We describe the abundant faunal remains that were found in an extensive ritual deposit discovered in 2012 at Oxyrhynchus. This site in Middle Egypt has been famous since the first millennium BC for the mormyrid fish that were worshipped there and after which the town was named. The role played by these fish has already been amply documented through textual evidence, bronze statuettes and paintings, but until now, no remains and no mummies of these fish had been found. We first describe the ritual deposit as a whole, with emphasis on its extent, its stratigraphy and its relationship to the surrounding structures, which, together with a very specific artefact, allow the layers to be dated to the Late Period. The fish remains, as well as the sparse mammal bones, are quantified using both number of identified specimens (NISP) and minimum number of individuals (MNI). Body length reconstructions of the mormyrid fish are carried out using newly derived regression equations. Because of the large quantity of material, we performed the taxonomic identifications and size reconstructions on subsamples from which estimates were then made for the total number of fish that may have been present in the entire deposit. Attention was given to the way in which the fish bundles were prepared, a process that involved both the use of textiles and halfa grass, and to how the deposit was organised. We discuss the species spectrum in relation to both the Egyptian fish cult and evidence from written sources. Finally, we attempt to reconstruct the different events that may have taken place between the capture of the fish and their final deposition at the site, using a combination of both zoological/ecological and papyrological evidence.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
As part of a rock art dating project at Qurta (Upper Egypt), samples were collected from an organic deposit and from an accumulation of individual faecal pellets. Radiocarbon dating of these relatively well-preserved materials indicates an unexpectedly old age of ca. 45,000 BP or older. In order to identify the biogenic nature of these deposits and to reconstruct the palaeo-environment at the time of their formation, micromorphological, palaeobotanical, and biomarker analyses were carried out. All data indicate that the organic deposit and the pellets were produced by different species. The presence of a novel biomarker, which only occurs in animal urine (hippuric acid), contributed to the conclusion that the organic deposit most likely represents the remains of a rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) latrine, whereas the pellets stem from small bovids. Plant macroremains from the pellets indicate that the animals browsed in the more vegetated areas, presumably near the Nile, although the general environment was probably mainly arid and open. Combined with the dates, this suggests that the pellets date to MIS 3 or 4. Our results demonstrate the great potential of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Quaternary coprolite deposits, allowing for more adequate and more complete interpretation.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
