|
|
how sociopolitical arrangements were created, maintained, or changed. Such an interpretation is achieved by engagement with theoretical positions to inform the interpretation of the material culture, the sites themselves, and the people who used them. A comprehensive database of the artefactual and skeletal remains from Qustul and Ballana was created in order to facilitate a fine analysis of the Qustul and Ballana material. A small proportion of this data is presented here, but the reader is also referred to other publications (see Dann 2006, 2007, 2008).
The Excavations at Qustul and Ballana
The first dam to be constructed in the region of the first Nile cataract was completed in 1902, in order to safeguard the productivity of the Egyptian cotton crop (Emery 1948). The building of this initial Aswan Dam as a means to regulate the Nile inundation led to the first systematic archaeological research expedition to Nubia. In 1907 the Egyptian government made the decision to raise the dam by a further seven meters, which led to the flooding of an area along the Nile from the First Cataract to the village of Derr, 250 kilometres to the south (Lyons 1910, 1). Consequently, in 1907 the Archaeological Survey of Nubia was instigated under the direction of George Reisner (and later Cecil M. Firth). The survey discovered and recorded numerous sites of different periods and cannot be overemphasized in its importance. The history of Nubia had previously been known only through the fragmentary works of certain classical authors and from its mention in Ancient Egyptian writings. The Archaeological Survey of Nubia, with archaeological exploration at its heart, aimed to investigate the ancient material culture of the region and the peoples who had produced it. The dam was heightened again between 1929 and 1934, with the effect that sites farther to the south of Wadi es-Sebua (the limit of the previous survey) were threatened. A further survey was mounted under the direction of Walter Emery and the subdirection of Lawrence Kirwan (Emery 1948, 2). The largest and most comprehensive expedition was mounted between 1959 and 1969, following the decision to construct the Aswan High Dam. With the aid