Dotawo/content/article/hamdeen.md

---
title: "From Homescape to Flora Landscape: Preliminary Observation on Plant Remains from the Christian Mud-Buildings in the Third Cataract Region"
authors: ["hamadhamdeen.md"]
abstract: In Sudan, the study of earthen construction materials is very rare, mudbricks were and still are widely used as building materials in many regions. This paper gives a new perspective for applying the technique of extorted plant remains from mudbrick in Sudan. The material was collected during the fieldwork of Mahas Archaeological project in April 2019 from four Christian mudbrick sites, approximately four kilograms (one kilogram from each site). The material was soaked in water for six hours to dissolve the hard mud and sand. Two metal sieves with a mesh size of 0.5 and 1 mm were used. The separated material was dried and examined under binoculars and for identification fresh seed was used as a reference collection and determination literature. Seven plant species were as seeds, fruits were extracted and identified. These include *Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vulgare, Sorghum bicolor, Setaria italica, Adansonia digitate, Acacia nilotica* and *Cyperus rotundus*. In addition, some large unidentified deposits of glumes of wild grasses (of the Poaceae family) were presented in the samples from the four sites. Some animal dung and insect remains were separated during the sorting processing of the plant macro-remains. The archaeobotanical evidence from these four Christian mudbrick sites in El Mahas region provided evidence of the economy and flora landscape in this area. This flora can be divided into three types, i.e. riverine wild flora, cultivated flora, and wild trees.
keywords: ["Archaeobotany", "Plant remains", "Mudbrick", "Third Cataract", "Sudan"]
---


# Introduction

Mudbrick materials provide a source of environmental data to aid in
understanding the diversity of local sediments and flora. Most studies
begin with examining the origins of brick materials, which also can be
studied as chronological markers, technology as social practice, as
indicators of social class or cultural identity, and as a source of
environmental information.[^1] Given the active role of architecture as
material culture mudbricks are a good source of botanical evidence since
they often include desiccated chaff, straw, fruits, and seeds, chaff
impressions, phytoliths, diatoms, and pollen.[^2]

Archaeologically, earth construction techniques have been known for
over 9000 years. Mudbrick (adobe) houses dating from 8000 to 6000 BCE
have been discovered in Russian Turkestan.[^3] Rammed earth
foundations dating from ca. 5000 BCE have been discovered in Assyria.
Earth was used as the building material in all ancient cultures, not
only for homes but for religious buildings as well.[^4] In Sudan, the
study of earthen construction materials is very rare, mudbricks were
considered common building materials that were used in Sudan from 2500
BCE, during the Kerma period, and are still widely used as building materials in
many regions of Sudan. The materials used to make these bricks include
Nile mud, sand, chopped straw, and animal dung. Makers mixed these
materials in varying quantities to produce bricks with different
characteristics.

Most importantly, these added materials vastly improve the tensile
strength of bricks. Straw, and sometimes chaff, has always been the
preferred type of temper. Alternatives may include chopped grasses or
weeds, tree bark, and potsherds.[^5] Hillman appropriately
distinguishes between various classes of vegetal temper according to
their derivation from the process of winnowing and coarse-sieving
cereals, highlighting their commonly assigned different uses.[^6] The
first type, "fragmented light straw," is probably the type of vegetal
temper most commonly used in mudbricks. The second type,
"medium-coarse winnowed straw," features more commonly in mud plaster
or is used as fuel; and the third is "chaff," which results from a
later step during cereal processing, and may be used for bricks or
wall plaster.[^7]

From a general view of home architecture in ancient Sudan, two types
of homescape can be distinguished: external and internal, in which
plants are essential elements in both. Plant remains can help us to
understand the architectural style of houses of the external
homescape, such as wood, which represents an essential part of the
architectural construction elements in mud buildings, as it has been
used as roofs and pillars to support the roofs of buildings since
early periods in Sudan. Also, hardwood trees represent an essential
architectural element in the design and decoration of doors and
windows. Also, in this type of home, *Rakoba* or *Arishah* is a
crucial element of the house and is used for recreation and protection
from the sun and heat during the hot summer seasons. Many trunks,
stems and branches of trees are used in its construction of *Rakoba*,
in addition to palm and doum fronds. The trunks and stems of large
trees also play an essential role in the building of animal pens.

