A06_08

Radiocarbon dating contents from a two-handled combed ware jar from a burial chamber from Giza.

Jacobsen G¹,  Sowada K², Wetterstrom W³, Serpico M⁴, Bertuch F¹

¹ANSTO, Lucas Heights, Australia, ²Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, ³Harvard University, Cambridge, USA, ⁴University College London, London, United Kingdom

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston holds a collection of combed ware jars excavated from burial tombs from Giza by G.A. Reisner, over 1902 to 1942, for the Harvard University-MFA Egyptian Expedition. Two-handled combed jars were manufactured in Byblos in the Central Levant and used to transport liquids to Egypt. As part of a larger study of these jars, we present a case study of one jar – MFA 47.1662, found in a burial chamber dated to the Fifth Dynasty. Along with this jar is a plastic bag labelled as being the contents of MFA 47.1662, this bag (OP.1.47.1662) contains a mix of materials including resin fragments, plant matter and faunal remains. With no record of the contents of the bag, it is not known if all, or some, of the contents are indeed related to jar MFA 47.1662. Analysis of the contents found some of the material from the bag could not have been from the jar as it includes plant material not found in Egypt at that time. Results from the contents analysis and radiocarbon dating of four botanical and faunal specimens selected from the bag will be presented. The radiocarbon results demonstrate the likelihood of multiple modern interventions in the life-cycle of the jar, and concomitant difficulties in assessing legacy data from old excavations.