Abcan

As Abkan prehistoric cultural groups in Nubia referred that from 5000 to v 3500th Chr. Existed. The name is derived from the first finds of this culture near Abka on the 2nd Nile cataract . There are three stages: the early, the advanced and the final phase. The early phase evolved from the final stage of the Qadan culture. The final phase, also known as Terminal Abkan , features a wide variety of ceramics from the early A group, located further northwas influenced. In some cases, ceramics from the Abkan and the A group are also found mixed, which indicates an expansion of the A group to the south.

Abkan ceramics are characterized by their softness and a coarsely smooth surface that is rarely decorated. There are first examples of Nubian ceramics that have a black color on the inside or a ribbed surface. The large variety of shapes includes vessel types for storage, food preparation and intake.

The population lived from fishing and hunting wild animals. She presumably lived in reed huts , since so far only fireplaces , but no permanent settlement structures, have been documented. The first domesticated goats and cattle could be detected for the last culture phase. Traces of the culture can also be found north of the 2nd cataract at wide wadi exits.

literature

• Angelika Lohwasser : The prehistoric cultures of Lower Nubia. In: Kemet issue 4/2001. Kemet-Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISSN  0943-5972 , p. 28.
• Mathias Lange, Hans-Ake Nordström: Abkan connections - the relationship between the Abkan culture in the Nile valley and early Nubian sites from the Laqiya region (Eastern Sahara, Northwest Sudan). In: Karla Kroeper, Marek Chłodnicki, Michał Kobusiewicz (Eds.): Archeology of Early Northeastern Africa. (= Studies in African Archeology 9 ) Poznań 2006, ISBN 83-60109-06-0 , pp. 297-312.