Abstract
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is a photographic technique used to generate digital surrogates of surfaces that can be viewed using virtual lighting coming from interactively set directions, enabling the close structural examination of objects under digital raking light. In this study, RTI was applied to Middle Nubian pottery from sites near the Second Nile Cataract that were excavated by the Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia in the early 1960s. The ceramic traditions under investigation are currently known as C-Group, Pan-Grave and Kerma. An overarching aim of the project is to assess the possibility of understanding the relationships between these groups through detailed analyses of their material traditions. Based on the hypothesis that technological traditions may be related to cultural heritage, RTI is applied in this study to observe morphological traces of ceramic vessel forming processes. Two technological groups were identified, one consistent with paddle-forming, and another consistent with hand-building on a mat-lined surface. These technological groups correspond very closely to cemetery distributions, which suggests that the different techniques may be specific to different potterymaking traditions. It is suggested that vessel forming-technology in the so-called C-Group tradition is distinct from that of the so-called Pan-Grave and Kerma traditions, and that the validity of the divisions between Nubian cultural groups should thus be further interrogated.
Highlights
According to the existing framework, the Nile Valley of Lower and Upper Nubia (Figure 1) was populated by three so-called Middle Nubian Cultures – the C-Group, Kerma, and Pan-Grave cultures – during a period spanning c. 1850–1500 BCE (Figure 2)
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) was applied to Middle Nubian pottery from sites near the Second Nile Cataract that were excavated by the Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia in the early 1960s
The C-Group was thought to be confined primarily to Lower Nubia (Bietak, 1968; Säve-Söderbergh, 1989), the Kerma tradition to Upper Nubia (Edwards, 2004, pp.65–84), while the Pan-Grave tradition comprised mobile or partially mobile groups spread across a vast region from Middle Egypt up to the Fourth Nile Cataract and the surrounding desert regions (Bietak, 1966; Säve-Söderbergh, 1989, pp.15–19; de Souza, 2019, pp.140–143)
Summary
According to the existing framework, the Nile Valley of Lower and Upper Nubia (Figure 1) was populated by three so-called Middle Nubian Cultures – the C-Group, Kerma, and Pan-Grave cultures – during a period spanning c. 1850–1500 BCE (Figure 2). According to the existing framework, the Nile Valley of Lower and Upper Nubia (Figure 1) was populated by three so-called Middle Nubian Cultures – the C-Group, Kerma, and Pan-Grave cultures – during a period spanning c. This study applies Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) to Middle Nubian ceramics in order to identify and analyse physical traces of the vessel-forming process that might otherwise be invisible to the unaided eye or difficult to capture using. IANSA 2021 ● XII/1 ● 19–35 Aaron M. de Souza, Martina Trognitz: Analysis of Middle Nubian Vessel-forming Technology Using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). It will be shown that careful observation of the surface features revealed by the RTI process can assist in identifying similarities or differences in pottery-making technologies that may in turn be linked to cultural heritage and traditions
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