As for the elements of the interior homescape, wood, palm and doum
fronds are used as a basic element in the manufacture of home
furniture, such as beds, wooden chairs, and *brooches* that are used
as rugs for sitting. In addition palm and doum palm
leaves were used in the manufacture of ropes, shoes, as well as hangers
called locally "*mashlaib*" which are used to place food utensils in
high areas of the ground and *Tabag* which are used for the covering food.
In the internal homescape of Sudanese houses wood is also used to
manufacture what is called "Sahara" which is used to store clothes,
decorative items, and other items inside homes. In addition, human
clothing is made from materials that come directly or indirectly from
plant fibers, and there is much evidence of textiles made from cotton
and linen reported from archaeological sites in Sudan. In the process
of preparing foods, there are many household tools in which wood and
plants are the basic elements in their manufacture, such as what is
called "*fondoak*" and "*maddak*" which are used to grinding grains
and other food items. Other tools that were used in the homes such as
spoons and handles for knives were made from the plants.

There is no doubt that plants are an essential element in the
manufacture of equipment and tools in agricultural societies from
ancient Sudan. The archaeological record of many sites in Sudan
provides much evidence of composite agricultural tools, i.e. wood and
plants formed part of them, such as the *shadoof* and the *saqiya*,
which wood and plants form the basic elements in the manufacture of
all parts, as well as other agricultural tools, such as shovels,
sickles, rakes, garden hoes, shears, and mattock.

In terms of daily lifestyle, the remains of grains and cereals
provided evidence of the types of plants that were used as a part of
human foods and drinks. There are two types of plant foods and drinks
in Sudan; fermented and unfermented foods, which include bread,
porridge, and *Kisra*, and drinks such as local wine, *Hulu-mur*,
*Abreh*, *Sharbat* and others.

# Area of study

The El Mahas region lies along the Nile, in northern Sudan (Fig.1)
beginning at the north end of the Dongola Reach and extending from the
area of the villages of Hannek (west bank) and Tombos (east bank), at
the top of the Third Cataract, downriver as far as the area of Jebel
Dosha (west bank) and Wawa (east bank), in the north. Its northern
boundary is most visibly marked by the cliff-face known as Jebel Dosha
which overlooks the west bank of the river some five kilometers
downstream of Soleb, the end of a long ridge that runs approximately
three kilometers into the desert to the west-north-west, forming a
prominent natural feature, the region extends over a distance of
approximately 141 kilometers (ca. 88 miles) from Hannek to Wawa.
Within this area, the landscape is highly varied, including some very
fertile localities with abundant alluvial soils but also many
extremely barren and inhospitable areas (Osman and Edwards 2012: 6-7).
The Mahas Archaeological Project, directed by Ali Osman Mohamed Salih,
identified four Christian mudbrick sites located in the different
three main areas (north, middle, and south) of the El Mahas region in
April 2019. I chose these four sites to serve as case studies for the
study of mudbrick inclusions in Christian Sudan.


![The area of study.](../static/images/hamdeen/Fig1.jpg "The area of study.")

**~~Figure 1. The area of study.~~**


These four sites can be described in brief as follows:

**Site (1) TMB016** (19°42.935/30°22.72)**:** This site was located
near the north end of Dabaki island on a prominent rock outcrop
overlooking the river. Here, the denuded remains of a massively built
mudbrick enclosure, measuring approximately 75 x 35 meters, aligned
approximately east-west. The only large areas of brickwork which
survive are in the western corner towers and in the southeast quadrant
where the walls measure over 3.5 meters thick and more than 4 meters
high in some places. Perhaps they were elements of a fortified gateway
opening to the south. Built on a very irregular surface, parts of the
walls have substantial stone foundations, while other parts were built
directly onto granite boulders. The builders used large bricks
measuring approximately 39 x 20 x 11 centimeters. Within the
enclosure, the only surviving structure is a small mudbrick church
measuring 16.5 x 10.3 meters, with walls standing up to 2 meters high,
constructed on a substantial mudbrick platform In the southwest corner
the lower part of a stairway survives rising over a small vaulted
chamber. Most of the surface sherds appear to date to the Christian
period (Osman and Edwards 2012) (Fig.2a).

**Site (2) MAS021** (19°53.012/30°23.575)**:** The site is a medieval
church built amongst large boulders of a small rocky spur running west
from Jebel Barja. This small, well-preserved mudbrick church measures
approximately 8.5 x 9.5 meters and in places stands over 4 meters
tall. Its east end is built against a massive boulder with rock
drawings of a large human figure and two animals. The base of a small
central dome survives, and traces of inscribed texts and wall
paintings are visible on mud wall plaster. One local name for the site
is Hambujneen Kisse (Osman and Edwards 2012) (Fig.2b).

**Site (3) DFF008** (19°56.932/30°30.138)**:** The site is situated on
a rocky hillock, with modern buildings on lower ground below the hill.
It is a well-preserved medieval settlement known by local people as
Tinutti. At least five substantial mudbrick structures can be
identified. Several rooms still retain their
barrel vaulting and parts of the central structure stand nearly 5
meters high.

