Embodied labors during the state formation of Egypt and Nubia (ca. 4800–1750 BCE): Elucidating transformations in behavioral patterns with entheseal changes

Abstract

Throughout Egypt and Nubia's state formation periods (4400-1750 BCE), broad transformations impacted Nile Valley communities, which experienced agricultural consolidation, sedentarization, and more complex social organization. The current study examines the various patterns and levels of physical activity in the skeletal remains of 259 predynastic and early dynastic individuals from Nubia (Northern Dongola Reach) and Egypt (el-Badari, Naqada, el-Ballas, and Hu). Using entheseal changes in the upper and lower limbs and non-parametric tests, we have observed changes in behavior patterns between the fifth and second millennia BCE in the Nile Valley. These transformations include an increased impact on the evolution of physical activity and possibly specialized occupations in the Old Kingdom. In this regard, we discovered differences in activity based on the type of burial and the tasks performed by females compared with males. Furthermore, we found additional evidence to support the hypothesis that the Nubian state of Kerma was based on a highly mobile pastoral way of life.