Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

TELL EL-LARKHA

EGYPT

(53-73; 64-74), the key objective being to
determine the northern boundary of the
cemetery located here and its relation to
the settlement structures recorded in the
North Trench.
The settlement features discovered in
square 74 and the northern end of 64, and
dated on pottery grounds to the transition
between the Early Dynastic period and the
Old Kingdom, consisted of a series of very
badly damaged, narrow, mud-brick walls
outlining a number of small, rectangular
and circular rooms. The best preserved
structure of this type (feature 13) was
discovered at a depth of 20-30 cm below
ground level. It comprised a minimum of
six sub-rectangular rooms, surrounded by
narrow and very poorly built walls. The

westernmost room in the building was
circular and may have served as a small
silo. All of the rooms were small and were
probably used for storage rather than
habitation. Large quantities of pottery
were recovered from this building, in-
cluding two substantial storage vessels:
one standing in a wall and the other at the
building's southern perimeter.
In the lower, older deposits the building
took on a more regular form [Fig. 7], com-
prising long and narrow rectangular rooms
oriented roughly N-S. A round room abut-
ting the building on the south probably
served the same purpose as the one pre-
viously described. These strata also yielded
a vessel standing upright in one of the
rooms.


Fig. 6. Eastern Korn. Clay sealing with hieroglyphic inscription
(Photo R. Slabonski)

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