George Andrew Reisner’s Kerma excavations

Record summary

George Andrew Reisner excavated the Kerma cemetery and settlement between 1913 and 1916, documenting monumental mud-brick structures, elite burials, ceramics, and evidence for a powerful Middle Nile polity. His early classification strongly shaped the history of Nubia, although later scholars revised the chronology and rejected older portrayals of Kerma as merely derivative of Egypt. The lead is useful for comparing excavation practice, colonial categories, and indigenous state formation. The principal uncertainties concern early field recording, cultural terminology, and the interpretation of mortuary deposits.