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The investigation of some Mesolithic and Neolithic settlements on the eastern margin of the Blue Nile (central Sudan) near Karthoum, has allowed some conclusions to be drawn about the palaeoenvironmental evolution of this area during the early to mid-Holocene. The sedimentological analysis of some of the sites, together with some chronological results from the pottery assemblage found in these sites, have enabled changes in the climatic conditions during the early and mid-Holocene to be distinguised. Between 8000 and 7000 BP, more humid conditions than the present have been recorded (the ’Mesolithic Optimum’). An arid stage coincident with the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition developed in this area has been detected between 7000 and 6800 BP. Humid conditions, although less developed than the previous humid stage, were then reestablished at ca. 6800 BP. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.