The dating of the tombs is complicated by the lack of proper archaeological excavations. The dating must be based on observable features: the architectural types of the tombs, the size of the mud-brick and the occurrence of other datable material, in this case mainly pottery. The fragments consist of typical examples of Old Kingdom vessels, datable to the 5th–6th dynasty (ca. 2435–2118 BC),3 without the possibility of finer dating (Table 1). The fragments near the RD S 62 shaft and the shaft of the RD T 74 tomb only contained pottery datable to the 3rd dynasty or early 4th dynasty (ca. 2543–2436 BC), similar material was published by Arias Kytnarová (2010). The RD T 81 feature is to be dated in accordance with the architecture and pottery (dated by K. Smoláriková, personal communication) in the Late Period (26th–27th dynasty; 664–644 BC) (Figure 3). The pottery could not be decisive for the dating of the tombs, the fragments were found in the already excavated filling of the tombs and shafts and there is no detailed information about the original context of the fragments.

An indication of the dating of the features could be the size of the bricks (Figure 5). The dimensions of the mud-brick are clustered in an interval of 20–30 cm, apart from the RD T 81 tomb with larger mud-brick. The dating of the tombs at Abusir by virtue of the mud-brick dimensions is complicated by the occurrence of an interval of 20–30 cm among the mud-brick from the 3rd dynasty to the 6th dynasty.4 A detailed chronological and chorological study of the Abusir mud-brick dimensions is needed for a more convincing argument.

The observed features of the architectural structures enabled the dating of the surveyed structures to the 5th–6th dynasty, without a more accurate chronological division of the corpus. The RD S 62 and RD T 74 features could be traced to the 3rd dynasty – early 4th dynasty according to the pottery. The archaeological excavation of the looted structures is the only possible future means of more precise dating of the surveyed structures in all the cases apart from RD T 81.

The dating of the three remaining structures is secure, based on archaeological excavations and evaluation of the finds (Table 1): tomb AS 54 is dated to the late 3rd dynasty (Bárta 2011b; Jirásková 2011), tomb AS 57 to the 5th dynasty (Vymazalová et al. 2011) and tomb AS 37 to the late 5th dynasty, its owner was Neferinpu (Bárta 2013).

3.2 Molluscs

Four species of gastropods and five species of bivalves were determined in the archaeological contexts. Each of them contains five or less mollusc species (Tables 2–3, Figure 6). The most frequent species were Bellamya unicolor, Gabbiela senaariensis and Corbicula consorbina (Figure 7). Other species are rarer with a number of them only occurring once and in a fragmentary state of preservation. The spatial data indicate a regular occurrence of the species Bellamya unicolor, Gabbiela senaariensis and Corbicula consorbina in the surveyed part of Abusir (Figures 8–10). This spatial distribution in all probability indicates a high frequency of these species in the source or the sources of the mud for the production of mud plaster and mud-brick.

4. Discussion

4.1 Mollusc species

The most important information concerning the molluscs is their habitat and ecology. Previous research was primarily focused on freshwater molluscs of northern Africa, due to their parasitological importance. Terrestrial molluscs are far less known. Molluscs in Ancient Egyptian mud-brick, mud plaster and pottery have not, to our knowledge, been examined in the literature; however they could provide interesting evidence about the ancient environment.

4.1.1 Gastropods

Three species of gastropods are freshwater and one terrestrial. Bellamya unicolor from the Viviparidae family is living in the lakes, rivers and perennial streams of Africa, including the Nile (Ghamizi et al. 2010). It was found in mud-brick; mud plaster and layers (Figure 8, Table 2). A number of the earlier finds of this species were published by Van Damme (1984). It is found in Egypt from the Neolithic (Boessneck 1988, 147, Abb. 242), through the Second Intermediate Period (Boessneck, Driesch 1992, 44) to the Late Period (Boessneck, Driesch 1997, 215). Finds at the Lake of Abusir are assumed to have been redeposited by wind erosion (Cílek et al. 2012, 10).

Gabbiella senaariensis from the Bithyniidae family is a freshwater snail, living in lakes, rivers, pools and irrigation channels, including the Nile (Ghamizi et al. 2010). It was found in mud-brick, mud plaster as well as in the layers in the tombs and shafts (Figure 9, Table 2). There was only one find of this species in the trenches of the Lake of Abusir (Cílek et al. 2012, Figure 7), which is somewhat surprising in comparison with its frequency in the mud-brick and mud plaster.

Bulinus truncatus from the Planorbidae family is a freshwater snail with a current range in Eurasia and Africa. It was found in all three types of archaeological contexts in the Abusir tombs (Table 2). The Holocene sites were published by Van Damme (1984). It occurs in Egypt in the oases Kharga, Dakhla and Bahriya (Wright 1973). It was also found at the Lake of Abusir (Cílek et al. 2012, Figures 7–8). This species is the intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium causing schistosomiasis.