The more fragmentary remains of additional structures, including
rougher stone-built buildings, surround these upstanding remains. None
of the visible buildings appears to have been a church. Test
excavations by the University of Khartoum in Building A, a poorly
preserved structure, revealed most of its plan. Excavations also
revealed stone foundations beneath the mudbrick superstructure of
Building A. Aerial photos from the 1930s show that additional
substantial upstanding remains survived on the site at the time
(Fig.2c).[^8]

**Site (4) DFF009** (19°56.491/30°30.479)**:** This site was located
on bare rocks on the north side of the thin band of cultivation in an
otherwise inhospitable area of Haleeba. The main structure is a small
tower-house ('castle-house') with thick stone foundations up to two
meters high. Parts of its mudbrick superstructure still survive up to
six meters high in its northwest corner. Some traces of its internal
vaulted ceilings survive. No clearly defined entrance is visible in
the bottom story. Most of the lower rooms were probably accessible
only from above. Little surface pottery was found but the little that
survived appears to be 'Late' and 'Terminal Christian' ceramic types.
Outside this structure are traces of less substantial structures
surviving as a few courses of rough stone walling (Fig.2d).[^9]

![The four sites discussed in the chapter: a) TMB016. b) MAS021. c) DFF008. d) DFF009 (photos by Engineer Omer).](../static/images/hamdeen/Fig2.jpg "The four sites discussed in the chapter: a) TMB016. b) MAS021. c) DFF008. d) DFF009 (photos by Engineer Omer).")

**~~Figure 2. The four sites discussed in the chapter: a) TMB016. b) MAS021. c) DFF008. d) DFF009 (photos by Engineer Omer).~~**


# Materials and Methods

The samples were collected from the mud-brick constructions from the
four sites (TMB016, MAS021, DFF008, and DFF009). The total volume of the
materials was approximately 4 kilograms (1 kilogram from each site). The
organic residues of plants and animals could be easily observed in the
samples before they floated in the water. 

![Organic residues on a mudbrick fragment prior to being floated in water. (photo by the author).](../static/images/hamdeen/Fig3.jpg "Organic residues on a mudbrick fragment prior to being floated in water. (photo by the author).")

**~~Figure 3. Organic residues on a mudbrick fragment prior to being floated in water. (photo by the author).~~**


The material was soaked in
water for six hours to dissolve the hard mud and to allow the wet
sieving to separate the plant\'s remains that were floated above the mud
and sand. Two metal sieves with a mesh size of 0.5 and 1 millimetres
were used for the wet sieving to separate the plant remains. The
separated material was dried and examined under binoculars in the
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of Al Neelain
(Sudan), and Institute of Archaeology, University of Nicolas Copernicus
(Poland). To aid with identification, we used fresh seeds as a reference
collection alongside determination literature. Some animal dung and
insect remains were separated during the sorting processing of the plant
macro-remains.

# Results and Discussion

## Results of extracted plant remains from the Homescape

Seven plant species were encountered as seeds. Fruits were extracted and
identified from the mudbrick samples. The assemblage of seeds and fruits
were preserved by desiccation. Table (1) shows the Latin names of the
identified species and their distribution in the sites. 

Cereals appeared clearly and can be identified from the seeds of:

- *Triticum aestivum* (Fig.3a), added to some parts of
spikelets, chaffs, and glume fragments
- *Hordeum vulgare* (Fig. 3b), added to some parts of
spikelets, chaffs, and glume fragments
- *Sorghum bicolor* (Fig. 3c), present in spikelet with grain inside
- *Setaria italica* (Fig.3d), represented from its seeds.

Furthermore, for the trees:

- *Adansonia digitata* appeared from small fragments of the fruit pulp shell (Fig.3e).
- *Acacia nilotica* was identified from the seed remains (Fig.3f).
- *Cyperus rotundus* appeared in the materials from the complete purple nutsedge roots (Fig.3g).

Some animal remains, animal dung (Fig. 3h), and insect remains (Fig.3i) appeared in the samples. More
analyses for more  detailed identifications will be done at a later date.

![A table showing plant species that were identified from the Samples.](../static/images/hamdeen/Table1.jpg "A table showing plant species that were identified from the Samples.")

**~~Table 1. Plant species that were identified from the Samples.~~**

![The figure presents the plant and animal remains that were identified: a. Triticum aestivum; b. Hordeum vulgare; c. Sorghum bicolor, d. Setaria italica; e. Adansonia digitata, f. Acacia nilotica; g. Cyperus rotundus; h. Animal dung; i. Insect remains (Photos by the author).](../static/images/hamdeen/Fig4.jpg "The figure presents the plant and animal remains that were identified: a. Triticum aestivum; b. Hordeum vulgare; c. Sorghum bicolor, d. Setaria italica; e. Adansonia digitata, f. Acacia nilotica; g. Cyperus rotundus; h. Animal dung; i. Insect remains (Photos by the author).")

