The Neolithic in the Nile Delta

Introduction The current project has two main sources of data: those from the new fieldwork (begun in 2013, supported by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung, the American Research Center in Egypt, the National Geographic Society (GEFNE 165-16), Egypt Exploration Society, and Topoi) and a re-examination and recording of data collected by previous investigations, primarily that of Hermann Junker, Hjalmar Larsen and Pehr Lugn in the 1930s. Both sources of data are examined within an inter-disciplinary framework which aims to situate the Neolithic evidence from the western Nile Delta within its wider environmental and social contexts. This examination brings new interpretations as to the lines of communication evident between sites in the western, and wider Delta, as well as between regions as far afield as Libya and the Levant, and helps to shed light on the reasons for choosing certain settlement locations over others, and the extent to which these choices were determined by the regional environment and changing climate. The re-assessment of the chronology of the Neolithic-Predynastic is also of importance within the longer term research, so that dating of environmental as well as cultural events can be achieved. Description The prime component of the TOPOI II A-2-4 project was to re-evaluate archaeological records and finds resulting from earlier investigations within the context of recent and ongoing research across the region. The writing on these objects by the previous excavators has helped to reconnect many objects, not only to their grid square and depth, but even the structure, hearth or grave. Locating published and unpublished documentation and photos was also a major task, and this material is also helping us to better understand the site of Merimde Beni Salama, and allowing the re-contextualisation of the finds with their documentation. In this way museum collections are helping to inform the present archaeological field research and (re)construct the ancient past. During the course of this project several museums were visited to reassess the material collected during the 1920s to 30s. Museums containing collections of objects from Merimde Beni Salama include: Museum or Institution Number of Objects Ägyptischen Museum der Universität Bonn 21 Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Berlin 322 American Museum of Natural History 2 Barbier Müller Collection, Geneva 1 Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Ägyptisch - Orientalische Sammlung 10 Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm 6000+ Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 48 Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo 527 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 29 Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London 98 Oriental Institute, Chicago 5 Sammlung des Ägyptologischen Institutes der Universität Heidelberg 700+ Studiensammlung des Instituts für Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Universität Wien 700+ University of Nabraska 2 This searchable web-based database is the result of the visits to the various museums by Joanne Rowland, Geoffrey Tassie, and Sebastian Falk. The recording policy (drawing, photographing and data entering) employed during this project varied according to the size of the collection. Photographs were taken of each object entered in the database, and drawings were made of the majority of the ceramic sherds and vessels in the database, whereas selective drawings were made of each of the various type of lithics in the database. For certain collections, such as the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Berlin, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the whole collection was examined and recorded. However, other collections, particularly the largest ones such as the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm, Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo (ongoing), Sammlung des Ägyptologischen Institutes der Universität Heidelberg, and the Studiensammlung des Instituts für Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Universität Wien, selective sampling was employed due to the impracticalities involved in recording the whole collection. The objects recorded from the larger collections are a representative sample of the types of objects in each institution. Several of the above mentioned institutions have searchable on-line databases of their collections, although they do not always have a complete photographic record in these on-line resources. Many of the other museums are developing searchable on-line databases. Some of the more prominent websites are listed below.