Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

WEST SAQQARA

EGYPT

ANTHROPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
OF MUMMIFIED BURIALS FROM SAQQARA

Maria Kaczmarek

The main aim of the study was to describe
the range of biological variation in cranio-
facial and dental morphological traits of
human skeletal remains from Ptolemaic

mummified burials at Saqqara. The results
of the study have provided a valuable
source of information on the biological his-
tory of Man in Egypt.1}

SUBJECTS AND METHODS OF INVESTIGATION

The object of this study are the mummified
burials excavated in 1998 and 1999 on the
west side of the pyramid of Netjerykhet at
Saqqara. Burials from the 1998 season were
studied in storage, those from the 1999
season were investigated in the field. Most
of the burials were of a secondary nature,
devoid of any inscriptions or offerings.
Precise dating was difficult, but the finds
were well anchored in the Ptolemaic peri-
od. Except for one case (burial no. 67), all
the burials were single. A total of 40 buri-
als was investigated anthropologically.
The first step in the process was a gen-
eral examination of each mummy to ascer-
tain its condition. Considerable differences
were noted regarding the state of preserva-
tion of bodies and skeletal remains. It has

been suggested that the condition of the
mummy is dependent on how well the
mummification preparations were carried
out and the extent to which the burials
have suffered at the hands of tomb robbers.
The examination was followed by a gener-
al autopsy. The mummies were unwrapped,
the manner of wrapping and the use of
resin in embalming practices were noted
and described. In the final step of the
analysis, the bones were examined with the
use of updated methodology.2)
All the dead were characterized by sex
and age at death, lifelike stature and
appearance, and health status. Standard
methods of descriptive statistics were used,
but the size of the sample does not warrant
conclusions of a more general nature.

^ B. Brier, Egyptian Mummies. Unraveling Secrets of an Ancient Art (New York 1994); S. D'Auria, P. Lacovra, C.H.
Roehrig, Mummies and Magic: the Funerary Arts of Ancient Egypt (Boston 1994); J. Goyon, Rituels funeraires de l'anci-
enne Egypte (Paris 1972); A. Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries (London 1972); G. Mokhtar, H. Riad,
S. Iskander, Mummification in Ancient Egypt (Cairo 1973); A.J. Spencer, Death in Ancient Egypt (1982); J.H. Taylor,
Unwrapping a Mummy: the Life, Death and Embalming of Horemekenesi (1996). Cf. also J.E. Harris, K.R. Weeks, X-ray-
ing Pharaohs (New York 1973).
2) J. E. Buikstra, D.H. Ubelaker, Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains. Proceedings of a seminar at
the Field Museum of Natural History organized by Jonathan Haas, Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series 44 (1994);
D. J. Ortner, W. J. Putschar, Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains (Washington & London
1997.

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