**~~Figure 4. The figure presents the plant and animal remains that were identified: a. Triticum aestivum; b. Hordeum vulgare; c. Sorghum bicolor, d. Setaria italica; e. Adansonia digitata, f. Acacia nilotica; g. Cyperus rotundus; h. Animal dung; i. Insect remains (Photos by the author).~~**

## Mudbrick as source of the plant remains

The material from mudbricks is an important source of archaeobotanical
and palaeoecological data of the crops, weeds, and other vegetation
along the Nile floodplain. The mixture of the plant macro remains in
mudbrick is heterogeneous because they came from different origins.
These differences originate partly from the clay itself, partly from the
plant materials added to the adobe as a temper, and partly from the
vegetation surrounding the site of brick manufacture.[^10]

The identified plant species were added to the adobes either as a part
of the temper or as an unintentional admixture coming into the mud
material during the adobe processing. The fibers serve a number of key
functions. First, they hinder cracking upon drying by distributing
tension throughout the bulk of the brick. Second, they accelerate
drying by improving outward drainage of moisture to the surface of the
brick. Third, they significantly reduce the bulk density of the brick,
lightening its weight and reducing its thermal conductivity. Most
importantly, they increase the tensile strength of the brick, the lack
of which is one of the inherent disadvantages of mudbrick.[^11] The
necessity of temper may vary depending on the quality of the sediment,
clay, and organic material that was added to the mudbrick.

Experts in Sudan rarely study the archaeobotanical remains from
mudbrick. Sergeev et al. studied the considerable potential of
mudbricks as a source of the history, cultural practices, and
technologies of ancient societies that developed in a specific natural
environment.[^12] Their analysis focused on comparing two collections of
mudbricks from ancient capital regions of Egypt (Giza) and Sudan (Abu
Erteila). There were significantly different numbers of plant varieties
recovered between these two sites. More than 7500 plant macro remains
were recovered at Giza and only 430 at Abu Erteila. The difference was
pronounced in the concentration of macroremains of cultivated plants
which are common at Giza and are very rare in Abu Erteila. In addition,
carbonized archaeobotanical materials common in mudbricks from Egypt are
practically absent in all the samples from Sudan. Among the possible
reasons for the imbalance could be the humble vegetation and a lower
intensity of economic activity around Abu Erteila during the Meroitic
Period. Alternatively, the Meroitic people may have preferred to use
valuable organic waste from the processing of crops in other production
spheres such as, for example, animal husbandry.

The evidence from Christian mudbrick from the Third Cataract shows
that there is a high density of plant remains. This could be that
Christian people in this area preferred to use valuable organic waste
from the processing of crops in mudbrick production. This demonstrates
that there was a different mudbrick technique used at the Meroitic
sites in Central Sudan.

***The floral landscape in the third cataract during Christian period***

### Cultivated flora

The archaeobotanical remains from the four Christian mudbrick
buildings in El Mahas region show four cultivated plants *Triticum
aestivum*, *Hordeum vulgare, Sorghum bicolor,* and *Setaria italica*.
These cereals are packed with starch that contains an appreciable
amount of protein. Food production in the Mediterranean basin, Europe,
the non-tropical parts of Asia, and (to some extent) the highlands of
Ethiopia, was based primarily on wheat and barley.[^13] The remains of
*Triticum aestivum* and *Hordeum vulgare* present as grains and
spikelets in the mudbrick samples from the four Christian sites. These
two plants have been reported at many archaeological sites in Sudan.
The analyses of phytoliths and starch grains from human dental
calculus of the Early and Middle Neolithic Sudanese cemeteries of
Ghaba in the Shandi reach and at R12 in the Dongola reach in Northern
Sudan, provide evidence of wheat and barley. This evidence suggests
that these domesticated taxa were introduced into Africa in the early
Neolithic. The pillow-like grave deposits provide information about
the role of plants in the burial ceremony, at site 8-B-52-A in Sai
Island, the site that dates to the pre-Kerma period.[^14] Also, the
pharaonic town at Amara West dates to 1250-1070 BCE.[^15] Remains of
*Triticum diococcum* have been reported at the Napatan site HP736 in
the Wadi Umm Rahau at the Fourth Nile Cataract, in the Egyptian and
Napatan site in Kawa, and from the same period outside the Nile
Valley, at Gala Abu Ahmad, located about 110 kilometers west of the
river in Wadi Howar, Meroe.[^16] These remains have also been found at
Christian sites such as Soba (Cartwright 1998; Van der Veen 1991),
Nauri (Fuller and Edwards 2001), El Hamra (Madani et al 2015), El
Mireibiet (Hamdeen et al 2018), and Banganarti (Hamdeen and Pokorny
2022). This domesticated cereal constitutes the main source of
calories for mankind. Cereals thrive in open ground and complete their
life cycle in less than a year. The nutritional value of their grains
generally is high, and the seeds can be stored for long periods. These two cereals remain common crops
in northern Sudan today. They provide important proteins for both
people and animals.