Eremina ehrenbergi from the Helicidae family is a xerophilous terrestrial mollusc, its detailed recent range is not known but it occurs in northern Africa. The only shell of this species was found in the chapel of the late 3rd dynasty tomb AS 54, in a layer of grey sand, and it could be of recent origin. Additional species of this family, Eremina desertorum and Eremina irregularis, were found in Ancient Egyptian settlement layers (Boessneck 1988, 147), as well as Eremina desertorum in Buto, dated to the Early Dynastic and Late Period (Boessneck, Driesch 1997, 215).

4.1.2 Bivalves

Five species of freshwater bivalves occur in the corpus from Abusir. Corbicula consorbina from the Corbiculidae family, freshwater bivalve, occurs in the Nile in Lower Egypt spreading through planktonic larvae. It was discovered in mud-brick and layers (Figure 10, Table 2). Pleistocene and Holocene finds from Egypt were published by Van Damme (1984).

Unio elongatulus mancus from the Unionidae family5 is found in freshwater rivers, lakes and channels. It requires clean water and is intolerant to pollution (Van Damme 2011b). It is extinct in the Nile. It was found in mud-brick as well as in layers (Figure 11, Table 2). The taxonomy of the species is unclear, the bivalves from Abusir could belong to the sub-species Unio elongatulus dembae, occurring at present only in Tana lake (Van Damme, Van Bocxlaer 2009, 615). The Unio genus was found in an undatable context in tomb 26 in Qubbet el-Hawa, the Unionidae family in two more contexts, the “Unionidae or Mutelidae” family in five cases (Edel, Seyfried, Vieler 2008, LXXXII–LXXXIII).

Etheria elliptica from the Etheriidae family is living in freshwater water bodies, preferring fast flowing rivers, lakes, rapids and waterfalls and attaching to hard substrates such as rocky shores. The species is spreading due to planktonic larvae. It only occurs in Abusir in one possible fragment, found in the mud plaster of the tomb RD T 63. Its current range is in continental Africa, in the Nile in the western delta, and consequently in the Northern Sudan (Van Damme 2011a), Pleistocene and Holocene finds were collected by Van Damme (1984).

G. Falkner (1982, 162–163) has referred to a regular occurrence in the waters of tropical Africa, while it is rarer southwards down the river from the first Nile cataract. Only Upper Egyptian archaeological sites were cited by Falkner.6 Lower Egyptian sites include Abusir in this corpus and three pieces in Buto, dated to the Old Kingdom (Boessneck, Driesch 1997, 214–215). According to the habitat of this species, the Ancient Egyptian term inr n rA mw – “stone from the water shore” (Hannig 2006, 88) could be the term for the Etheria elliptica.

There are also certain fragments of the Unionidae family in the mud-brick and in all probability the Mutela freshwater species from the Iridinidae family, in the mud plaster and layers (Table 2).

Two more species were found in the mud-brick of the tomb AS 57, an already published tomb dated to the 5th dynasty (Sůvová 2011). They are discussed here as further evidence of molluscs in Old Kingdom mud-brick. Coelatura aegyptiaca from the Unionidae family occurs in rivers and Lake Chad, in different types of substrates in larger surface waters. It occurs in the Nile at Aswan dam and southwards from there (Van Damme, Ghamizi 2010). It was found in Buto and dated to the Old Kingdom and Late Period. It was used for food, as a pendant or could have only occurred in the environment of the settlement (Boessneck, Driesch 1997, 215). Pleistocene and Holocene finds were published by Van Damme (1984).

Anodonta cygnaea from the Unionidae family is found in the slow flowing and stagnant waters of Eurasia and Northern Africa and was only found there in Algeria and Morocco (Sůvová 2011). There were fragments of the bivalves from the Unionidae family or Mutelidae at the Qubbet el-Hawa site, similar to the Anodonta genus (Edel, Seyfried, Vieler 2008, lxxxii–lxxxiii).

4.2. Interpretation and evaluation of the mollusc finds

The dating of the features is only tentative; there are two diachronic phases, the Old Kingdom and the Late Period (tomb RD T 81). The excavations of the Czech Institute of Egyptology in Abusir have demonstrated the most frequent tomb building activity in the 5th–6th dynasties in Abusir. An internal division of the Old Kingdom corpus based on the finds of pottery is possible, but cannot be overemphasized in the current state of research.

The most frequently occurring freshwater species from the slow flowing or stagnant waters are evidence of the environment in which the mud was extracted. A number of the discussed species were used for food, as pendants or as paint receptacles, they are an admixture of the mud-brick matrix in the case of the mud-brick and mud plaster contents. These species do not alter our information concerning the environment in the past in the Abusir area, but do demonstrate that the range of the species was broader than the already published archaeological contexts have provided. There are several possibilities for the habitats of molluscs in the Abusir area: the banks of the Lake of Abusir, the irrigation channels or the slower flowing part of the Nile. The production of mud-brick on the bank of a water body is confirmed by one of the Lahun papyri, dated to the Middle Kingdom (Collier, Quirke 2006, 12–15). The Nile was in all probability divided into two branches during the Old and Middle Kingdom in the Memphite area, migrating over time eastwards. The western branch was nearer the Memphite necropolis (Lutley, Bunbury 2008; Jeffreys, Bunbury 2011, Figure 3; Jeffreys 2012; Bunbury 2012). Based on the current state of research, it cannot be decided in which kind of environment the molluscs found in the mud-brick were living. The exceptions are the terrestrial snail Eremina ehrenbergi and Etheria elliptica from the faster flowing water, present only as fragments of shell. The latter species could also be deposited either by wind erosion or by unintentional or intentional importation to the site.

