Less than 1 kilometre to the east of the town lies a large cemetery with over 1000 tomb monuments - tumuli, mastabas, and perhaps pyramids. At Kawa we have a rare opportunity to excavate in the houses of the town and then to investigate the bodies of the individuals who lived in those houses. From the houses we collect material relating to their inhabitants lifestyle and diet; for example animal bones and the remains of seeds and nuts survive in quantity. By investigating the bodies we can gain a view of the health of the population and sometimes what were the major causes of death and what was the life expectancy. The study of funerary ritual is also important giving an insight into how people viewed the afterlife and what provisions they considered should be taken to provide for it.

Tumuli covered with black stones.

A stairway, cut into the alluvium, leading up from one of the Kushite tombs.

This stairway leads to a tomb marked on the surface by a stone mastaba.

Sandstorms are common at Kawa and can rapidly refill our excavations.

The individual in this tomb was buried with pots, a scarab, toe-rings and glass beads.

Team membership: Abdelhai Abdelsawi Fedl el-Moula, James Beckwith, Angela Brennan, Lauren Bruning, Kim Burrows, Jonathan Crisp, Stephen Fletcher, Lisa Harris, Claire Heywood, Fred Heller, Margaret Judd, Mohmmed Faroug, Mortada Bushara, Gail Mabbot, Charles Morse, Nassreen Sedek Yahya, John Payne, John Percival, Robert Radford, Paulina Terendy, Alexey Vinogradov, Isabella Welsby Sjöström, Pip Stephenson, Derek Welsby (director). Visiting specialist - Pippa Pearce.

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