Affad Basin

The Affad Basin is a region located in the Middle

Initially, the sites of Affad were surveyed between 1998 and 2003.[7] In 2012, archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences began excavation of the sites.^[8][9] The excavation data spans approximately 70,000 years of this region's history in Sudan.^[8]

Affad 23 is an archaeological site located in alluvial deposits formed by an ancient channel of the Nile in the Affad region of southern Dongola Reach in northern Sudan.^[2] Affad 23 hosts "the well-preserved remains of prehistoric camps (relics of the oldest open-air hut in the world) and diverse hunting and gathering loci some 50,000 years old".^[3][4] Osypińska (2021) states:^[5]

The complex of

auroch (Bos primigenius). An archaeozoological discovery made at Affad turned out to be of great importance for the entire history of cattle on the African continent. A large skull fragment and a nearly complete horn core of an auroch, a wild ancestor of domestic cattle, were discovered at sites dating back 50,000 years and associated with the MSA. These are the oldest remains of the auroch in Sudan, and they also mark the southernmost range of this species in the world.^[5]