Archaeological Investigation at Wadi Gawasis (Red Sea - Egypt) of the Italian Institute for Africa and the Orient (Rome) and "L'Orientale" (Naples): December 2002 - January 2003 Field Season

Imported materials

About ten fragments of Nubian pottery were collected at WG 10 and 13. They point to the presence at Mersa Gawasis of people from Nubia or Eastern Desert, and/or exchanges with these regions. These potsherds belong to hand-made vessels with an organic and mineral tempered paste, and incised linear decorations similar to Middle Nubian specimens.

Some fragments are decorated with geometric motifs filled with incised lines, and a rim is decorated with incised horizontal lines and notches on the lip. These ceramics are similar to fragments from C-Group domestic sites dating to the end of the Middle Kingdom and early New Kingdom.[17]

Some imported materials from the southern Red Sea were also found at WG 10. They included two fragments of bowls similar to the Malayba ware from the coastal regions of southern Arabia,[18] and an obsidian flake most likely from sources in Eritrea or Yemen.[19]