ARCHAEOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES USED IN EGYPT

ARCHAEOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES USED IN EGYPT

An important area of progress in recent years has been the use of geophysical methods of prospecting prehistoric and pharaonic sites, including the application of such techniques as resistivity survey, proton-magnetometer survey, sonic proﬁling, ground penetrating radar, and thermal imaging. In the Great Pyramid at Giza, for instance, the combined use of microgravimetry (a technique for measuring the relative densities of stone blocks) and the transmission of electromagnetic microwaves revealed the possible presence of hidden chambers behind the stone walls of the so-called ‘king’s’ and ‘queen’s’ burial chambers. On a less sensational level, resistivity surveys at Saqqara, Memphis, and el-Amarna, during the 1980s and 1990s, have proved particularly suited to Egyptian sites. Resistivity traverses and magnetometry have supplemented conventional survey techniques, allowing archaeologists both to select areas showing the greatest potential for excavation and to map major features, such as wells or enclosure-walls, without having to remove the material under which they are buried. For example, Edgar Pusch, the director of excavations at Qantir (the site of the ancient city of Piramesse), has been able to use caesium magnetometry to publish detailed ‘street-plans’ of brick-built urban areas that are still unexcavated.

Another growth area in the late 20th and early 21st century has been the study of human diet in pharaonic Egypt, based principally on the analysis of surviving fragments of food both from domestic and funerary contexts. Recent projects of this type have included studies of Egyptian bread and beer making, wine production, and meat processing. Many other aspects of Egyptian technology have begun to be explored, with the use of innovative scientiﬁc approaches to the archaeological remains of the pharaonic period, including experimental and ethno¬archaeological work.

‘Schist’ is another name that has previously been applied wrongly to the dark green Hammamat rocks. Schist is a metamorphic rock with large mineral grains in distinct layers, completely unlike the ﬁne-grained, homogeneous siltstone of Wadi Hammamat. Dark grey to black siltstone and greywacke are occasionally confused with basalt, a crystalline, igneous rock formed directly from lava. Ironically, the English word ‘basalt’ actually derives from the ancient Egyptian word for siltstone – bekhen – via the Greek word basan and the Latin basanites.