A.J. Arkell excavated in 1944 near modern Khartoum a Mesolithic site, with the remains of a culture which he called ’Early Khartoum’. No traces of houses or huts were found but the remains excavated must belong to a settlement at least occasionally inhabited. Early Khartoum is a Mesolithic culture with some bone working and a microlithic stone industry. The use of pottery perhaps indicates contacts with Neolithic cultures. There was a limited use of wild grain. From the faunal remains it seems certain that these people lived by hunting and fishing; no domesticated animals were found.