Warfe Ashton R. - Prehistoric Pottery from Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt

PREHISTORIC POTTERY FROM DAKHLEH OASIS, EGYPT

Dakhleh Oasis Project Monograph 18

ASHTEN R. WARFE

Published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by

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Oxbow Books and the individual authors 2018

ISBN (print): 978-1-78570-824-4 (PB)

ISBN (digital): 978-1-78570-825-1 (epub)

ISBN (kindle): 978-1-78570-826-8 (mobi)

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017958328

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Front cover: Reconstructed upper vessel from Locality 135, Dakhleh Oasis

Pottery forms an essential body of evidence to study human development in Egypts Western Desert during the early and mid-Holocene period. It is through this artefact that we may access the social relations and adaptive patterns of the desert and oasis inhabitants. As a material category prone to temporal change, pottery also forms a valuable dating tool and, more broadly, a device for characterising the desert groups and their movements across the region.

This monograph stems from my doctoral dissertation submitted for examination to Monash University, Australia, in 2008, the subject of which was a study of pottery remains from early and mid-Holocene sites in Dakhleh Oasis. Presented here are revised versions of three chapters along with new content that offer a systematic description, classification and quantification of the early Dakhleh pottery collection. Such an exercise forms a necessary foundation for research that seeks to interrogate the social and economic lifeways of the early oasis inhabitants. A section on provenance is also included to situate the study within the broader context of archaeological research in northeast Africa, and to offer colleagues working on ceramic material from the desert regions and Nile Valley some points for contrast and comparison.

As with all major research projects there are acknowledgements to be made. First and foremost I wish to thank A/Prof. Colin Hope. It was at his invitation that I came to study the collection of pottery from Holocene sites in Dakhleh, and it was through his guidance that I learned the intricacies of ceramic analysis and archaeological inquiry more generally. I am deeply grateful for the trust placed in my capabilities and for the supervisory support. My thanks also to Dr Gillian Bowen for her generosity in knowledge and her guidance in areas of academic writing. Without such, my work would be much poorer in its presentation. Special thanks are reserved for A/Prof. Mary McDonald, whose dedication to the study of Egyptian prehistory has served as a constant inspiration and guiding light, and whose field experience has taught me much about ways to read the ancient landscape.

As the research for this study was conducted mostly in the field, my thanks extend also to the Dakhleh Oasis Project, particularly to Professor Anthony Mills, whose rich knowledge of the Western Desert and expertise as field director enabled me to conduct research in a productive and highly engaging research environment. For field assistance in exploring aspects of ceramic technology I thank Michelle Berry, Dr Andrew Jamieson, Dr Paul Kucera and John OCarroll. And for the many enriching conversations on matters of archaeological, scientific and environmental inquiry, I am deeply grateful to Professor Charles Churcher, Dr Mark Eccleston, Professor Olaf Kaper, Professor Emerita Maxine Kleindienst, Professor Jennifer Smith and Dr Ursula Thanheiser.

I thank my thesis examiners Professors Hans-ke Nordstrm and Kenneth Sassaman for their careful suggestions on ways of developing my doctoral research, and for their generosity in providing information on early Egyptian pottery I extend my sincere thanks to Dr Renee Friedman, Dr Maria Carmela Gatto, Dr Stan Hendrickx, Dr Karin Kindermann, Professor Rudolph Kuper, and especially Dr Heiko Riemer for the thought-provoking discussions on desert pottery, social practices and adaptations.

Finally, for stimulating discussions on Egyptian archaeology and material culture studies I thank the current and past postgraduate students in the Centre for Ancient Cultures at Monash University. This publication was prepared while holding a lecturing appointment with the Centre for Ancient Cultures at Monash University, Australia. When I conducted this work I received financial support from Monash University and the Egyptological Society of Victoria, for which I am most grateful.

a) plain surface treatment; b) coated surface treatment; c) compacted surface treatment; d) textured surface treatment

a) rim-top decoration; b) rippling decoration; c) complex decoration; d) imitation-basketry decoration; ef) impressed decoration; g) fingernail decoration; h) potmark

a) section of a Fabric 1A sample; b) section of a Fabric 1B sample; c) section of a Fabric 1C sample; d) section of a Fabric 1D sample; e) section of a Fabric 1E sample

a) section of a Fabric 2A sample; b) section of a Fabric 2B sample; c) section of a Fabric 2C sample; d) section of a Fabric 2D sample

a) section of a Fabric 3A sample; b) section of a Fabric 3B sample; c) section of a Fabric 3C sample; d) section of a Fabric 3D sample; e) section of a Fabric 3E sample; f) section of a Fabric 3F sample

a) section of a Fabric 4A sample; b) section of a Fabric 4B sample; c) section of a Fabric 4C sample; d) section of a Fabric 4D sample; e) section of a Fabric 4E sample; f) section of a Fabric 4F sample; g) section of a Fabric 4G sample

a) section of a Fabric 5A sample; b) section of a Fabric 5B sample; c) section of a Fabric 6A sample; d) section of a Fabric 6B sample; e) section of a Fabric 7A sample; f) section of a Fabric 7B sample; g) section of a Fabric 7C sample

a) section of a Fabric 8A sample; b) section of a Fabric 9A sample; c) section of a Fabric 9B sample; d) section of a Fabric 9C sample

a) Hp1 ware (Loc. 002); b) Hp2 ware (Loc. 002); cd) Hx1 ware (Loc. 002); e) Hx2 ware (Loc. 002); f) Hmd4 ware (Loc. 005); g) Hp1 ware (Loc. 008); hj) Hp1 ware (Loc. 035); kl) Hp2 ware (Loc. 035); m) Hp3 ware (Loc. 035); n) Hp4 ware (Loc. 035); o) Hp6 ware (Loc. 035); pq) Hm1 ware (Loc. 035); r) Hm5 ware (Loc. 035); su) Hd1 ware (Loc. 035); v) Hd2 ware (Loc. 035)

a) Hd3 ware (Loc. 035); b) Hx2 ware (Loc. 035); c) Hp2 ware (Loc. 047); de) Hp1 ware (Loc. 048); fi) Hp2 ware (Loc. 048); j) Hp6 ware (Loc. 048); kl) Hp2 ware (Loc. 059); m) Hx1 ware (Loc. 059); n) Hx2 ware (Loc. 059); o) Hp1 ware (Loc. 062); p) Hp1 ware (Loc. 068); q) Hp2 ware (Loc. 069); r) Hp4 ware (Loc. 069); s) Hp1 ware (Loc. 069)