Making Me Whole

You all know who I am, Herb the pot herd, but what if I wasn't just a sherd anymore?

Archaeologists actually have the ability to try to make me whole again!

I wasn't found by myself, I was found with lots of other pieces. Some of them belonged to my pot, but others didn't. Archaeologists had to take all of us, and figure out who belonged to who and how we all fit together. So, they have a way to take messes like this:

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And turn them into pots that look like this:

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They do this mostly by looking for pieces that are called diagnostics. These pieces of things like rims and handles can give archaeologists an idea of what the pot as a whole probably looked like without needing all the pieces!

Sometimes, putting most of the pot back together again is possible. But sometimes they can't because they don't have enough pieces or a place to store it or they think it would stay in better condition as separate pieces. So, they create drawings of what the pot should look like!

Although I am not a diagnostic piece, the archaeologists found lots of pieces around me, and were able to make a drawing of what I looked like! Here I am!

A Manual of Egyptian Pottery, Wodzińska

Once archaeologists were able to draw me, they could fit me into the history of pots themselves. They say I'm from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, cool right? Here are some other Middle Kingdom pots that were found around me:

A Manual of Egyptian Pottery, Wodzińska

A Manual of Egyptian Pottery, Wodzińska

Can you see the similarities?

Some pots are similar, and some are very different. Some pots are made relatively the same over and over through time, but others undergo changes. These changes are what archaeologists use to determine how old a pot is that they find!

Pots have a style, meaning they have a specific shape, color, decoration, and design. Many pots with similar style are considered a pot type, called typology. Style can change over time, but very slowly. So, what archaeologists look to do is map out those changes and create a timeline of pottery. Then, when they find a new pot and figure out what it looks like, they can match it to other pots that were already found and put into the timeline! These timelines are called serations. Once example that shows both typologies and seriation is this:

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While archaeologists have other ways to date me, seriation for pottery in Egypt is very detailed because of the amount that is left and the amount of work previous archeologists have put into creating a detailed timeline.

So yay, we know what I looked like, and where I fit, but what about what I actually did when the Ancient Egyptians used me?

What Did I Hold?

Well, clearly I don't hold anything now, but when I was a full pot, I definitely held something!

Archaeologists aren't just interested in me because I am an ancient potsherd. They are really interested in me because they can figure out what was in me. Once they know what was in me, they can use that to learn about the people who used me! Make sense?

Water hasn't always been the safest thing to drink. In Ancient Egypt, they didn't have an easy way to make sure the water they were drinking was clean and safe. So, they drank a lot of beer and wine instead. Lot of Egyptian art shows both of these being done:

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When the beer was all gone, there was still traces of it left in the pots, which have survived until today!

The archaeologists wanted to figure out what I held, so they tested the residue left behind by whatever I held. They knew I held beer or wine, but they weren't sure which one. My residue contained starch granules, which indicates that I held beer. A typical beer jar in Ancient Egypt looked something like this:

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Cool right???

It's crazy how they can figure out! Archaeologists can use all sorts of remains of plants and animals to determine what people ate and how they made things. It's always important to keep in mind that in archaeology, artifacts like me are important, but what really matters is what the people themselves did with me. Jars just like me were used for family dinners, banquets, festivals, and religious ceremonies. Can you find the jars in this scene?

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Yeah, I might be cool, but always keep in mind the people I belonged to who were most certainly even cooler than I am.

What About Everything Above?

Remember stratigraphy? Yes you do!

Well, a lot of the layers above me also held artifacts and other shards. This means they were left or put into the ground after I was. Yes, yes I know you know this, but review is always good!

Have you thought about why artifacts from hundreds of years after me are found in the same place? Well, in Ancient Egypt, people lived close to the water because the Nile flooded their farm land so that it could be used, and the Nile was also used for water for cooking and transportation. So, once a good spot was found, people stayed there for a while. That's why over time, things piled up on top of me.

I want you to meet one of my friends from almost a thousand years after me. Her name is Annie the amphora:

Joukowsky Collection

She looks a lot different than me, right? Well, she's not actually from Egypt like I am.  She was made by these people called the Romans. Rome controlled Egypt for some time and some of their pottery and methods made their way into Egypt. But, they also learned a lot from the Ancient Egyptians, and took their pottery and other art into other parts of the Roman Empire.

It's always important to remember that many different people had connections in the ancient world, just like today! And different cultures, like the Romans and Egyptians, interacted with each other. No one was in a bubble. Connection between different cultures is HUGE.