Other cereal remains can be found in this material. For example,
*Sorghum bicolor* is present in seed form from sites TMB016 and
Dff009. This plant is considered one of the world's five most
important cereals, but its origins are less well understood than the
others (namely rice, wheat, barley, maize).[^17] Sorghum is especially
important in the semiarid tropics of Africa and South Asia, with
significant production also in China, Southeast Asia, and the
Americas.[^18] There is clear evidence for the use of wild sorghum in
the eastern Sahara as early as 6000 BCE and by Neolithic populations in
central Sudan by the fourth millennium BCE.[^19] Evidence for the
transition from wild sorghum to domesticated sorghum can be sequenced
in the stratigraphy of Qasr Ibrim. It suggests that domestication may
have been as late as the first centuries CE.[^20] Research from
eastern Sudan indicates sorghum was domesticated in the Fourth
Millennium BC, based on spikelet morphology from the ceramic
impression of the Butana Group (site KG 23) near Khashim el
Girba.[^21]

The last species of cereal type, *Setaria italica, was* reported as
seeds from two sites, MAS021 and DFF009. One of the pieces of evidence
in the area for this *Setaria* species was recovered from settlement
contexts at site Abu Darbien in central Sudan date back to 7860 cal.
BP.[^22] In the eastern Sudan from sites K1 I 5, S14d, 3-S5 dated to
Gash group 1500--1400 BCE. *Setaria* species was identified on the
exterior surface of pottery and not far from that site. *Setaria* species
also was recorded from site SEG 42 R 5 and dating to Hagiz Group 500
BCE--500 CE.[^23] Some remains of *Setaria* species have been identified
also in the organic residues in pots from early Meroitic cemetery at
Amir Abdallah.[^24] *Setaria italica* remains appeared together with a
related wild weedy grass identified as *Setaria cf. sphaceleata* at
the Christian site at Nauri on the opposite bank of the site
DF009.[^25] This evidence suggests that *Setaria* species is common in
this area of Sudan and that there may be some connection between these
two sites during Christian period.

The evidence of domesticated plants from our sites in the Third
Cataract provided a strong indication of the agricultural production
of these crops during the early, classic, and late Christian period.
The evidence of Nubia therefore suggests that the original agriculture
in Nubia focused on winter cultivation based on receding Nile floods.
The summer season of low flood would not have been conducive to
cultivation without irrigation, except over very limited land areas or
of very tolerant crops.[^26] But all this was ch[a]{.underline}nged
when the *saqiya* was introduced to Sudan during the Meriotic
period.[^27] More land was made available and more crops could be
produced. This development has important implications for the
potential density of the population, as more land will require more
labor, and two seasons 'winter and summer' of cultivation will tie
laborers to the land for a greater proportion of the year, thus
potentially removing some of their ability to be part- time
specialists during the non-agricultural seasons as potters.[^28] This
was confirmed by the high density of pottery sherds, kilns, and
several houses noted and documented on the Christian sites in the
Third Cataract and Dongola region.

The evidence of these cereals from the mud-building sites in the Third
Cataract indicates that these plants played a major role in the
economy and foods for humans and animals during the Christian 6th
to the 16th century CE in the Third Cataract region and northern
Sudan. This suggestion can be confirmed by historical texts dating to
this same period and other plants remains from Christian sites in
north and Central Sudan.[^29]

### Riverine wild flora

The material under discussion also contained wild plant species, a few
of which have medical and ethnographic value. These plants were
probably collected or available for this purpose by people living in
the Christian settlements in the Third Cataract region. One of these
riverine wild floras is *Cyperus rotundus,* a type of grass that
appeared from the complete purple nutsedge roots from site TMB016,
DFF008 and DFF009. This species has been in association with humans
from remote pre-history to the present. It was consumed as a food for
thousands of years in prehistoric times, but is viewed as a
troublesome weed in modern times. Abundant remains of *C. rotundus*
tuber, thought to have been collected as food, were found at the
18,000-year-old site of Wadi Kubbaniya, near Aswan, Egypt, and at
later sites at Al Khiday, 25 kilometers south of Omdurman.[^30] The
complex of burial sites has yielded dental calculus samples from
pre-Mesolithic, Neolithic, Late Meroitic, and Mesolithic ages,
covering more than 7000 years. Cyperaceae tuber was recorded from the
Kushite site at Kawa dating back to Napatan period (750-400 BCE).[^31]

