Archeology thread

[Askiathegreat]

A thread to compile interesting archeological findings and studies for future use

 

[Leotheprogrammer88]

Hmm okay although I am not aware of how consistent archaeology is booming in Africa I’ll try to contribute to this thread but however it seems like Christian Nubia is getting a lot of work done on it which as someone that is a big fan of Christian Nubia is really exciting. Here is one of the most recent archaeological finds on Christian Nubia. And the archaeological discovery was the largest cathedral found in old dongola thus far.

Discovery of the remains of the largest church in Old Dongola | University of Warsaw

en.uw.edu.pl

Reconstruction



Here is a video on the discovery and it is all thanks to the Polish Centre of the Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw for making these discoveries possible

Here is also a site that shows you the two sites of the Ghazali and dongola monasteries on a website called virtual Nubia

https://virtualnubia.uw.edu.pl/en/

Here is a video published showing how people in communities in Sudan are becoming more aware of their ancient past


Also here is a article on recent findings of rock engravings of Abourma in Dijibouti

Redirect Notice

 

[Hanno Akunna]

Bumping this thread.

The research paper in question discusses about the archaeobotanical study that was conducted in Sadia, situated at the Seno Plains in Mali. It investigates the evolution of agriculture and the diversification of crops and what said crops were cultivated in the region, as well as how food systems change over the course of time.

From the paper, some of the key findings of the crops includes crops such as millets, and later on the introduction of crops such as African Rice, sorghum, fonio, etc. There is also remains of ceramics, iron objects, and glass beads, the latter which indicates that Sadia might have been part of a trade connections with the rest of the West African trade routes.

PDF have been attached for further readings.

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Architectural remains at Sadia.

 

[wenamun]

Bumping this thread.

The research paper in question discusses about the archaeobotanical study that was conducted in Sadia, situated at the Seno Plains in Mali. It investigates the evolution of agriculture and the diversification of crops and what said crops were cultivated in the region, as well as how food systems change over the course of time.

From the paper, some of the key findings of the crops includes crops such as millets, and later on the introduction of crops such as African Rice, sorghum, fonio, etc. There is also remains of ceramics, iron objects, and glass beads, the latter which indicates that Sadia might have been part of a trade connections with the rest of the West African trade routes.

PDF have been attached for further readings.

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View attachment 82733
Architectural remains at Sadia.

Is there evidence for agriculture in Mali (or Sahara) during the African humid period that ended circa 5500 BCE?

 

[AlpinLuke]

Is there evidence for agriculture in Mali (or Sahara) during the African humid period that ended circa 5500 BCE?

I remembered that an Italian expedition found something and making a research I've found this article on the site of La Sapienza university.
Cultivated, but not domestic. In the prehistoric Sahara the earliest forms of storage and cultivation of wild cereals | Sapienza Università di Roma

 

[wenamun]

I remembered that an Italian expedition found something and making a research I've found this article on the site of La Sapienza university.
Cultivated, but not domestic. In the prehistoric Sahara the earliest forms of storage and cultivation of wild cereals | Sapienza Università di Roma

Thanks. The La Sapienza paper mentions Takarkori is an archaeological site and rock shelter located in the Tadrart Acacus Mountains of southwestern Libya. During the Holocene, humans occupied the site between 10,170 cal BP and 4650 cal BP. Hard to imagine but Wadi Takarkori had flowing water from the Late Acacus period until the end of the Middle Pastoral period, with wetlands nearby. They also had a form of early pastoralism that spread through cultural diffusion into a deeply divergent, isolated North African lineage that had probably been widespread in Northern Africa during the late Pleistocene epoch.

Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara reveals ancestral North African lineage - Nature

Pastoralism spread through cultural diffusion into the Green Sahara, where an isolated, distinct North African ancestry persisted.

www.nature.com

 

[luci3]

Archaeologists Unearth Two Rare African Figurines in 1,500-Year-Old Christian Burials in Israel​

The artifacts were buried in the graves of a young woman and child, who may have converted to Christianity in Africa before traveling to the region, researchers say.
Seems like this find happened mid May of this year

 

[Hanno Akunna]

Is there evidence for agriculture in Mali (or Sahara) during the African humid period that ended circa 5500 BCE?

I unfortunately haven't looked into the region's archaeology in that period for now, but if I do find anything, I'll share it over here.

 

[luci3]

Coptic City Unearthed in Egypt's Western Desert (July, 2025)​

An Egyptian archaeological mission has uncovered the remains of a residential city dating back to the early Coptic period at Ain al-Kharab in Egypt’s Western Desert, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on 24 July, 2025. The discovery at Ain al-Kharab in the Kharga Oasis highlights the transitional shift in Egypt from paganism to Christianity. During the Ptolemaic and early Roman eras in the third and second century b.c., the inhabitants of Ain al-Kharab practiced polytheism, but in the centuries that followed, the site became an important center of early Christian life.
further reading !
further reading!

 

[Hanno Akunna]

I believe this picture have been posted in the architecture thread by @Danyel , but I thought that it should be posted again here. Here are some uncovered architectural remains of Nok Settlements in Kochio, Central Nigeria.

For further readings, New Studies on the Nok Culture of Central Nigeria.


Figure 1. Nok settlement of Kochio. Basement of a wall at the fringe of the settlement, carved out of the underlying granite.


Figure 2. Slabs of rock with megalithic dimensions, erected to fence and area within the centre of the settlement.

 

[wenamun]

Some early Britons had West-African Ancestry



Archaeologists have analyzed the DNA of two unrelated individuals buried in 7th-century-AD cemeteries on the south coast of England, revealing that their recent ancestors came from West Africa. During the Early Middle Ages, England saw significant migration from continental northern Europe. Historical accounts describe the settlement of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who gave their names to the Anglo-Saxon period and perhaps the country itself. However, the extent of movement from further afield was less clear.

"While the majority of the individuals buried at the cemeteries had either northern European or western British and Irish ancestry, which were both prevalent in England at the time, one person at each cemetery had a recent ancestor from West Africa. In each individual, their mitochondrial DNA (inherited from the mother) was northern European, but the autosomal DNA (from both parents) showed clear signs of non-European ancestry with affinity to present-day Yoruba, Mende, Mandenka, and Esan groups from sub-Saharan West Africa."

Ancient DNA reveals West African ancestry in early medieval England

Archaeologists have analyzed the DNA of two unrelated individuals buried in 7th-century-AD cemeteries on the south coast of England, revealing that they both had recent ancestors, likely grandparents, from West Africa.

phys.org

 

[Adicran]

"the largest agricultural complex in Africa outside the Nile corridor."

The Maghreb (north-west Africa) played an important role during the Palaeolithic and later in connecting the western Mediterranean from the Phoenician to Islamic periods. Yet, knowledge of its later prehistory is limited, particularly between c. 4000 and 1000 BC. Here, the authors present the first results of investigations at Oued Beht, Morocco, revealing a hitherto unknown farming society dated to c. 3400–2900 BC. This is currently the earliest and largest agricultural complex in Africa beyond the Nile corridor. Pottery and lithics, together with numerous pits, point to a community that brings the Maghreb into dialogue with contemporaneous wider western Mediterranean developments.

Source: Oued Beht, Morocco: a complex early farming society in north-west Africa and its implications for western Mediterranean interaction during later prehistory | Antiquity | Cambridge Core