We’re pleased to share three recent updates from our work in April, spanning research, funding, and cultural heritage work at Jebel Barkal.
1. Our PNAS paper is now officially published!
After being under embargo for what felt like months, our latest research paper, Holocene Nile dynamics shaped the physical and cultural landscape of ancient Nubia, is now officially published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)!
Authored by Jan Peeters, Tim Winkels, Pawel Wolf, Tim Skuldbøl, Elizabeth Chamberlain, Saskia Büchner-Matthews, Sami Elamin, El-Hassan Mohamed and Geoff Emberling, this work represents a truly collaborative effort across archaeology and earth sciences. Well done to the authors!
We paid an extra fee to allow the article to be fully Open Access (freely available). You can read the full paper here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2529986123
We’re also pleased to see the research gaining wider attention, with coverage from Phys.org, Mirage News, The National, and Archaeology News so far.
2. New seed funding for training and capacity building
We have also recently received seed funding from the University of Michigan through its African Heritage and Humanities Initiative at the African Studies Center.
This support will enable JBAP (led by Geoff Emberling) and Al Neelain University (led by Prof. Hamad Hamdeen) to address the loss of archaeological knowledge during the war, as well as to try and fill the gap left by the interruption of education. To do so, the two teams will co-produce a field training program for archaeological students who remain in Sudan, thereby supporting the continuity of archaeological education, field training and research during the ongoing conflict.
3. Progress on Sudan National Museum recovery
Finally, we’re encouraged to see continued progress on cultural heritage preservation efforts in Sudan. A recent update from the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) highlights advances in the Sudan National Museum Access Project, which Geoff got started behind the scenes.
Since its launch earlier this year, the project has focused on restoring site security and critical infrastructure at the museum in Khartoum, including repairing a major breach in the enclosure wall and rehabilitating essential systems such as drainage. These efforts are an important step toward stabilizing and ultimately reopening one of Sudan’s most significant cultural institutions.
We hope you are enjoying the onset of spring – wherever you are – and look forward to posting more news in May!
