DOI article:
Górecki, Tomasz: Deir el-Naqlun 1992: the pottery
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26425#0060
deposits was situated latitudinally and continued into the baulks of
the trench to the east and west of sector B. The second
deposit ran longitudinally and disappeared under the northern
baulk. So far a total of 106 brown amphorae was discovered.
Morphologically very similar, the amphorae can nevertheless be
divided into three groups, each of which represents a different
variant (Fig. 4 a-c). On the shoulders of two amphorae there are
short, one-word inscriptions painted in black; their meaning has
not been explained yet.
At present it is difficult to determine why the amphorae
had been stacked the way they were, after they had stopped
serving their original function. Perhaps this was so that they could
be easily taken and reused when the need came, not necessarily
for transporting liquids but as elements of the structure of walls,
partitions or barriers. There are many examples of such construc-
tions consisting of amphorae placed alternately neck and bottom
up, and joined with clay sealing the spaces in between.
An interesting find is the set of sherds belonging to several
amphorae of the LR 1 type with traces of secondary use. This is
indicated by the traces of a sealing substance on the inside and
evidence of repairs. The reason for this was the bad quality of the
amphorae which had to be, before they were used again, sealed
in all the places where cracking and holes had appeared due to the
presence of large lime grits in the clay which with time exploded
the vessel's walls from within. In order to make the vessels hold
water again, their inside surfaces were sealed and the holes were
filled with a grey substance recalling gypsum. While secondary
impregnation of amphorae is a frequent phenomenon, the filling
of holes in the vessels' body has been recorded at Naqlun for the
first time.
58
the trench to the east and west of sector B. The second
deposit ran longitudinally and disappeared under the northern
baulk. So far a total of 106 brown amphorae was discovered.
Morphologically very similar, the amphorae can nevertheless be
divided into three groups, each of which represents a different
variant (Fig. 4 a-c). On the shoulders of two amphorae there are
short, one-word inscriptions painted in black; their meaning has
not been explained yet.
At present it is difficult to determine why the amphorae
had been stacked the way they were, after they had stopped
serving their original function. Perhaps this was so that they could
be easily taken and reused when the need came, not necessarily
for transporting liquids but as elements of the structure of walls,
partitions or barriers. There are many examples of such construc-
tions consisting of amphorae placed alternately neck and bottom
up, and joined with clay sealing the spaces in between.
An interesting find is the set of sherds belonging to several
amphorae of the LR 1 type with traces of secondary use. This is
indicated by the traces of a sealing substance on the inside and
evidence of repairs. The reason for this was the bad quality of the
amphorae which had to be, before they were used again, sealed
in all the places where cracking and holes had appeared due to the
presence of large lime grits in the clay which with time exploded
the vessel's walls from within. In order to make the vessels hold
water again, their inside surfaces were sealed and the holes were
filled with a grey substance recalling gypsum. While secondary
impregnation of amphorae is a frequent phenomenon, the filling
of holes in the vessels' body has been recorded at Naqlun for the
first time.
58