Middle stone age occupation in eastern kerma region of the third cataract, northern Sudan

The Kerma region at the Third Nile Cataract has long been an important focus for Holocene archaeology in northern Sudan, while Pleistocene occupations were, until recently, poorly documented. This paper presents results from the 2019–2023 field seasons of the DIASPORA Project (Universidade do Algarve, Portugal), which conducted systematic archaeological surveys and targeted test excavations in the eastern hinterlands of the Kerma region to investigate Middle Stone Age settlement patterns. By combining extensive and grid-based survey methods, the project recorded more than 93 previously undocumented MSA localities widely distributed across desert margins, wadi systems, and ancient Nile-desert interface zones, revealing an unexpectedly dense pattern of Late Pleistocene human occupation. Targeted test excavations at selected sites uncovered stratified archaeological deposits containing well-preserved lithic assemblages, shell remains, and fragmented faunal material, providing rare insights into subsistence and land-use practices at the Nile–desert interface. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dates from two localities yielded ages of approximately 50 ka, placing these occupations within the later phase of the African MSA (MIS 3). The lithic assemblages are dominated by prepared-core and flake-based reduction strategies, including Levallois, discoidal, and occasional Nubian Levallois, consistent with broadly shared MSA technological traditions.