Ecologically, *Cyperus rotundus* is commonly found in cultivated
areas, disturbed areas, roadsides, lawns, parks, and wastelands, and
is favored by moist, fertile soil conditions, and a warm climate.[^32]
Moisture and temperature are reported to be the most important factors
in restricting its possible distribution in agroecosystems.[^33]
Plants of *C. rotundus* continuously produce new tubers and successive
plants until the occurrence of frost over winter, which burns the
leaves and causes the tubers to enter into a state of dormancy.
*Cyperus rotundus* tubers are sensitive to saline conditions, low
temperatures, and shade.[^34] The extraction of chemical compounds and
microfossils from dental calculus derived from prehistoric skeletons
from the site of Al Khiday indicates that the tubers of *C. rotundus*
were used as food and may have served as a carbohydrate staple for
millennia. The evidence of this plant in the Third Cataract indicates
that the plants may have been used as food or a part of local
traditional perfume made by a woman in Sudan called (*Kunfer*).[^35]

Large deposits belong to glumes of wild grasses (family: *Poaceae*)
were presented in the samples from the four sites, but the species
remains unidentified. Generally, grasses have a high nutritional
value, and they have been collected for animal fodder or a part of the
clay and probably mixed with clay during the production of the
mudbrick.

### Wild trees

The remains of *Adansonia digitate* appear from small fragments of the
fruit pulp in the site TMB 016 and site MAS 021. The ecological
conditions of this plant lead it to mainly grow in the hot and dry
savanna areas of sub-Saharan Africa. The plant is very effective in
preventing water loss and can flourish in sandy soils. In East Africa,
the trees grow in the shrublands and coastal areas. *Adansonia
digitata* is a traditional food plant in East and sub-Saharan Africa.
It has a rich medicinal and nutritional value, this species was
indigenous to West Africa and brought to Eastern Africa by a movement
of pastoralists.[^36] In the arid and semi-arid areas of sub-Saharan
Africa, the *Adansonia digitata* provides a variety of foodstuffs to
local communities, as well as fodder, fibers for weaving and
rope-making, gum, seed oil, natural medicine, materials for dishes,
and water storage.[^37] It can also be used for shelter and as a
gathering point for humans and their livestock.[^38] All across the
African continent, the sight of *Adansonia digitata* has inspired tales,
poetry, songs, and legends. *Adansonia digitata* have often commanded
compassion and even devotion.[^39]

The earliest archaeobotanical record from Sudan and northeast Africa
for this species came from site K1 IX in Kassala and dates to the Late
Gash Group context. This evidence was the charred seeds of *Adansonia
digitata*. These findings suggest that this tree had already been
transferred from west to east across the savanna by the early second
millennium BCE.[^40] The evidence from the Third Cataract is
considered the second record for this species in the Sudan and
North-East Africa dating back to the early Christian period (sixth
century CE).

The *Acacia nilotica* belongs to the family Fabaceae. It is a widely
spread tree in the central and northern parts of the Sudan, known in
Sudanese folk medicine as *kaarad*.[^41] The species of Acacia is
found all over the world distributed in dry tropical and sub-tropical
regions. In Sudanese folk medicine, the fruits (pods) of *Acacia
nilotica* are used as aqueous macerates or in a powder form for the
treatment of pneumonia, tonsillitis, dysentery, diarrhea, and
malaria.[^42] The phytochemical studies on the pods of *Acacia
nilotica* showed some bioactive principles such as tannins, saponins,
glycosides, and flavonoids.[^43] Some studies showed that the pods of
*Acacia nilotica* have potential antioxidants and are found effective
in protecting plasmid DNA and human serum albumin protein oxidation
induced by hydroxyl radicals.[^44] It can be also used as fodder for
livestock in the dry lands of Sudan.[^45] The *Acacia sp*. remains
were recorded from many archaeological sites in this region such as at
Kawa, Nauri, and Banganarti.[^46] In the samples from the area study
the evidence of *Acacia nilotica* represented as seeds. Some tree bark
probably related to *Acacia sp*. were also reported. This plant had
medical uses in Sudan, but the archaeological evidence for plants
employed for medicinal purposes in Sudan is not clear. However,
physical anthropological analysis of human bones shows many diseases
during the Christian period, and according to ethnobotanical and
laboratory studies, some of these diseases could be cured by certain
plant species.[^47] Depending on the field observation, it is likely
that this plant was used for the medical value, animal fodder, fire
fuel and using for building houses and animal stockyard in the third
cataract region.

