El Tuweina – a settlement site in the central Bayuda Recent discoveries of the University of Muenster archaeological mission Authors: Tim Karberg (University of Muenster/Germany; e-mail: timkarberg@uni-muenster.de) Jana Eger (University of Muenster/Germany; e-mail: jana.eger@uni-muenster.de) From 2013 onwards, the University of Muenster carried out archaeological investigations at el Tuweina in the central Bayuda, where a large-scale settlement was discovered during the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary survey in 2012. Until now, three building structures were documented, consisting of a walled hosh and two multi-roomed houses. According to radiocarbon dates and the find material, the chronological context parallels the late Meroitic period. Find material – including painted plaster and faience products – and the complexity of the buildings indicate an elite context. The relation to other find spots in the vicinity indicates that the site had a central function. Most of the rooms excavated so far show a residential character; the function of others is uncertain, and may have served storage purposes. Large amounts of cattle bones as well as cattle figurines indicate a significant importance of cattle keeping in the central Bayuda, incorporating the regional culture into the so-called cattle coŵpledž cultures of northeast Africa. The amount of control of the Meroitic state over the central Bayuda is still uŶclear; the fiŶds of El TuweiŶa supports the theorLJ of aŶ iŶdepeŶdeŶt BaLJuda culture.