Basketry accessories: footwear, bags and fans in ancient Egypt

Hadidi, Nesrin M.N. El; Hamdy, Rim

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.11.026

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Cross-sections are more difficult to obtain in ancient desiccated materials due to the brittle nature of the material. The fragile tissue necessitates special preparation for embedding into a medium before thin sectioning and the use of a vacuum chamber (cf., Ryan and Hansen 1987;El Hadidi and Hamdy 2011). This type of sectioning may result in compression of the diagnostic features, such as the vascular bundles (Gordon and Keating 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Papyrus grows up to 5 m tall-even occasionally up to 9 m tall-which is taller than halfa grasses (Hughes et al 1992;Leach and Tait 2000) and would provide very long continuous fibres for rope construction. In recent study of nine artefacts dated to the New Kingdom, including baskets, cordage, footwear, bags and fans, not a single one was made of reeds (El Hadidi and Hamdy 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of studies have successfully employed light microscopy (LM) as a major technique in plant fibre identification (Greiss 1949, 1957; Ryan and Hansen 1987; Florian 1990; Brinkkemper and van der Heijden 1999; Shimony 1999; Waly 1999; Gordon and Keating 2001; El Hadidi and Hamdy 2011).…”

Section: Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microscopic Identification and Sourcing of Ancient Egyptian Plant Fibres Using Longitudinal Thin Sectioning*

Borojević

Mountain

2012

Archaeometry

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Plant fibres and the artefacts constructed from them often remain overlooked in the archaeological record because of their poor survival and the problems related to the precise identification of the species to which the fibres belong. The goal of this study was to design a simple and accurate method of identifying archaeological plant fibre sources. Twenty‐two fibre samples from two sets of ancient Egyptian botanical artefacts were examined under both a stereomicroscope and a compound microscope, and compared to a large reference collection and to previously published research. By examining longitudinal thin sections of the ancient plant specimens, we identified plant fibres from the following species: Hyphaene thebeica, Cyperus papyrus, Desmostachya bipinnata, Imperata cylindrica, Phragmites australis and Linum usitatissimum. Our identification of these plant fibres reveals essential information about the materials used for producing ropes, baskets, sandals, mats and fabric. The results of this study demonstrate the value of longitudinal thin sectioning and light microscopy as a major means of identifying the source material of botanical artefacts, and advance our knowledge of ancient Egyptian plant exploitation as well as the associated technologies involved in constructing these types of artefacts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microscopic Identification and Sourcing of Ancient Egyptian Plant Fibres Using Longitudinal Thin Sectioning*

Borojević

Mountain

2012

Archaeometry

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“…The particular taphonomic conditions of Saharan rock shelter fillings, such as at Ti-n-Hanakaten in Algeria (Aumassip, 1991) and Uan Afuda in Libya (Maspero, 1999), allowed for a better understanding of the origins of the Saharan basketry tradition and a preliminary functional interpretation of some aspects of prehistoric cultures. In this context, the rich grave goods from the Nile valley with the Dynastic and New Kingdom repertory are a significant exception (e.g., El Hadidi and Hamdy, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…q www.acacus.it Furthermore, until a few years ago the scale of soundings, the limited use of manual excavation techniques, a lack of systematic sieving, together with inadequate mapping technologies, further reduced the discovery rate for basketry: after discovery, few efforts were devoted to identifying the plants used (Wendrich, 2000: 254, cited in El Hadidi andHamdy, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%