Lastly, the archaeobotanical evidence from the Christian mudbrick
sites in the El Mahas region provided some evidence of the flora
landscape. It can be divided into three types; riverine wild flora,
cultivated flora, and wild trees. It also a new perspective for
applying the technique of extorted plants remains from mudbrick in
Sudan and how the characteristics of mudbrick offer good conditions
for preserving organic remains. Some of the plant remains are still
undetermined, including some fragments of branches, charcoal, and
wood. Further palynological, carpological, and xylological analyses
studies in the future should provide a new data relating to the
domestication and natural vegetation of the area.

# Conclusions

The plant remains that were reported from the four Christian sites in
the Third Cataract region provide to us some information about the
homescape and landscape of this area. Evidences of *Triticum
aestivum*, *Hordeum vulgare, Sorghum bicolor,* and *Setaria italica*
show that they were probably used as some of the primary sources of
foodstuff for human and animal populations during the Christian
period. Many cereals, legumes, roots and tubers, fruits, nuts, and
leaves belonging to those species provided valuable and fundamental
diets for consumption to human foods and fodder for animals.

Our plant remains provided some evidence of the external and internal
homescape of the Third Cataract during the Christian period. *Acacia*
species and *Adansonia* species could be used as building materials in both
the exterior and interior shelters and homes. Some of these materials
are wood, timber, and straw, as well as hard trunks and tree branches
probably used as roofs and walls in the houses. Furniture was commonly
composed of *Acacia* woods.

From ancient times till nowadays, people used traditional herbal
medicines to treat their ailments; particularly in our materials
*Acacia nilotica* was presented and probably used for medical
purposes. The remains of the *Adansonia digitata* from the Third
Cataract was probably used in a variety of ways during the Christian
period for water storage, medical needs, and shelter as well. Today
Sudanese women employ *Cyperus rotundus* for cosmetic and perfumery
purposes, and it may have been used during the Christian period also.

There are three flora landscapes in the area of study based on our
plant remains, cultivated flora which include the four cereals:
*Triticum aestivum*, *Hordeum vulgare, Sorghum bicolor,* and *Setaria
italica*. Riverine wild flora which can noted clearly form the remains
of *Cyperus rotundus* and some wild grasses, and lastly *Acacia
nilotica and Adansonia digitata*, which can be considered as two
models representing wild trees in the Third Cataract region during the
Christian period.

# Acknowledgements

Special thanks go to the El-Mahas Archaeological Project team in the
2019 season, and the director Ali Osman Mohamed Salih, and the
people of Mashakiela village for their hospitality and generosity. The
following persons are also thanked: Engineer Omer for taking drone photos.
Engineer Medhat Mohamed Osman, Mr. Basim Ali, Mr. Ahmed Ali Osman, and Mr.
Musaab Khair for their assistance with the fieldwork.

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[^1]: Alvaro et al., "The Study of the Fourth Millennium Mudbricks at Arslantepe"; Arpin and Goldberg, "Using Optical Microscopy to Evaluate
Human History"; Morgenstein and Redmount, "Mudbrick Typology, Sources and Sedimentological Composition."

[^2]: On the active role of architecture as material culture, see Love
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"Diatoms in Ancient Building Materials." On pollen, see Ayyad et al., "Mudbrick as Bearer of
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[^3]: Pumpelly, *Explorations in Turkestan*.

[^4]: Minke *Building with Earth Design and Technology of a
Sustainable Architecture*, pp. 11--12.

[^5]: Van Beek and Van Beek, *Glorious Mud!*, p. 135.

[^6]: Hillman, "Traditional Husbandry and Processing of Archaic
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[^7]: Homsher, "Mudbricks and the Process of Construction in the
Middle Bronze Age Southern Levant," p. 3.

[^8]: Mohammed, *A Survey of the Third Cataract Region*, p. 55; Osman and Edwards, *The Archaeology of a Nubian Frontier*.

[^9]: Mohammed, *A Survey of the Third Cataract Region*, pp. 53-- 4; Osman and Edwards, *The Archaeology of a Nubian Frontier*.

[^10]: Pokorná and Beneš, "Plant Macroremains from the Old Kingdom
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[^11]: Homsher , "Mudbricks and the Process of Construction in the
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[^12]: Sergeev et al., "Mudbricks from Giza and Abu Erteila."

[^13]: Zohary and Hopf, *Domestications of Plants in the Old World*, p. 13.

[^14]: On the use of plants during the burial ceremony, see Out et al.,
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[^15]: Ryan et al., "Archaeobotanical Research in a Pharaonic Town in Ancient Nubia."

