Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series | 2022 | 65 Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series Vol. 191 (2022), ISSN 1802-6842 (print), 1802-6850 (electronic) Původní práce / Original paper Palaeodemography and palaeopathology of Khartoum Mesolithic skeletal remains from Jebel Sabaloka in central Sudan: first insights from the site of Sphinx Petra Brukner Havelková 1,2 , Isabelle Crevecoeur 3 , Sébastien Villotte 5–7 , Petr Velemínský 1 , Ladislav Varadzin 4 , Lenka Varadzinová 2 1 Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic 2 Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic 3 UMR 5199 PACEA, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France 4 Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic 5 UMR 7206 Éco-Anthropologie, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France 6 Quaternary Environments & Humans, OD Earth and History of Life, RBINS, Brussels, Belgium 7 Unité de Recherches Art, Archéologie Patrimoine, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium Brukner Havelková, P., Crevecoeur, I., Villotte, S., Velemínský, P., Varadzin, L., Varadzinová, L., 2022: Palaeodemography and palaeopathology of Khartoum Mesolithic skeletal remains from Jebel Sabaloka in central Sudan: frst insights from the site of Sphinx. – Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series 191: 65–82. Abstract: The site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60), located about 80 km north of Khartoum in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka, has been investigated since 2011 by the Charles University Sabaloka Expedition. Eleven trenches contained settlement deposits relating to occupation by hunter-fsher-gatherers of the Khartoum Mesolithic (or the Early Khartoum culture) dated at the site between 8750 and 4750 cal BC. In addition, fve of the trenches yielded also human skeletal remains in primary and secondary deposits, with the minimal number of individuals estimated following anthropological standards at 45 individuals. The demographic structure of the burial site shows no selection based on sex, but immature individuals, especially those under the age of one year, seem to be markedly underrepresented, which is not unusual in pre-Neolithic funeral assemblages. Dental diseases, especially periapical lesions and infammatory changes, predominate at Sphinx; however, a very low incidence of dental caries was recorded. Healed traumatic lesions or fractures possibly of accidental origin occurred in only six individuals. One identifed case of perimortem trauma on the right scapula indicates an act of inter-personal violence. Nevertheless, it is possible to perceive the population buried at Sphinx as relatively healthy and peaceful. Keywords: Africa; Sudan; Nile Valley; early Holocene; Early Khartoum culture; Mesolithic; hunter-gatherers; human burials; health state; palaeodemography; palaeopathology Received: 3 December 2022 | Accepted: 23 December 2022 | Published: 30 December 2022 Introduction Study of age-at-death and sex distribution within a burial site as well as health state of bu- ried individuals provides essential data for understanding the ways and conditions of life of past populations. The further back one usually goes in time, however, the smaller is the DOI: 10.37520/jnmpnhs.2022.006