The relation between the ancient as well as the medieval cultures of the Nubian Nile valley, and the contemporary African Iron Age cultures of the Chad basin and other parts of the Sahel region has for long been subject of scientific debates. New light was shed on the integration of the cultures of the Nubian Nile valley into an east-west contact zone by some discoveries made in 2011 and 2017 by the intended field director Jana Eger. At Jebel al-Ain in North-Kordofan a Christian complex, most probably monasteries, as well as several archaeological sites were identified. This archaeological record indicates a close connection of this cultural landscape with the (250 km distant) Nile River. The InterLINK project will clarify the questions which arose in the aftermath of these archaeological discoveries, concerning the role of Northern Kordofan as a cultural-historical contact zone – short ranged (connection of the Jebel al-Ain region to the Nile valley and the ancient Kordofanic cultures with the center Zankor) as well as long ranged (the role of Northern Kordofan as a contact zone between the Nile valley cultures and the cultures of the Sahel belt, especially around the Chad basin).This will be achieved by investigations on these questions:

• Where can ecologically favored zones are identified? Are they possible nuclei and crystallization points of cultural-historical developments?