PalaeoAffad Project Team

Age of pioneers – Piotr Osypiński (the expedition initiative, prehistorian), Marta Gauza-Osypińska (archaeozoologist), Maciej Kurcz (ethnographer)– team members of the Southern Dongola Reach Survey,  directed by Bogdan Żurawski (Polish Academy of Sciences, Mediterranean Archaeology Department) February 2003. Achilles Gautier (archaeozoologist, Ghent University, Department of Geology and Soil Science) inspired us and was a real accelerator of the first summary of research upon Affad assemblages (published in Journal of African Archaeology 2011).

‘Levallois Traditions Epigones in the Middle Nile Valley’ (2011-2015) – Marta Osypińska (Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology), Piotr Osypiński (Patrimonium Foundation), Achilles Gautier, Mike Morley (geoarchaeologist, Human Origins and Palaeo-Environments Research Group, Oxford Brooks University, Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong), Anna Maria Kotarba-Morley (assistant, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford), Michał Sita (photographer), Houyam Khalid (inspector, National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums, Khartoum), OSL team: Tomasz Kalicki & Ireneusz Olszak (J. Kochanowski University in Kielce, Institute of Geography).

‘Epigones and Forerunners – adaptation strategies of the sub-Saharan societies in terminal pleistocene and early holocene’  (2016-2021) – new faces in the team: Michał Kuc (scholarship of the project – Phd candidate in the Institute of Geography, Wroclaw University), Katarzyna Pyżewicz (use-wear analysis, Institute of Prehistory, A. Mickiewicz University in Poznan), Marek Chłodnicki (archaeologist, Poznan Archaeological Museum), Wim Van Neer (palaeoichtiologist, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, The Palaeontology Department), Anne Skinner (ESR analysis, Williams College, The Chemistry Department), Paweł Wiktorowicz (GIS analysis, Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology), and the list is still open.

PalaeoAffad Project Almanac

Presentations:

  • Poznan, Archaeology of the Earliest Northeastern Africa, „Affad 23 – Middle Palaeolithic site in Southern Dongola Reach, Sudan”

Publications:

Osypiński P., Osypińska M. Affad 23. In: Żurawski, B. (ed.) “Survey and Excavations between Old Dongola and Ez-Zuma.” Zakład Śródziemnomorskiej Polskiej Akademii Nauk & Wydawnictwo Neriton, Warsaw, pp. 270–272.

Publications:

Osypiński P., Osypińska M., Gautier A., Affad 23, a Late Middle Palaeolithic Site with Refitted Lithics and Animal Remains in the Southern Dongola Reach, Sudan. Journal of African Archaeology 9 (2): 177-188. doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10186

Presentations:

  • Poznan, Instytut Prahistorii UAM 22.05 „Epigoni Tradycji Lewaluaskich w Środkowej Dolinie Nilu – założenia i pierwsze rezultaty projektu”
  • Gdansk, XIX Ogólnopolska Naukowo-Edukacyjna Konferencja Nubiologiczna,25.05 „Tropami epigonów środkowego paleolitu. Pierwszy sezon badań projektu PALAEOAFFAD”
  • Warsaw, Polacy nad Nilem, sezon 2011-2012, 05.06 „Pierwszy sezon badań projektu PALAEOAFFAD, północny Sudan”

Publications:

Osypiński P., The Lithic Traditions of Late-Pleistocene settlement at Affad, Sudan, in: Kabaciński J, Chłodnicki M., Kobusiewicz M. (eds.) “Prehistory of Northeastern Africa, New Ideas and Discoveries”, Studies in African Archaeology, vol.11, pp.213-221, Poznań Archaeological Museum 2012.

Osypińska M., Osypiński P. Epigones of the Levallois Tradition in the Middle Nile Valley: the First Season of a New Prehistoric Project in Affad, Northern Sudan, Nyame Akuma 78: 17-22.

