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The site of Jebel Moya, excavated in the early twentieth century, represents arguably the largest pastoral mortuary complex in Africa. Jebel Moya is resituated in relation to the neighbouring Meroitic-era agro-pastoral settlements and the only known Meroitic trading station (Sennar) in the southern Gezira Plain, Sudan. It is the first time that the known localities in the southern Gezira and southern Meroitic cemeteries have been compared, in an attempt to elucidate the different social organisation reflected in mortuary assemblages between the core and the periphery of the Meroitic State. New questions are posed for (1) the applicability of mortuary theory to pastoral cemeteries, and (2) the nature of zones of interaction on the frontier of the Meroitic State, through the application of new statistical and spatial analyses of the mortuary assemblages and the site's reinterpretation as a pastoral, instead of an agro-pastoral, mortuary complex.Le site de Jebel Moya, fouillé au début du 20ème siècle, représente vraisemblablement le plus grand complexe mortuaire pastoral d’Afrique. Nous reconsidérons le site de Jebel Moya par rapport aux occupations agro-pastorales de l’ère Méroïtique ainsi qu’à l’unique comptoir commercial Méroïtique connu : Sennar (sud de la plaine de Gezira, Soudan). Pour la première fois, les localités du sud Gezira et les cimetières du sud Méroïtique sont comparés. L’objectif étant de tenter d’élucider les différentes organisations sociales que reflètent les assemblages mortuaires du cœur et de la périphérie de l’état Méroïtique. Cette étude soulève de nouvelles questions (1) sur la pertinence des théories mortuaires dans un contexte de cimetières pastoraux, et (2) sur la nature des zones d’interactions à la frontière de l’état Méroïtique au travers de l’application de nouvelles analyses statistiques et spatiales des assemblages mortuaires d’une part, et d’autre part, de la réinterprétation du site en tant que complexe mortuaire pastoral au lieu d’agro-pastoral.

This paper presents new excavation data and new radiometric dates for Jebel Moya, south-central Sudan. These data suggest revisions to previous chronological understandings of the site. New excavations, initiated in 2017, show a longer, more continuous occupation of the site than has been previously recognised. Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical analyses provide evidence for domesticated taxa. Archaeobotanical evidence is dominated by domesticated sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), radiocarbon dated to c. 2550–2210 BC. Faunal remains include cattle and goat/sheep. A late third-millennium BC date on the human skeleton excavated in the 2017 season also shows that mortuary activity began early in the site’s history, contemporary with domesticated faunal and botanical remains. These initial results indicate the long-term association of the site with pastoralism and agriculture and with environmental change. Jebel Moya’s continued potential to serve as a chronological and cultural reference point for future studies in south-central Sudan and the eastern Sahel is reinforced.

This paper presents new excavation data and new radiometric dates for Jebel Moya, south-central Sudan. These data suggest revisions to previous chronological understandings of the site. New excavations, initiated in 2017, show a longer, more continuous occupation of the site than has been previously recognised. Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical analyses provide evidence for domesticated taxa. Archaeobotanical evidence is dominated by domesticated sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), radiocarbon dated to c. 2550–2210 BC. Faunal remains include cattle and goat/sheep. A late third-millennium BC date on the human skeleton excavated in the 2017 season also shows that mortuary activity began early in the site’s history, contemporary with domesticated faunal and botanical remains. These initial results indicate the long-term association of the site with pastoralism and agriculture and with environmental change. Jebel Moya’s continued potential to serve as a chronological and cultural reference point for future studies in south-central Sudan and the eastern Sahel is reinforced.