من الصِغر الي الكِبر

This season, small pit burials surrounding larger structures have yielded several infant and child burials.  Often a young person is buried alone in a pit.  In one unusual pit, we found child buried along with an elderly man. This man was buried in a wood coffin (only termite eaten frass remained) with several pottery vessels.   Preliminary analysis suggests that he was on the upper end of the age spectrum (60+), very robust with large muscle attachments, tall in comparison to the rest of the sample and had healed fractures, including his left forearm, hand, and several ribs, as well as several fused vertebrae.  The child, approximately 12 years old, was found buried face down underneath the coffin of the elderly man; the position of the body suggests it was likely wrapped in fabric, though none was preserved.  Based on previous finds at Tombos and other sites, it is possible that this child was not intentionally placed face down but that the people preparing the wrappings lost track of which side was up (see Stuart Tyson Smith’s 2003 Wretched Kush book for more info).

أسفر هذا الموسم عن عدة حفر حول المباني الكبيرة كانت عبارة عن مقابر خصصت  للأطفال و الرُضّع. عادة ما يدفن الذين في مقتبل العمر في مقابر حُفر منفردة. و لكن عثرنا و لأول مرة علي طفل مدفون مع رجل طاعن في السن. دفن الرجل في تابوت من الخشب ( بقي منه بدرة فضلات دابة الارض) مع بعض آنية الفخار و أشار التحليل الاولي الي أن الرجل كان في العقد الآخير من العمر +60)