Colloquium Overview: Recent Archaeological Fieldwork in Sudan

Egyptological (Dr Patricia Spencer)

The 2012 all-day colloquium of the Sudan Archaeological Research Society (http://www.sudarchrs.org.uk/) was held in the Stevenson Auditorium of the British Museum on Monday 14 May. This annual event concentrates on presenting up-to-the-minute reports of archaeological fieldwork, both that carried out by SARS itself and by other expeditions, British, Sudanese and from elsewhere, working in Sudan. The colloquium is always well-attended but this year the auditorium (which seats 142) seemed almost full, as numbers were boosted by colleagues in London for the meeting to be held at the Museum on the following day to discuss the additional Nile dams being built in Sudan. A summary of the proposed dams can be found at; http://tinyurl.com/cftedap and the appeal by the Sudanese Ministry for Antiquities with regard to the threatened archaeological sites is at: http://tinyurl.com/bnhluyf.

The proceedings were opened by Vivian Davies, and then Derek Welsby, of SARS and the British Museum, described the SARS fieldwork of the most recent season, when an early Kerma cemetery in the North Dongola Reach was excavated.