MANCHESTER, ENGLAND—According to a Newsweek report, a set of excavation records thought to have been lost during World War II has been found in an archive at the University of Cambridge by biomedical Egyptologist Jenny Metcalfe of the University of Manchester. The excavations, conducted in lower Nubia between 1907 and 1911, unearthed more than 7,000 sets of human remains from more than 150 Nubian cemeteries. The 495 recovered record cards are mostly from the second excavation season, although there are a few from the first season. These cards include information on each individual’s historical age, age at the time of death, sex, long bone and skull measurements, teeth present, evidence of illness or trauma, and evidence of healing from serious illness and injury. “The oldest cemeteries excavated in this survey belong to the ‘A-group’ Nubian population, which began around 3800 B.C., although there is evidence of human occupation in the region before this,” Metcalfe said. “The recording cards cover individuals from the A-group period through to the Christian-period cemeteries dating to around A.D. 500 to 1100,” she added. The information will make a significant contribution to understanding the lives of ancient Nubians, she concluded. To read about excavations of an ancient Nubian capital city on the Nile, go to "A Nubian Kingdom Rises."