Presentations:

  • Poznan, Polskie badania nad prahistorią Afryki północno-wschodniej. Nowe odkrycia i idee, 05.06 „Nowe dane do badań nad paleolitem środkowym w Southern Dongola Reach (Sudan)”
  • Gdansk, XX Ogólnopolska Naukowo-Edukacyjna Konferencja Nubiologiczna, 07.06 „Affad – drugi sezon badań”
  • Warsaw, Polacy nad Nilem, sezon 2012-2013, 18.06 „Osadnictwo wczesnych Homo sapiens w Dolinie Nilu Środkowego – nowe dane. Drugi sezon interdyscyplinarnych badań w Affad 23, Sudan”
  • Iasi, Stories Written in Stone, International Symposium on Chert and Other Knappable Materials, 22.08 „The lithic traditions of Late Pleistocene settlement at Affad, Sudan: raw materials economy and technological features”

Publications:

Osypińska M., Osypiński P. Middle Palaeolithic Research in the Middle Nile Valley – 2013 Field Season in Affad, Northern Sudan, Nyame Akuma 80: 14-21.

News:

Nie taka dzika Afryka, National Geographic, Polska, 2013, NR 5(164) maj, p. 14

Presentations:

  • Khartoum, National Museum of Sudan 25.03 “Affad 2012-2014. The oldest huts by the Nile and palaeolithic habitat modelling”
  • Poznan, Polskie badania nad prahistorią Afryki północno-wschodniej. Nowe odkrycia i idee, 27.05 „Nowe dane o strategiach adaptacyjnych późno plejstoceńskich grup ludzkich w Środkowej Dolinie Nilu. Wyniki projektu „Epigoni tradycji lewaluaskich…”
  • Gdansk, XXI Ogólnopolska Naukowo-Edukacyjna Konferencja Nubiologiczna, 06.06 „Zagubieni w środkowo-paleolitycznym raju. Rezultaty projektu „Epigoni tradycji lewaluaskich w środkowej Dolinie Nilu, Sudan”
  • Warsaw, Konferencja sprawozdawcza Polacy nad Nilem, sezon 2013-2014, 12.06 „Epigoni tradycji lewaluaskich w środkowej Dolinie Nilu – rezultaty dotychczasowych badań nad paleośrodowiskiem i osadnictwem schyłkowo-plejstoceńskim”
  • Radio interview, 20.06 Przedpołudnie z radiem tok.fm „O nowych odkryciach archeologicznych Hanna Zielińska rozmawiała z dr Martą Osypińską i Piotrem Osypińskim”
  • Johannesburg, 14th Congress of Pan-African Archaeological Association “African Archaeology without Frontiers”, 15.07 “New data on early human behaviour in the Middle Nile Valley”
  • Neuchâtel, The 13th International Conference for Nubian Studies, 05.09 “Levallois Tradition Epigones in the Middle Nile Valley. Preliminary results of the new project in Southern Dongola Reach, Sudan”
  • Bordeaux, Middle Palaeolithic in the Desert II, 11.12 „Optimal adjustment or cultural backwardness? New data on the latest MSA industries in the Nile Valley”

Publications:

Osypińska M., Osypiński P., The Latest Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Middle Nile Valley, Antiquity 88 (341) – Project Gallery

Presentations:

  • Poznan, Desert and the Nile. Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara, 03.07 “Levallois concepts, training and lithic assemblage of Terminal Pleistocene Affad in Sudan”
  • Exhibition at the Poznan Archaeological Museum „Lost in Paradise. The oldest camps by the Nile” July-August 2015
  • Biskupin, Czytanie kamienia – między teorią a praktyką. 12 warsztaty krzemieniarskie SKAM, 15.10 “Wszystko czego nie da się zmierzyć i policzyć – kilka uwag o analizach zespołów kamiennych z sudańskiego Affad”

Publications:

Osypiński, P., Osypińska, M., Optimal adjustment or cultural backwardness? New data on the latest Levallois industries in the Nile Valley, Quaternary International 408 (Part B): 90-105, doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.033.

Osypińska M., Osypiński P. Animal Exploitation and Behaviour of the Latest Middle Stone Age Societies in the Middle Nile Valley: Archaeozoological and Taphonomic Analysis of Late Pleistocene Fauna from the Affad Basin, Sudan, African Archaeological Review doi:10.1007/s10437-016-9220-4.

Osypiński P., Morley M., Osypińska M., Kotarba-Morley A.M. Affad 23: settlement structures and palaeoenvironments in the Terminal Pleistocene of the Middle Nile Valley, Sudan,Antiquity 90 (352), doi:10.15184/aqy.2016.110

Osypińska M., Osypiński P., Levallois tradition Epigones in the Middle Nile Valley – results of the survey in Affad Basin, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 24 (1): 601-626.

