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The ironworking remains in the royal city of Meroe: new insights on the Nile Corridor and the Kingdom of Kush

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2019

Chris Carey ,
Frank Stremke  and
Jane Humphris
Chris Carey*
Affiliation:
School of Environment and Technology, Cockcroft Building, Lewes Road, University of Brighton, Brighton BN2 4AT, UK
Frank Stremke
Affiliation:
Stremke Archaeology, Middenmang 20, 28755 Bremen, Germany
Jane Humphris
Affiliation:
British Institute in Eastern Africa, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH, UK
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: c.j.carey@brighton.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Meroe is one of Africa's most famous archaeological sites, renowned not least for its evidence of ironworking. Yet, the extensive slagheaps that characterise the site have received little archaeological attention. To illuminate the chronology and distribution of these remains, this article combines extant excavation data with the results of recent site-wide surface and geoprospection survey, and ongoing slagheap excavation and radiocarbon dating. The slagheaps date predominantly to either the Early (Napatan) or Late (late/post-Meroitic) periods, with little evidence for activity between c. 300 BC and AD 300—precisely when Meroe was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush—indicating significant reorganisation of the city's industrial base at this time.

Keywords

SudanMeroeKushiron productionslagarchaeometallurgy
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 93 , Issue 368 , April 2019 , pp. 432 - 449
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019 

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