Italian Archaeological Expedition to the Sudan of the University of Naples "L'Orientale". 2010 Field Season - by Andrea Manzo, with contributions by A. Coppa, Alemseged Beldados Aleho and V. Zoppi

Introduction

The outline of a cultural sequence for the Kassala region and Gash delta, an area which, before the fieldwork conducted from 1980 to 1995, was virtually unknown from the archaeological point of view, is an outstanding result of the fieldwork conducted by the IAMSK (Italian Archaeological Expedition to the Sudan, Kassala) directed by Rodolfo Fattovich. Of course, several of the cultures which were at that time identified remain to be better investigated and this may also result in minor changes of their absolute chronology. Nevertheless, it is now possible to outline the following processes taking place in the region (Fattovich 1989, 1990, 1991b, 1994; Fattovich, Sadr e Vitagliano 1988-1989):
1. The peopling of the region seems to be characterized by a certain degree of continuity from the 5th millennium BC to the 1st millennium AD, as shown for example by a characteristic tradition in pottery production, the Atbai Ceramic Tradition, whose main feature is the occurrence of scraped ware;
2. An agro-pastoral economic strategy may have emerged in the region in the 4th millennium BC and seems to have been characterized by an increasing degree of mobility in the herding component resulting from environmental and social stresses;
3. In the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC the region seems to have been involved in a broad network of contacts, possibly related to the network of economic exchanges through which Egypt (and via Egypt the rest of the Mediterranean and Near East) were supplied with African raw materials such as ivory, ebony, spices, animal skins, gold, etc.;
4. Hierarchical societies may have arisen in the region in the 3rd millennium BC;
5. In the 1st millennium BC, although the region was still crossed by caravans and nomad groups of herders, the groups inhabiting it were marginalized, possibly because of the fledgling states of central Sudan and of Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea.
According to the application approved by the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums and to the research project funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by the University of Naples "L'Orientale" as well as by private institutions and donors [1], the goals of the 2010 field season of the Italian Archaeological Expedition to Sudan of the University of Naples "L'Orientale" [2], resuming the work of IAMSK after fifteen years, were as follows:
1. to resume the study of the materials kept in the storeroom of the expedition in Kassala in the perspective of the publication of the final report of the first stage of the project (1980-1995);
2. to get a better knowledge of the relationships between Eastern Sudan and Upper Nubia as well as to investigate the possible relationships between the cultures of Eastern Sudan and the Red Sea coast via the Eastern Desert.
To these tasks a further and more urgent one was added because of the plans to build new dams on the Atbara and Setit rivers and introduce an agricultural scheme in the region between the Gash and the Atbara (Upper Atbara Agricultural Irrigated Scheme). NCAM launched a systematic survey in order to evaluate the archaeological richness of the affected area, identifying 135 archaelogical sites. Therefore, the Expedition considered as a priority to contribute to the cultural heritage management of the Kassala region.

Please find the complete Report in the attached file