No abstract

Une synthèse des données archéozoologiques sur le commerce de poissons dans la partie orientale de la Méditerranée, depuis le Chalcolithique jusqu 'au temps des croisades, est présentée. Cette revue est basée sur des données bibliographiques et sur des ensembles fauniques inédits, étudiés par les auteurs, provenant de 76 sites. Des restes de poissons provenant du Nil, de la Méditerranée et de la mer Rouge sont fréquemment rencontrés sur des sites archéologiques situés en dehors de la distribution naturelle des espèces et indiquent dès lors qu 'il s 'agit de denrées qui faisaient l 'objet de commerce ou d 'échange. Des indications sur le commerce de poissons d 'eau douce d'Anatolie sont également présentées. Les trouvailles ichtyofauniques sont discutées en fonction de la provenance des poissons et des régions vers lesquelles ils étaient exportés. En utilisant les données archéologiques, les indications des artefacts et les informations historiques disponibles, les changements diachroniques observés dans le commerce de poisson sont décrits, en tenant compte du contexte économique et politique de chacune des régions productrice et consommatrice.

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Previous studies have shown that the Ancient Egyptians used malted wheat and barley as the main ingredients in beer brewing, but the chemical determination of the exact recipe is still lacking. To investigate the constituents of ancient beer, we conducted a detailed IR and GC-MS based metabolite analyses targeting volatile and non-volatile metabolites on the residues recovered from the interior of vats in what is currently the world’s oldest (c. 3600 BCE) installation for large-scale beer production located at the major pre-pharaonic political center at Hierakonpolis, Egypt. In addition to distinguishing the chemical signatures of various flavoring agents, such as dates, a significant result of our analysis is the finding, for the first time, of phosphoric acid in high level probably used as a preservative much like in modern beverages. This suggests that the early brewers had acquired the knowledge needed to efficiently produce and preserve large quantities of beer. This study provides the most detailed chemical profile of an ancient beer using modern spectrometric techniques and providing evidence for the likely starting materials used in beer brewing.

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The application of tattoos to the human body has enjoyed a long and diverse history in many ancient cultures. At present, the oldest surviving examples are the mainly geometric tattoos on the individual known as Ötzi, dating to the late 4th millennium BCE, whose skin was preserved by the ice of the Tyrolean Alps. In the Egyptian Nile valley, the arid climate has also promoted extensive soft tissue preservation. Here we report on the tattoos found during the examination of two of the best preserved naturally mummified bodies from Egypt's Predynastic (c. 4000-3100 BCE) period, making them the earliest extant examples from the Nile Valley. Figural tattoos that mirror motifs found in Predynastic art were observed on the right arm of one male and the right arm and shoulder of one female, demonstrating conclusively that tattooing was practiced in prehistoric Egypt. These findings overturn the circumstantial evidence of the artistic record that previously suggested only females were tattooed for fertility or even erotic reasons. Radiocarbon testing and datable iconographic parallels for the motifs indicate that these tattooed individuals are nearly contemporaneous with the Iceman, positioning them amongst the bearers of some of the oldest preserved tattoos in the world. At over five thousand years of age, they push back the evidence for tattooing in Africa by a millennium and provide new insights into the range of potential uses of tattoos in pre-literate societies by both sexes, revealing new contexts for exploring the visual language of prehistoric times.

No abstract

A description is given of the violence-related pathologies that are observed in a number of wild mammals that were buried in the predynastic cemetery HK6 at Hierakonpolis, Upper Egypt. Unlike other predynastic graveyards, where only domestic cattle, sheep, goat and dogs are interred, the elite cemetery HK6 yielded also a wide variety of wild species that were buried as part of extensive mortuary complexes surrounding the graves of the highest local elite. The animals were interred, singly or in groups, often in graves of their own, but some also accompany human burials. Pathologies were found on the skeletons of 20 of the 38 wild animals discovered thus far, namely 15 anubis baboons (Papio anubis), one leopard (Panthera pardus), one jungle cat (Felis chaus), one hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), one aurochs (Bos primigenius) and one hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius). Most of the pathologies are healed fractures resulting from violent blows, and a smaller proportion seems to be related to tethering. These conditions indicate that the animals were held in captivity for a prolonged period of time after their capture. The type and frequency of the encountered deformations differ from those seen in wild animals from other, more recent Egyptian cemeteries (Abydos, Tuna el-Gebel, Gabanet el-Girou and Saqqara) where mainly metabolic disorders are observed that have been attributed to chronic malnutrition and vitamin D deficiency as a result of inadequate housing in a dark environment.