Presentations:

  • Poznań 17.05 Wydział Historyczny UAM, publiczna obrona rozprawy doktorskiej mgr. Piotra Osypińskiego pt. „Najpóźniejsze tradycje lewaluaskie środkowej doliny Nilu. Technologia wytwórczości kamiennej na przykładzie mikroregionu Affad w Sudanie”
  • Warszawa Polacy nad Nilem. Sezon 2016-1017 13.06 „Nowy etap projektu PaleoAffad. Epigoni i Prekursorzy w sezonie 2016/17”
  • Gdańsk Bayuda and its Neighbours. The Archaeology of the Bayuda Desert. Second Internationl Bayuda Conference, Gdańsk 12th-14th October 13.10„New dates on the Terminal Pleistocene inhabitation of the Middle Nile – PalaeoAffad Project 2016”.

Publications:

Osypiński P. Najpóźniejsze tradycje lewaluaskie środkowej doliny Nilu. Technologia wytwórczości kamiennej na przykładzie mikroregionu Affad w Sudanie PhD dissertation available at the A.Mickiewicz University Repository – http://hdl.handle.net/10593/17689.

Presentations:

  • Paris Not Just A Corridor. Human Occupations of the Nile Valley and Neighbouring Regions between 75,000 and 15,000 years ago. 02.06 „Upper Nubia and beyond at the Terminal Pleistocene – growing evidence of the late occurrence of MSA”
  • Warszawa Polacy nad Nilem. Sezon 2017-1018 13.06 „Dziki przodek i ludzie. Późno-Plejstoceński zasięg Bos opisthonomus w Dolinie Nilu i jego rola w modelu łowieckim społeczności paleolitycznych: nowe dane PalaeoAffad Project, sezon 2017”
  • Ankara 13th ICAZ International Conference 2-7.09. poster „Late Pleistocene range of Bos opisthonomus in the North-Eastern Africa and its significance within the subsistence model of Palaeolithic societies: New archaeozoological data from Affad, Sudan”
  • Paris 14th International Conference for Nubian Studies 11.09 „Neolithic of the Southern Dongola Reach”
  • Rabat The 15th Congress of PanAfrican Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies 12.09 „Too young for MSA – too archaic for LSA. Too young for Mesolithic – too archaic for Neolithic. Subsistence strategies and chronological systems in the Middle Nile Valley archaeology”

Presentations:

  • Warszawa Polacy nad Nilem. Sezon 2017-1018 12.06 „Affad 3.0: KROWA+. Sezon badawczy 2018 realizacji projektu „Epigoni i prekursorzy. Strategie adaptacyjne społeczności sub-saharyjskich w późnym plejstocenie i wczesnym holocenie…”
  • Gdańsk XXVI Ogólnopolska Konferencja Nubiologiczna 14-16 czerwca 2019 r. 16.06 „AFFAD 3.0: KROWA+ Sezon badawczy 2018 realizacji projektu „Epigoni i prekursorzy. Strategie adaptacyjne społeczności sub-saharyjskich w późnym plejstocenie i wczesnym holocenie…” oraz „Nowe ustalenia chronologiczne dla osadnictwa środkowopaleolitycznego w Affad, Sudan”
  • Poznań Society and Subsistence in the Prehistory of Northeastern Africa 01-04.07 „How old were the epigones of Levallois traditions? New dates for Affad (Sudan)”, „Karmakol Group in Affad Basin (Sudan)” oraz współudział w wystawie organizowanej w Muzeum Archeologicznym w Poznaniu (Gdy Sahara była zielona. Polskie badania archeologiczne nad prahistorią Afryki Północnej, M. Chłodnicki, P. Polkowski (red.), Poznań, Muzeum Archeologiczne w Poznaniu)

Publications:

Osypińska M., Osypiński P., Chłodnicki M., Kuc M., Wiktorowicz P, Ryndziewicz R. Affad 3.0 / Cattle+. Field seasons 2017 and 2018 of the PalaeoAffad Project, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 28 (2): 239-250; doi: 10.5604/01.3001.0013.6888

Publications:

Osypińska M., Osypiński P., Chłodnicki M., Kuc M., Wiktorowicz P. Ryndziewicz R. The PalaeoAffad Project and the Prehistory of the Middle Nile, Archaeologia Polona, vol. 58: 2020, 79 – 97 doi:10.23858/APa58.2020.005

Osypiński P. Upper Nubia and beyond during the Terminal Pleistocene New premises for the late occurrence of the Middle Stone Age, in: Leplongeon A., Goder-Goldberger M. & Pleurdeau D. (eds) “Not just a Corridor. Human occupation of the Nile Valley and neighbouring regions between 75,000 and 15,000 years ago”. Paris 2020: Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Natures en Sociétés ; 3), pp. 115-138.