Another corpus of malacofauna from Abusir was excavated and published from the former Lake of Abusir (Cílek et al. 2012). The trenches in the Lake of Abusir provided scarce finds of molluscs datable to the Old Kingdom; the highest frequency of the shells is in the first metre of the deposits above the Old Kingdom level (Cílek et al. 2012, 8, Figure 7).7 However, the Bellamya unicolor and Bulinus truncatus species, found in the Lake of Abusir trenches, occur in the Old Kingdom mud-brick of our corpus. One source is thus complementing the evidence of the other. Research at the Lake of Abusir also brought to light shells of Bithynia tentaculata, a common European species, which was found thus far only in Algeria and Morocco in Africa.8

Macroscopic study could identify traces of fossilization on the shells; they are different in various environments, the origin and taphonomy of the determined mollusc shells could be diverse. The only possible means of a precise dating of the molluscs is 14C method; but no samples can be exported from Egypt. The only laboratory providing 14C dating in Egypt belongs to the Institut français d’archéologie orientale, mollusc samples for dating should weigh 50 g or more9 – none of the mollusc finds of this corpus weighed 50 grams or more.

There are a number of additional references to the molluscs in Abusir mud-brick (e.g. Krejčí 2006, Tables 1.6.2–1.6.9); further research on the Abusir malacofauna should also focus on these contexts to supplement other species. A survey of the looted archaeological features in Abusir enabled the identification of the mud-brick structures with higher contents of organic material. In the case of a further study of the mollusc shells, an analysis of comparable contexts should be used (e.g. standard flotation and wet sieving of the same number of mud-brick from the selected structures). A detailed description and statistics on the amount and state of preservation of all the material would be meaningful.

Another field of research could be the Old Kingdom pottery in Abusir, containing molluscs as well as mud-brick.10 It would be interesting to compare the range of species in mud-brick and pottery, as to whether there are any differences or common traits. Czech excavations in Abusir have identified a workshop for the recycling of the mud-brick in the mortuary temple of Raneferef, dated to the reign of 5th dynasty king Nyuserra (Krejčí 1995 and 2006, 114, Figure 1.6.2; Verner et al. 2006, 66, 82–83, Figures 1.3.19 and 1.3.20). The pottery workshop was used in the nearby mortuary temple of Queen Khentkaus and is dated to the reign of Unas, the last king of the 5th dynasty (Verner 1992, 1995). The production areas of the mud-brick and pottery were thus probably separated in the Old Kingdom; the source of mud for both could be the same.

5. Conclusion

The survey of looted features brought to light mollusc shells from mud-brick, mud plaster and mortar and layers covering and filling the tombs and shafts. Sixteen features could be dated to the Old Kingdom (5th–6th dynasty, ca. 2435–2118 BC); there are two possible features from the 3rd dynasty or early 4th dynasty (ca. 2543–2436 BC) and one feature datable to the Late Period (664–404 BC). Four species of gastropods and five species of bivalves were identified. A number of species currently either extinct or with a limited range in the Nile were among them: Unio elongatulus, Coelatura aegyptiaca, Anodonta cygnaea, and in all probability Etheria elliptica. These species do not alter the information concerning the past environment of the Abusir area, but do indicate that the range of the species was broader than previously thought. The most frequent are the freshwater species from the slow flowing or stagnant waters which could be evidence for the environment in which the mud for the mud-brick and mud mortar was extracted. It could have been the Lake of Abusir, irrigation channels or the slower flowing part of the Old Kingdom west branch of the Nile. The molluscs from the layers covering the tombs or filling the shafts are also freshwater species and could have fallen out of the mud plaster or mud-brick.

Acknowledgements

This study was written within the Programme for the Development of Fields of Study at Charles University, No. P14 Archaeology of non-European regions, sub-programme Research of ancient Egyptian civilisation. Cultural and political adaptation of North African civilisations in ancient history (5000 BC–1000 AD). The original Czech version of the paper was presented at the conference on environmental archaeology – KEA in České Budějovice in January 2013.

We would like to thank the following colleagues for their support and discussions in the field and during the writing of this paper: M. Bárta, L. Bareš, K. Arias, L. Suková and K. Smoláriková (Czech Institute of Egyptology), V. Brůna (Geoinformatic Laboratory, Faculty of Environment at the University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně in Ústí nad Labem), Z. Sůvová (independent researcher), T. Rzeuska (Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures) and A. Wodzińska (University of Warsaw, Institute of Archaeology).

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