Sunday, July 22, 2012

Qalaat Shanan

Many Neolithic sites have been discovered in the Shendi Reach. The most important among these are el-Kadada, el-Ghaba (Geus 1984) and es-Sour (Sadig 2005). Other sites, e.g. Sidier, Shaqalu, Ushara and Qandtu, have also been investigated (Geus 1981, 39) .
In the late 1990s, a new site, namely Qalaat Shanan was discovered in Shendi town. Since its discovery, Qalaat Shanan has provided evidence for the importance of this part of Shendi as a link between the different Neolithic sites in Khartoum, the Butana and further north in the Atbara region. This report will give a brief description of the site and highlight its importance to Neolithic studies as a whole.