Category: Archeonews

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Herding, winemaking, banquets… The daily use of ceramic vessels in ancient Egypt

It is often difficult for us to imagine what everyday life was like in ancient times. We fantasize about the past, romanticize its image, and create visions of mystical, incomprehensible rituals. We also often see it through the prism of wars and elite culture. Meanwhile, our ancestors most likely had similar needs and functioned in a similar way to us. A good example of this similarity in experience is the use of ceramic vessels. Just as we cook in pots (admittedly metal ones today) and drink from cups, the ancient Egyptians used specific vessels for specific purposes.

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Fresh Copper Reveals Insights into Egyptian Metallurgy

Ancient Egyptian metals are usually associated with royal treasures and spectacular tomb finds. New research from Tell el-Retaba shifts attention to everyday metallurgy, revealing how copper and bronze were processed in a settlement on Egypt’s northeastern frontier. The discoveries made by a Polish and Slovak team offer rare insight into small-scale metalworking during the New Kingdom and Third Inermediate Period.

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Fish in Egypt – a staple food or forbidden fruit?

One of the most famous quotes about Ancient Egypt comes from Herodotus. He states that Egypt is “a gift of the Nile.” He explains the reasons for this statement, among which he mentions easy access to fish. It seems, therefore, that fish should have been an important part of the ancient Egyptians’ diet. However, this contradicts references by other ancient authors who mention the existence of a taboo on eating fish in Egypt. So did the Egyptians eat fish?

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Daily Life Written in Clay – Egyptian Ceramic from Tell el-Retaba

Ceramic vessels, though often perceived merely as broken shards, constitute an invaluable source of knowledge about ancient Egypt. At archaeological sites such as Tell el-Retaba in the eastern Nile Delta, they are the most numerous category of finds. Each excavation season yields thousands, sometimes even millions, of pottery fragments. They may appear as a chaotic mass, but to a ceramologist—a specialist in the study of ceramics—every fragment is a testament to daily life, production technology, and trade networks from thousands of years ago.

Analysis of ceramics allows researchers not only to establish the chronology of archaeological layers, but also to determine the functions of the buildings in which the vessels were found. From storage rooms and workshops to dining areas. Differences in shapes, clay types, manufacturing techniques, and surface finishes also reveal much about the social status of the vessel users and far-reaching trade connections, both within Egypt and beyond its borders.

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Cleopatra VII – The Queen of Strategy: The Political Game for the Crown of Egypt

In the history of Ancient Egypt, Cleopatra VII Philopator holds a special place. Not only as the last ruler of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty, but also as a vital political actor who, in the turbulent final years of Egypt’s independence, skillfully leveraged her assets in the struggle for power against the most powerful empire of the time: Rome.

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Are These Really Horses? Questioning the Identification of Horses in Third-Millennium BCE Iconography in Mesopotamia

The domestication of the horse had a significant impact on ancient human societies. Previous contributions published by Archeowieści have explored various aspects of these animals and their role in cultural development. The present article, based on a recent study by Zainab A. Albshir (University of Warsaw), examines the identification of equids in the iconography of ancient Mesopotamia, with particular attention to the challenges of distinguishing horses from other equid species.

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Cosmovision Hidden in the Petroglyphs of Toro Muerto

Author: Iga Ćwiklińska

The cosmovision of many pre-Columbian cultures in the Andes was rooted in the observation of astronomical phenomena. These observations helped structure the rhythm of the year, organize ritual calendars, and interpret the relationships between people, nature, and the cosmos. This knowledge was reflected both in the orientation of ceremonial architecture and in the imagery created by ancient communities.

One place where such ideas may have been preserved in the form of rock art is Toro Muerto, a major archaeological site on the southern coast of Peru. An analysis of the iconography of boulder TM 2498 in Sector X suggests that its complex composition of engravings may have been linked to astronomical observations carried out at this location.

Zachodnia ściana bloku TM 2498. © Archiwum PIA-TM, na licencji CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
The west wall of block TM 2498.
© PIA-TM Archives, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

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RADOGOST: Where archaeological documentation goes so it doesn’t disappear

What happens to documentation after the field season ends? RADOGOST helps store and share archaeological data so it can be found, understood, and reused.

Imagine a classic scenario: fieldwork, hundreds of photos, RTK GPS files, sketches, context descriptions, 3D models, artefact tables, analytical notes. Then “after the season”, when archaeologists return home and sit down at desks and in libraries, everything lands on a hard drive. The data gets sorted and usually ends up in folders named “NEW”, “FINAL”, “FINAL_2”… and starts living a life of its own. After a year, no one remembers which file is current. After five years, no one knows whose coordinates those were, what the methodology was, or whether it’s even allowed to show it to anyone.

Now consider another perspective: science based on verification, re-analysis, and data reuse. This is exactly where RADOGOST comes in.

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The Church of the Holy Virgin of Deir al-Surian

Deir al-Surian is located in the geological depression of Wadi al-Natrun, west of the Nile delta, a region known as Sketis in Late Antiquity. Its church, dedicated to the Holy Virgin, has been in continual use since its construction in the 7th century AD. Between the 9th and 16th centuries, a mixed Syriac-Coptic community celebrated in the church, and its architecture, paintings and inscriptions testify to the cultural exchange between the two groups. 

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Beetle for adorment. A unique find from the cremation cemetery in Domasław.

Jewelry made from both organic and inorganic materials is one of the earliest and most popular material evidence of human activity and cultural development discovered at archaeological sites around the world. When we hear the word jewelry, we think of items made from precious metals, gemstones, or shells. But it turns out that past humans made decorations using a surprisingly wide range of materials. During research on burials from the extensive Lusatian culture necropolis in Domasław in Lower Silesia, Polish scientists found evidence of the deliberate deposition of chitinous beetle shells strung on a blade of grass in a grave. This unique discovery sheds new light on the culture of the communities inhabiting Lower Silesia in the early Iron Age.

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