Pottery production in the Mesolithic central Sudan: an integrated morphological, petrographic and mineralogical analysis

This paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary archeometric study on Early Mesolithic pottery from the prehistoric site of Kabbashi Haitah, located 35 km north of Khartoum (central Sudan), along the Nile Valley. A large set of potsherds, selected after a preliminary macroscopic analysis of 1075 fragments representing the various vessels (mainly plain and globular in shape, with various rim diameter), macrofabrics and decoration types (either with or without incised or stamped decorations, i.e. incisedwavy line and rocker stamp) was analysed to define the type of the raw materials used and their manufacturing technology. The mineralogical and petrographic features, determined by optical microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction, indicate that the pottery was produced using an illitic clay tempered with quartz and/or K-feldspar derived from granite/syenite grinding, and fired in the temperature range between 750 and 900°C.