Isotopic evidence of an environmental shift at the fall of the Kushite kingdom of Meroe (c. 300 BC – AD 350), Sudan

  • Iwona Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin (Speaker)
  • Arkadiusz Sołtysiak (Speaker)

Activity: Talk or presentationInvited talkResearch

Description

The circumstances surrounding the collapse of the Kushite Kingdom of Meroe (c. 300 BC – AD 350) in present-day Sudan remain speculative. Previously investigated causative factors include political and economic instability, and social unrest. A recent climate and environmental changes hypothesis has been investigated using stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of human and animal dental enamel in 79 samples from 13 archaeological sites located between the First Nile Cataract and the Blue Nile. The results show increasing ẟ18O values towards the end of the Meroitic and in the Post-Meroitic period suggestive of an environmental shift towards more arid conditions that likely contributed to the fall of the Kushite kingdom.
Period22 Apr 2021
Event titleThe Past Has a Future! Scales of Fragmentation: Bioarchaeological Evidence of Economic and Social Transformation from the Late Roman to Early Medieval Period in the Eastern Mediterranean
Event typeConference
LocationWarsaw, PolandShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

Keywords

  • Ancient Sudan
  • Bioarchaeology
  • Isotopic Studies
  • Human Remains
  • Meroitic Kingdom
  • Climate changes