The Sudan Handbook

60 the sudan handbook

ethnographer, and this imbalance in the available data persists to this

day, partly as the result of the long periods of insecurity in the south.

Darfur, like the south, has also been little explored by archaeologists

to date.

The Sudan Antiquities Service

The Sudan Antiquities Service was established in 1903, but for many

years it was run on a part-time basis. The first Commissioner was not

appointed until 1939, and the Service was not systematically organized

until the 1950s. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the Service concen-

trated its efforts on the UNESCO Campaign to Save the Monuments

of Nubia that accompanied the construction of the Aswan High Dam

in Egypt. Today Sudan is seeing a rapid increase in human settlement,

particularly around the main urban centres. Archaeological remains

are increasingly threatened by this periurban expansion, and by dam

construction schemes – as with earlier major development projects such

as the construction of dams at Sennar and Jebel Aulia in the 1920s and

1930s and Roseires in the 1960s, and the development of the Gezira

cotton scheme. Until recently such schemes were undertaken without

any archaeological rescue operations with consequent loss of valuable

information on important sites. Awareness of the importance of the

archaeological heritage is now reflected in government programmes

which aim to protect the country’s cultural heritage. The Antiquities

Ordinance of    1999     includes a provision that development projects may

be initiated only after the completion of archaeological studies.

Hunters, Gatherers, Early Farmers

Traces of some of the earliest inhabitants of Sudan have been reported

in the Dongola Reach at the site of Kaddanarti, just to the north of

Kerma. Recent excavations at the island of Sai resulted in the discovery

of a well-preserved settlement spanning the period between 300,00 0 

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors to^ 200,000^ years^ bce,^ and^ provided^ new^ information^ about^ the^ early^

(www.riftvalley.net).