Publications:

Osypiński P., Burrough S., Skinner A., Standzikowski K. 2021. Re-examining the age of the Affad MSA deposits in the Middle Nile Valley, Archaeometry 63/6: 1405-1420 doi: 10.1111/arcm.12670

Osypinska M., Osypinski P., Belka Z., Chlodnicki M., Wiktorowicz P., Ryndziewicz R. & Kubiak M. 2021. Wild and Domestic Cattle in the Ancient Nile Valley: Marks of Ecological Change, Journal of Field Archaeology 46/7:429-479 doi:10.1080/00934690.2021.1924491

Project aims & objectives

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The previous stage of research in Sudan’s Southern Dongola Reach financed by the National Centre of Science (UMO-2011/01/D/HS3/04125) has become a pivotal study into the prehistory of North-Eastern Africa. Since 2012 the area of Affad was a place of fieldwork for the project  known as the “Levallois Tradition Epigones in the Middle Nile Valley” or the PalaeoAffad Project.

Three-years works resulted in a number of unique data concerning Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene settlement – e.g. relics of cut features (postholes, pits, hearths), rich assemblages of animal remains and one of the latest stone industries rooted in the Levallois traditions. Riverine plains located a few kilometres away from present-day Nile contain relics of settlement sealed with silts from Terminal Pleistocene river alluviation (c.16,000 years old). Also later sediments (Early Holocene in age) produced settlement remains rich in osteological materials that enable an evaluation of the adaptation strategy of the first demographically and socially advanced societies by the Nile.

Current research project objectives

The principal objective of the current project is the evaluation of the different adaptation strategies of the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene societies. Preliminary hypothesis assumes substantially different models of environment exploitation in the two periods while the fauna composition, geomorphology and hydrology suggest identical or very similar ecozones within the Affad Basin microregion. Comprehensive analysis of both hitherto excavated and new locations through widely applied palaeoenvironmental studies (including magnetometric survey and the absolute dating of sediments, archaeozoological and geomorphological studies) will allow the presentation of a high resolution model of landscape formation. The main research problem is to find and evaluate particular factors driving adaptation models of the Middle Palaeolithic and Mesolithic/Early Neolithic societies. Archaeological sites in the Affad Basin gave a unique opportunity to research the subject due to the preservation of stratified archaeological evidence from both periods. Diversity of the adaptation strategies as a combination of relations between human culture and environment were not previously analysed in the Middle Nile Valley. Our results undoubtedly shall accelerate discussion upon the prolonged persistence of the Middle-Palaeolithic in sub-Saharan Africa and the late appearance of socially and demographically advanced societies in the region.

Research methodology

The unique potential of the Affad sites results from secure stratigraphic evidence enabling an assessment of the camps’ size and their spatial organization, ascertaining functional diversity of the sites within the landscape as well as detailed analysis of the lithic industries through functional and technological approaches. A similar potential concerns animal remains as a source of data for palaeoenvironmental studies, defining hunting/gathering strategies and meat processing (food conservation and preparation). Also Early Holocene sites produce additional correlates of material culture – pottery and domesticated animal remains (their isotopic composition to be analysed to allow an evaluation of the animals’ diet and migrations). The wide spectrum of planned analyses includes also OSL dating of sediments, radiocarbon dating of remains, Electron Spin Resonance dating of teeth, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) creation for GIS analysis, magnetometric survey of selected areas and petrographic analysis of sediments for reconstruction of the buried topography, working on the best world-wide comparative collections of African mammals and fish in Belgium and Kenya as well as experimental procurement and usage of stone tools for use-wear analysis.

Expected impact of the research on science, civilization and society

Taking into account the multispectral approach and range of the project, it should be perceived as an innovative way of research into the prehistory of Africa. The project results will greatly influence global knowledge of the early history of human culture, especially of the adaptation strategies related to Middle Palaeolithic societies and its prolonged survival in Sub-Saharan Africa. No less important will be the results derived from the study of the Early Holocene societies that inhabited the Affad Basin where were true forerunners of a new adaptation model. The African Neolithic age origins (e.g. domestication of African ruminants rather than the influx of Near Eastern animals) is still a subject of international debate.