Marie Vandenbeusch,
Université de Genève
Archaeology consists not only of walls and architectural structures, but also of objects, recovered throughout seasons of excavation. These objects are rarely masterpieces, but rather tools of all kinds: hammer- and grind-stones, small jewellery, scarabs, flint tools… and of course masses of pottery.
All these finds reflect the day-to-day lives of those living in the ancient town of Amara West.
Though fine amulets are found, the majority of the objects from the town are coarsely made and often badly damaged, with wood and leather generally only surviving in the cemetery. Materials such as papyrus have yet to be found at Amara West.
All the objects are brought back from site every day, and placed in a large metal trunk – our ‘inbox’. At this point my work as finds registrar starts.
Some of the artefacts need cleaning, but all have to be recorded on the project’s online database.
After carefully studying the object, a description and measurements are added to the database – and occasionally a translation (or attempted reading!) of any hieroglyphs or hieratic.
These steps can be completed quickly with dozens of similar beads, or the very common discs or counters – circular objects cut from broken pottery vessels.
This work is all done in the dig house, and the objects are then transferred to the storeroom.
A computer and internet access are needed – with the short hours of electricity on the island, I need to take advantage of the battery life of several laptops, and plan my day carefully to maximise the number of finds registered.
Two weeks in, more than 250 objects have been registered. I am becoming very familiar with peculiar objects, rarely exhibited in museum collections. But it is these objects that provide a real insight into the activities, and occasionally beliefs, of the ancient population of the town – whether Egyptian or Nubian.
Filed under: Amara West, Archaeology, Amara West, archaeology, finds, flint, jewellery, scarab, Sudan, tools
