Marta Lorenzon’s new co-authored article, “Mudbricks, Construction Methods, and Stratigraphic Analysis: A Case Study at Tell Timai (Ancient Thmuis) in the Egyptian Delta” was published in the American Journal of Archaeology. It provides a new approach to the analysis of mudbricks architecture, exemplified in the case study of Tell Timai, a site in the Egyptian Delta. The article provides new ways to investigate construction practices, skill transfer and identities in connection with earthen architectural practices in Ancient Egypt. The site of Tell Timai, identified with the ancient city of Thmuis, was a large urban settlement during the Graeco-Roman period and nowadays it still preserves a substantial amount of earthen architecture.
Although mudbricks made up the vast majority of public and domestic structures in ancient Egypt, they still do not receive the same attention from archaeologists as other categories of material culture. The goal of this project was to develop a methodology that can be implemented in the field to study mudbricks. The study of mudbricks can generate useful data for determining building stratigraphy and studying construction processes.
Reference: Mudbricks, Construction Methods, and Stratigraphic Analysis: A Case Study at Tell Timai (Ancient Thmuis) in the Egyptian Delta By Marta Lorenzon, Jessica L. Nitschke, Robert J. Littman, Jay E. Silverstein. American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 124, No. 1 (January 2020), p. 105–131. DOI: 10.3764/aja.124.1.0105