The Social Implication of a “mixed” Ceramic Assemblage: Understanding the Predynastic Community of Nag el-Qarmila (First Nile Cataract, Egypt) Through Pottery Technology

Abstract

This article investigates the social landscape of the First Nile Cataract region in the 4th mill. BCE through the application of petrographic and technological approaches to pottery analysis. The study focuses on the ceramic assemblages from the settlement WK15 and the necropolis WK14 at Nag el-Qarmila and identifies for the first time three technical traditions along with their synchronic and diachronic interaction. It provides new data on the more ancient phases of the so-called Naqadan productions and their relationship with the Shale Ware and the Nubian Black-Mouthed Ware. The results allow us to better frame the mixed assemblage that characterizes a site far from the elite centers and where relations between mobile and sedentary groups were, therefore, more fluid. The data obtained also constitute a comparative nucleus for the growth of technological and petrographic studies at other sites and periods, and the numerous insights that emerged will be useful for directing future research.