On September 12th  2016, Professor Hans Barnard (UCLA Cotsen Institute, Los Angeles) presented a workshop to the Nomadic Empires project team on the theme and phenomenon of movement from an archaeological and phenomenological perspective. Professor Barnard combined a wide-range of approaches to understanding the central concept of movement in nomadism and society in general. The discussion related not only to the historical and nomadic movement of peoples, but also cognitive approaches of movement and the autonomy of movement, while paying reference to a great number of exemplars from various cultures and social settings. The lecture explained how the phenomenon of movement is shaped by various societal and human factors, and also how movement can shape individual cultures and their dynamics. Archaeological findings relating to Professor Barnard’s research on nomadism in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and Sudan were also discussed in the afternoon session, especially in regards to the social dynamics of movement and nomadism amongst desert pastoralists and issues relating to the freedom of movement in pastoralist cultures.

The next day, the group continued the discussion in an artefact-study at the Ashmolean museum, where objects relating to differing Nubian and nomadic cultures (the Pan-Grave, C-Group, X-Group) were discussed in the context of movement. The museum session focused on faunal remains originating in cemeteries in Nubia, and how these remains might relate to the symbolic importance of animals in pastoralist settings. This session also dealt with the distinctive material ‘toolkit’ of pastoralists in the context of nomads on the Nile.