An article on the ‘dual capital’ in the Sahel by Marina d’Errico, who is part of our research network, has just been published.

V. 34 N. 2 (2026): «Geostorie», anno XXXIV, n. 2, 2026

This article takes the urban complex of Kerma and Dukki Gel in Upper Nubia as its point of departure to address the problem of the possible ancient origins of forms of urban polycentrism in precolonial Africa. Continuously occupied from the Early Kerma period (mid-third millennium BC) to the Meroitic period (IV century AD), Kerma and Dukki Gel constitute two closely connected centres characterised by distinct functions, architectural features, and spatial logics. Considering urban duality as a possible minimal form of polycentrism, the article proposes a critical reassessment of the Nubian case through comparison with a series of African urban configurations, particularly from the Sahelian-Sudanian zone. The comparison does not seek to establish direct lines of historical transmission but rather to construct an interpretive framework for examining the historical emergence of urban forms based on the presence of distinct yet interconnected centres. In this perspective, the concept of clustered cities is employed as a theoretical point of comparison that highlights forms of territorial and multipolar urbanity extending beyond the model of the monocentric city. It also makes it possible to consider the hypothesis that some apparently dual configurations may in fact represent the visible part of more complex settlement systems. The analysis suggests that the Kerma/Dukki Gel complex cannot be adequately interpreted through a rigidly dichotomous reading and should instead be examined in light of models based on the functional differentiation of distinct urban centres within a single political and territorial system.