Abstract:

Although the bioarchaeology (study of biological remains in an archaeological context) of Egypt has been documented in a desultory way for many decades, it is only recently that it has become an inherent part of excavations in Egypt. This volume consists of a series of essays that explore how ancient plant, animal, and human remains should be studied, and how, when they are integrated with texts, images, and artefacts, they can contribute to our understanding of the history, environment, and culture of ancient Egypt in a holistic manner.

Topics covered in this volume relating to human remains include analyses of royal, elite and poor cemeteries of different eras, case studies on specific mummies, identification of different diseases in human remains, an overview of the state of palaeopathology in Egypt, how to analyse burials to establish season of death, the use of bodies to elucidate life stories, the potential of visceral remains in identifying individuals as well as diseases that they might have had, and a protocol for studying mummies. Faunal remains are represented by a study of a canine cemetery and a discussion of cat species that were mummified, and dendroarchaeology is represented by an overview of its potentials and pitfalls for dating Egyptian remains and revising its chronology.

Leading international specialists from varied disciplines including physical anthropology, radiology, archaeozoology, Egyptology, and dendrochronology have contributed to this groundbreaking volume of essays that will no doubt provide much fodder for thought, and will be of interest to scholars and laypeople alike.

Contents

Burials under the Temple of Millions of Years of Amenhotep II – Luxor, West Thebes
Giovanna Bellandi, Roberta De Marzo, Stefano Benazzi & Angelo Sesana

Bioarchaeology, TT 65 Project, Hungarian Mission in Thebes
Jerome S. Cybulski, Robert J. Stark & Tamás A. Bács

The Bioarchaeology of Akhetaten: Unexpected Results from a Capital City
Gretchen R. Dabbs, Jerome C. Rose & Melissa Zabecki

Birth in Ancient Egypt: Timing, Trauma, and Triumph? Evidence from the Dakhleh Oasis
Tosha L. Dupras, Sandra M. Wheeler, Lana Williams & Peter Sheldrick

Toward a Protocol for Studying Ancient Egyptian Mummies in the Field
Salima Ikram

A Case of Metastatic Carcinoma in an Old Kingdom-Period Skeleton from Saqqara
Iwona Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin

Study of Growth Arrest Lines upon Human Remains from Kharga Oasis
Roger Lichtenberg

From Egypt to Lithuania: Marija Rudzinskaitė-Arcimavičienė’s Mummy and its Radiological Investigation
Dario Piombino-Mascali, Lidija McKnight, Aldona Snitkuvienė, Rimantas Jankauskas, Algirdas Tamošiūnas, Ramūnas Valančius, Wilfried Rosendahl & Stephanie Panzer

Canopic Jars: A New Source for Old Questions
Frank J. Rühli, Abigail S. Bouwman and Michael E. Habicht

A Decade of Advances in the Paleopathology of the Ancient Egyptians
Lisa Sabbahy

Resolving a Mummy Mismatch
Bonnie M. Sampsell

The People of Sayala During the Late Roman to Early Byzantine Period
Eugen Strouhal

Royal Musical Chairs: To Whom Does the New Pyramid in Saqqara Belong?
Afaf Wahba

“Behind Every Mask there is a Face, and Behind that a Story.” Egyptian Bioarchaeology and Ancient Identities
Sonia Zakrzewski

Dogs at El Deir
Françoise Dunand, Roger Lichtenberg & Cécile Callou

Feline Descendant of the Red or the Black Land: A Multidisciplinary Investigation of an unusually large Ancient Egyptian Cat Mummy
Carolin Johansson, Geoffrey Metz & Margareta Uhlhorn

The Potential of Dendrochronology in Egypt: Understanding Ancient Human/Environment Interactions
Pearce Paul Creasman