Revisiting the Archaeological Survey of Nubia
Sponsored by The Wellcome Trust
The first Archaeological Survey of Nubia (1907-1911) is the subject of a new joint project between the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology at The University of Manchester and the Natural History Museum, London. When it began in 1907, the Archaeological Survey of Nubia represented one of the earliest surveys into the demographics of health and disease in an archaeological population. Under the guidance of Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, the project’s anatomical advisor, around 8000 bodies were carefully excavated, studied and preserved for future generations.
Now, over a hundred years since the survey began, we are seeking to reaffirm the importance of this collection and begin a reinterpretation of the outcomes of the project in light of modern archaeological and palaeopathological research into ancient Nubia.
Since the completion of the survey, the artefacts and related documentation have become widely dispersed, across several continents including Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. This dispersion now poses a significant threat to the collection: as time goes on damage to the artefacts becomes more likely, as does the risk of artefacts being separated from their provenance.
One of the major aims of the current project is to locate the surviving human and animal remains from the Archaeological Survey of Nubia and to bring them back together electronically in an online database. We hope to produce a valuable research resource for those studying the ancient Nubian population, reaffirming the desire of the original excavators to conserve this collection for the future.