Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-j7cmm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-05T15:22:56.362Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Pork for pilgrims: livestock breeding and meat consumption at medieval Banganarti, Nubia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2020

Marta Osypińska*
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Bogdan T. Żurawski
Affiliation:
Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
*
*Author for correspondence: ✉ archeozoo@o2.pl
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During the eleventh to thirteenth centuries AD, the small settlement of Banganarti grew into one of the most important pilgrimage centres in the Middle Nile Valley. Ongoing excavations have yielded clear evidence of its unique economic and social diversity. Large-scale pig breeding, attested by the ubiquitous remains of pigs in the archaeozoological record, is particularly significant and unlike that found on other regional medieval sites. The authors investigate the popularity of pig breeding and pork consumption at Banganarti in relation to the specific role played by the site in the religious landscape of the medieval kingdom of Makuria.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2020
Figure 0

Figure 1. General map of medieval Nubian kingdoms (zones of influences) and the main locations mentioned in the text (figure: M. Osypińska).

Figure 1

Figure 2. Aerial photograph of Banganarti: the fortified settlement with the church phases dedicated to St Raphael the Archangel is in the centre; the fortifications and church are marked in red, the eastern district is in blue (figure: B.T. Żurawski).

Figure 2

Figure 3. The so-called Philadelphian reconstruction of the Raphaelion at Banganarti, as seen from a drone in March 2018. Excavations of the eastern district are in the foreground (figure: B.T. Żurawski).

Figure 3

Figure 4. Preservation of the faunal remains from the eleventh- to thirteenth-century AD contexts at Banganarti (figure: M. Osypińska).

Figure 4

Figure 5. Percentage variation of the economically most important animal remains from medieval sites in the Middle Nile Valley (figure: M. Osypińska).

Figure 5

Figure 6. Dietary preferences, as illustrated by the proportions of consumed parts of the carcass: H = head (cranium, mandible, dentition, horn cores); T = torso (vertebrae, ribs, sternum); PPAL = proximal part of the anterior limb (scapula, humerus, radius, ulna); DPAL = distal part of anterior limb (carpals, metacarpals); PPPL = proximal part of posterior limb (pelvis, femur, tibia, patella); DPPL = distal part of posterior limb (talus, calcaneus, tarsals, metatarsals); PH = phalanges (first, second and third phalanx) (figure: M. Osypińska).

Figure 6

Figure 7. Carcass division of the most important species (the colour is marked by parts recorded in large surpluses, subjected to careful division) (figure: M. Osypińska).

Figure 7

Figure 8. Fragments of the frontal bones (os frontale) of pigs, exhibiting holes and scorching made during preparation and cooking of the meat (figure: M. Osypińska).

Supplementary material: PDF

Osypińska and Żurawski supplementary material

Osypińska and Żurawski supplementary material

Download Osypińska and Żurawski supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 114.7 KB