New radiocarbon dates for postglacial reoccupation of the Sudanese Nile

From hunter‐gatherers to food producers: New dental insights into the Nile Valley population history (Late Paleolithic–Neolithic)

“…These scenarios might have been true for some regions (e.g., Southern Levant; Pinhasi et al, 2008), but archaeological data from the Nile Valley do not seem to support such a shift in diet. As a matter of fact, hunter‐gatherer populations in Africa did use and produce pottery as early as the 10th millennium bce (Huysecom, 2020), with the earliest attestations along the Nile in the early ninth millennium bce (Garcea et al, 2020; Varadzinová et al, 2023) and numerous grinding stones, suggested to have been used for food preparation, were also excavated from Mesolithic sites along the Nile (Řídký et al, 2022; Ryan et al, 2016; Salvatori et al, 2018; Usai, 2014). In this regard, it appears that cooking habits did not substantially vary between early and mid‐Holocene Nile Valley peoples.…”

“…The former includes the site of Jebel Sahaba (“JS”; Wendorf, 1968; Zazzo, 2014; Crevecoeur et al, 2021) which has been the main pre‐Neolithic comparative sample in most previous studies (e.g., Anderson, 1968; Crevecoeur, 2008; Crevecoeur et al, 2009, 2023; Galland et al, 2016; Holliday, 2015; Irish, 2000, 2005, 2010). The Mesolithic group involves remains from the previously studied Mesolithic assemblage from El‐Barga in Nubia (“EBK_M”; Benoiston et al, 2018) and more recently excavated and directly dated remains from the sites of Sphinx (“SPX”) and Fox Hill in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka (Varadzinová et al, 2023). However, considering the few direct dates available so far at Fox Hill (highlighting both Mesolithic and Neolithic occupations) and the complex organization of the burial ground at this site (Varadzinová, Varadzin, Brukner Havelková et al, 2022; Varadzinová, Varadzin, Crevecoeur, et al, 2022), only clearly identified or directly dated Mesolithic individuals are included in this study (Fox Hill [“FHM”]).…”

“…Recent excavations of early to mid‐Holocene sites in Sudan, especially in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka at the sixth Nile cataract (Varadzinová, Varadzin, Brukner Havelková et al, 2022; Varadzinová, Varadzin, Crevecoeur, et al, 2022; Brukner Havelková et al, 2022; Varadzinová et al, 2023), provide plentiful and so far untested samples of human remains dating just prior to the Neolithic transition. These new data and analyses might be the key to explore and describe more precisely the morphological changes and dental reduction between the last hunter‐fisher‐gatherers and the first food‐producers.…”

“…Recent excavations of early to mid-Holocene sites in Sudan, especially in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka at the sixth Nile cataract (Varadzinová, Varadzin, Brukner Havelková et al, 2022;Brukner Havelková et al, 2022;Varadzinová et al, 2023), provide plentiful and so far untested samples of human remains dating just prior to the Neolithic transition.…”