Geoarchaeological Methods for Landscape Reconstruction at the Excavation Site of Naga, Central Sudan
Geoarchäologische Methoden zur Landschaftsrekonstruktion an der Ausgrabungsstätte von Naga, Zentralsudan
Jonas Berking, Julia Meister, Burkart Ullrich, Michael Schott, Georg Kaufmann and Brigitta Schütt
DIE ERDE 142 2011 (3) Contributions to Geoarchaeology pp. 289-313
• Geophysical prospection – Terrain modelling – 3D visualisation – Arid environments
Fig. 1 The study site and its location in NE Africa. a: Location in Africa, b: Central places during the
Meroitic Period (including the capitals of the former kingdoms, Napata and Kerma), c: The city of
Naga, including pertinent features / Das Untersuchungsgebiet in NE-Afrika. a: Lage in Afrika,
b: Zentralorte während der Meroitischen Periode (einschl. der Hauptstädte der früheren
Königreiche, Napata und Kerma), c: Die Stadt Naga (mit erhaltenen Anlagen)
The archaeological excavation site of Naga, remains of a Meroitic city, is located in the semi- arid region along the fringe of the north-eastern Sahel and the south-eastern Sahara desert, in central Sudan, 150 km north of Khartoum and 40 km south of the Nile. During its heyday the city was a highly developed central place, with a large population and a booming economy. Naga has been the object of archaeological research for several decades – and of geoscientific inves- tigation since 2008. The first step for the investigation was to select adequate methods that combine the advantages of various subdisciplines and approaches. The study presented employs techniques from terrain modelling, geophysics and environmental analytics to evaluate field data with the aim of a comprehensive landscape reconstruction.
