Micromorphological Approaches to Daily Life and Cultural Interaction at Uronarti Fortress, Sudan

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Geoarchaeology Research" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Since 2012, the Uronarti Regional Archaeological Project has investigated cultural interactions and daily life along the Egypt-Kush border in the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2050–1650 BCE). In January 2019, eight micromorphological samples were collected from intact floor sequences and mudbrick walls from within the island fortress on Uronarti. These samples span the two centuries from the first occupation of the fortress by rotating garrisons until their replacement by permanent settlers. Using micromorphological thin sections collected from a domestic context, this poster examines two significant aspects of practice: the maintenance of household space over time through the analysis of techniques of floor upkeep and patterns of refuse deposition, and the compositional analysis of mudbrick. This poster asks (1) can micromorphological analysis identify changes in daily practices at Uronarti over time, and if so, what is the nature of these changes; and (2) as the maintenance of space and technology are socially embedded practices, what does continuity or change in these activities indicate about the inhabitants of this house over time? As the first micromorphological analysis undertaken on a Middle Kingdom fortress in Nubia, this project has great significance for the study of colonial contact along the Egyptian-Nubian frontier.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Geoarchaeology Research

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33546