Tolmacheva Elena Gennad'evna

Introduction. This article is a publication of the first results of the work under the grant of the Russian Sciences Foundation "Scientific research of the Nubian Archaeological Expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences 1961–1963…" related to the study of petroglyphs found during the work of the Nubian Expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences, organized in 1961.

Materials and methods. After construction of the Aswan dam, the territories where the Soviet expedition worked as well as many other foreign scientific organizations, were flooded. Thus, the negatives of black-and-white photographs of petroglyphs preserved in the archives, along with some previously published data, are the only source of our information. Individual petroglyphs and groups of petroglyphs have never been outlined properly. This became our task at the first stage, when the drawings of individual signs were made in the Photoshop program (Adobe Photoshop CC version 10.1.2 ×64).

Results and discussion. In recent decades the study of petroglyphs of the Eastern and Nubian deserts has become one of the main areas of archaeologists’ work. It seems relevant to us to re-study the petroglyphs discovered by the Nubian Soviet expedition, analysis of some subjects and images, development of the main approaches to study.

The study of the approaches existing in the scientific literature to the dating and classification of petroglyphs of the Eastern and Nubian deserts gives an idea of the disputable nature of the most chronologies. The study of petroglyphs of Hukab-Karar is complicated by the limitations of the source – the quality of the photo does not always allow us to draw conclusions about the technique of execution of a particular sign. Nevertheless, a number of these petroglyphs can be dated by analogy with the petroglyphs from the well-known sites, as well as using published and handwritten descriptions of the participants of the Nubian expedition.

Conclusion. About 200 petroglyphs discovered by the Nubian Expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences in a place called Umm-Aghaib (Huqab-Karar) have been published. Among them are numerous images of African fauna are presented. There are also images of hunting scenes, animals and birds, boats, tribal signs, anthropomorphic images dating to the widest historical period. © 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Introduction. During the fourth season of the Nubian Archaeological and Anthropological Expedition, organized by the Moscow State University Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology, research was conducted in the Deraheib site in Sudan, from February to March 2022. A 2×2 m test trench with a depth of 2.2 m was opened during the season underneath the opening in the wall in order to clarify the structural features of the northwestern wall and determine the construction phases of the Fortress.

Materials and methods. The excavated soil was meticulously sieved. The archaeological material consisted mainly of pottery and animal bones. Their analysis allows us to draw basic conclusions about the nature of the layer in which the trench was laid and to date the time of its formation. The light green soil was also analysed. Architectural analysis also allowed us to draw some important conclusions about the site.

Conclusions. Based on the results of studies in the test trench and the data from the engineering and architectural survey of the Northern Fortress, we are able to propose a chronology for the early stages of its usage. We believe that the northwestern and northeastern walls built in the first construction phase were weakened by mudflows, and more powerful walls were built to reinforce them during the second construction phase. The northwestern wall from the second construction period was built on a layer of debris left from the first stage of fortress’s usage. This layer, consisting of lustre ware fragments, dates back to the 10^th century. The space between the northwestern walls, which belonged to the first and second construction phases, respectively, i.e. the 10^th and 11^th centuries or possibly later, was used as a dump for household garbage, toilet waste, or even as an outhouse. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Introduction. The article is dedicated to a comprehensive study of a male mummy from the Egyptological collection of the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Materials and methods. The mummy of a male stripped of its funerary bandages and shrouds, was donated by Professor A.I. Babukhin in 1876 to D.N. Anuchin, the museum’s founder. Since 2016, the mummy has been the object of detailed studies conducted by the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of the Lomonosov MSU. The study employed the methodologies of diverse scientific disciplines: anthropological study based on computer tomography data, textile analysis, radiocarbon dating, gas chromatography and mass-spectrometry studies, archeopalynological investigation etc.

Results and discussion. A facial reconstruction and a craniological and osteological description of the mummy were produced using computed tomography (CT) data. The interdisciplinary studies have revealed the specific features of the mummification method, which was characteristic of the Late New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, but also continued in later periods. The chromatographic analysis of the skin samples revealed a complex mix of embalming agents, one of which was pine resin. This is consistent with data obtained by spore-pollen analysis. The technological characteristics of the burial textiles preserved on the mummy were also studied. The age of the mummy could be determined through radiocarbon dating as 3,080 ± 35 BP (2σ 1426–1259 cal BC), indicating that the individual in question lived during the Eighteenth – first half of the Nineteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom.

Funding. his article was written with the support of the Lomonosov MSU Program of Development. Project No 23 Sch 02-22 "Hystory, anthropology and ethnology of the North-Eastern Africa in context of Ecological Changes during last 13 millenia. Interdisciplinary Research" Archeopalynological investigations were carried out within the framework of the issue Scientific Research Work of the Institute of Archaeology RAS “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Studying the Formation and Development of Ancient and Medieval Anthropogenic Ecosystems” (No. of R&D 122011200264-9). The textile studies were carried out within the framework of RSF grant ‘A comprehensive study of archaeological textile and pottery using natural science techniques, based on the findings of the Nubian expedition conducted by Moscow State University’ (№ 25-28-01025)