach that incorporates archaeology, history, and political data for interpreting the past. The applicant has offered a new theoretical framework ("Assertive Objects") and has also proposed a new paradigm for understanding the shifting balance of power between Egyptians and Nubians c. 1500 BCE.
The "(De)Constructing Nubia" workshop was perhaps the first time that researchers in the field gathered together to directly discuss some of the key problems and issues faced by Nubian archaeology. The group agreed that the existing classificatory frameworks are no longer adequate and that a new method needs to be established. At the same time, it was clear that reaching a consensus was not easy. The group will continue to remain in contact to exchange ideas as they arise, and the forthcoming edited volume resulting from the workshop will offer entirely new insights and lay out key research priorities for the wider research community.

The researcher conducting RTI on Nubian 'hybrid' pottery at Tell Edfu, Egypt (Photo by S. Rohret)

Poster from Museum Night public outreach event at Musuem Gustavianum

The researcher leading a workshop of the SJE Collection, Uppsala University (Photo: I. Berg)

The researcher in the storerooms of the Museum Gustavianum, Uppsala University (Photo: A. Grubner)

The researcher teaching a postgraduate class at Uppsala University (photo: A. Grubner)

documenting a Pan-grave painted cow skull, The World Museum, Liverpool, UK (Photo: Ashley Cooke)

Examples of RTI results

RTI photography being undertaken at Museum Gustavianum (with A. Grubner)