early Kerma and "possibly represents the descendency of the Pre-Kerma population that founded Kerma 4 km away from the original settlement, when the Nile riverbed shrunk..." Rilly continues: "However, the fact that their cemetery remained on the ancestral site might indicate cultural and ethnical continuity between Pre-Kerma and the new city. Cluster A and B were already present in Kerma ancien, but become majoritary in the following stage." S.O.Y. Keita, conducted an anthropological study which examined the crania of groups in the North African region which included samples from Kerma, circa 2000 BC, the Maghreb region, circa 1500 BC, and 1st dynasty crania from the royal tombs in Abydos, Egypt. The results of the study determined the predominant pattern of the First Dynasty Egyptian crania was "Southern" or a “tropical African variant” (though others were also observed), which had affinities with Kerma Kushites. The general results demonstrate greater affinity with Upper Nile Valley groups, but also suggest clear change from earlier craniometric trends. The gene flow and movement of northern officials to the important southern city may explain the findings. See also List of monarchs of Kerma Gash Group References Further reading Reisner, G. A. 1923, Excavations at Kerma I-III/IV-V. Harvard African Studies Volume V. Peabody Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge Mass. Hafsaas-Tsakos, H. 2009, The Kingdom of Kush: An African centre on the periphery of the Bronze Age World System. Norwegian Archaeological Review, 42/1: 50-70. Bonnet, Charles, et al., 2005, Des Pharaohs venus d'Afrique : La cachette de Kerma. Citadelles & Mazenod. Bonnet, Charles, 1986, Kerma, Territoire et Métropole, Institut Français d’Archaéologie Orientale du Caire. Bonnet, Charles, 2014, La ville de Kerma, Favre . Kendall, Timothy 1997. Kerma and the Kingdom of Kush. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Inst. Washington D.C. Bechaus-Gerst, Marianne, 2000, The Origins and Development of African Livestock: Archaeology, Genetics, Linguistics and Ethnography, "Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of livestock in Sudan". Routledge. External links Swiss Archeological Mission: Kerma website - Official website of the Swiss archeological mission to Sudan P. DeMola (2013), Interrelations of Kerma and Pharaonic Egypt. worldhistory.org History of Nubia African civilizations Kingdom of Kush 16th-century BC disestablishments States and territories established in the 3rd millennium BC States and territories disestablished in the 16th century BC 25th-century BC establishments Kerma Nubia Archaeology of Sudan Countries in ancient Africa