The origin and relationships of the Nubian A-group

grantor: University of TorontoSince the discovery of the A-Group culture in 1907, much emphasis has been given to A-Group relationships with the Egyptian Nile civilizations of Upper Egypt. As a result, very little discussion has been ventured about Sudanese interconnections or Eastern and Western Desert relations for the A-Group. This work compensates for that lack by demonstrating that the A- Group was very much a part of the Saharan and Sudanese traditions as evidenced primarily by the types of impressed and incised decorative motifs in A-Group ceramics. A comparative analysis of ceramic designs throughout the Sudan shows that the Khartoum Neolithic motifs are widely represented amongst the A-Group ceramic repertoire, as they are in those Khartoum-related industries north of the Khartoum region. This situation likely represents a northward diffusion of ceramic traits from the Khartoum area into Lower Nubia through the Dongola Reach. Furthermore, I suggest the possibility of direct southeastern connections for the A-Group with the people of Shaqadud in the Butana, based on the presence of shared pottery designs between Shaqadud and the A-Group that do not appear in the Dongola Reach. A-Group relationships in the Shendi Reach are only weakly suggested by ceramic traits, but other types of evidence such as the dog burial and the infant pot burial at Kadada may strengthen the arguments for A-Group/Shendi Reach interconnections. Ceramic evidence strongly suggests the existence of A-Group links with the Western Sudan that appear to have been independent of the Khartoum area. New material from the Lower Wadi Howar, which connected with the Nile in Neolithic times, indicates that this region may have been a route of exchange between Lower Nubia and the Western Sudan. Western Desert connections for the A-Group are also minimally suggested by the ceramics, however, I have proposed a Western Desert origin for certain A-Group ceramic motifs. Unfortunately, the evidence for Eastern and Nubian Desert links with the A-Group is still sparse, but the discoveries of burial material and rock drawings are very promising for defining cultural links once these areas become better known archaeologically.Ph.D