[^16]: On the Napatan site HP736 in the Wadi Umm Rahau at the Fourth
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Umm-Rahau." On the Egyptian and Napatan site in
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Ahmed Fortress in Lower Wadi Howar, Northern Sudan." On
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[^17]: Fuller et al., 2014.

[^18]: Doggett, *Sorghum*; Hulse et al., *Sorghum and Millets*; Snowden, *The Cultivated Races of Sorghum*.

[^19]: On the Eastern Sahara, see Wasylikowa et al, 1999. On Central
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[^20]: Rowley-Conwy, "Sorghum from Qasr Ibrim"; Rowley-Conwy et al., "Ancient DNA from
Archaeological Sorghum (Sorghum bicolour) from Qasr Ibrim."

[^21]: Winchell et al., "Evidence for Sorghum Domestication in Fourth
Millennium BC Eastern Sudan."

[^22]: Magid, "Exploitation of Plants in the Eastern Sahel (Sudan)."

[^23]: Beldados, "Millets in Eastern Sudan," pp. 507, 509.

[^24]: Fernandez, *La Cultura Alto-Meroitica del Norte de Nubia*.

[^25]: Fuller and Edwards, "Medieval Plant Economy in Middle Nubia."

[^26]: Fuller, "The Economic Basis of the Qustul Splinter State."

[^27]: Adams, *Nubia: Corridor to African*; Trigger, *History and Settlement in Lower Nubia*.

[^28]: Fuller, "The Economic Basis of the Qustul Splinter State."

[^29]: On the historical texts, see Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*.

[^30]: Wadi Kubbaniya, near Aswan, Egypt, see Hardy and Kubiak-Martens, *Wild Harvest*.

[^31]: On the complex of burial sites, see Buckley et al., "Dental
Calculus." On Kawa, see Fuller, "Early Kushite Agriculture," p. 71.

[^32]: Auld and Medd 1987; Parsons and Cuthbertson 2001.

[^33]: Bendixen and Nandihalli, "Worldwide Distribution of Purple
and Yellow Nutsedge."

[^34]: Gunasekera and Fernando, "Agricultural Importance,
Biology, Control and Utilization Cyperus rotundus."

[^35]: Buckley et al., "Dental Calculus"; Hamdeen, "Preliminary Observation on the Plant Remains."

[^36]: On the medicinal and nutritional values, see Andrews, *The Flowering Plants of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan*;
    Mabberley, *A Portable Dictionary of Plants*. On importation by pastorialists, see Pock Tsy et al., "Chloroplast DNA Phylogeography."

[^37]: On foodstuffs to local communities, see Van Wyk, *Food Plants of the World*; Kabore et
    al., "A Review of Baobab (*Adansonia digitata*) Products." On fodder, see Venter and Venter, *Making the Most of Indigenous Trees*; De Caluwe, *Market Chain Analysis of Baobab*;
    Bekele-Tesemma, *Useful Trees and Shrubs of Ethiopia*. On fibers for weaving and rope-making, see
    Teel and Hirst, *A pocket directory of trees and seeds in Kenya*. On gum, see Roberts, *Indigenous healing plants*; Nussinovitch, *Plant Gum Exudates of the World*. On
    seed oil, see Osman,  "Chemical and Nutrient Analysis of Baobab"; Kamatou et al., "An Updated Review of Adansonia Digitata." On natural medicine,
    see Mueller and Mechler, *Medicinal Plants in Tropical Countries*; Iwu, *Handbook of African Medicinal Plants*; Lim, *Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants*. On materials for
    dishes, see Schütt and Wolf, "Adansonia Digitata." On water storage, see Walsh, "Climate, Hydrology, and Water Resources."

[^38]: Gebauer and Ebert, "Tropische Wildobstarten."

[^39]: Buthelezi, *Baobab*; Wenkel, *Im Schatten des Baobabs*.

[^40]: Beldados, "Millets in Eastern Sudan."

[^41]: Abd-El-Nabi et al., "Antimicrobial Activity of *Acacia nilotica*."

[^42]: Ebrahim et al., "Study on Selected Trace Elements and Heavy
Metals in Some Popular Medicinal Plants from Sudan."

[^43]: Auwal et al., "Antibacterial Properties."

[^44]: Singh et al., "Antioxidant and Anti-Quorum Sensing Activities."

[^45]: Abdalla et al., "Fodder Potential."

[^46]: On Kawa, see Fuller, "Early Kushite Agriculture," p. 71. On Nauri, see Fuller and Edwards, "Medieval Plant Economy in Middle Nubia," p. 99.
    On Banganarti, see Hamdeen and Pokorny, "Plant Impressions," p. 208.

[^47]: Hamdeen and Pokorny, "Plant Impressions."