Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers

XICE – Abstract of Papers
the ritualisation which surrounded childbirth in Ancient Egypt, and conclude that
child mortality must have been very high. But, as ROBINS also remarks, no exact
figures of this mortality rate exist.
Not just in Egypt, but in a lot of ancient cultures children are often
underrepresented in graveyards (PEARSON 1999). However, Egypt has several factors
to take into consideration when talking about child representation. Firstly, the science
of Egyptology has much evolved in the last few decades, and it was not so long ago
that the remains of small children were discarded without even making note of their
presence. Secondly, children’s remains (and especially those of neonates) are very
small and fragile. When buried in simple, shallow pits, one can easily imagine the
destructive influence of factors such as taphonomy, bioturbation and excavation
methods. Lastly, it has become clear in recent excavations that small children were
often buried in the settlement itself, under house floors or in courts between houses.
When one considers additionally the small amount of settlements in comparison to the
amount of excavated gravesites, the representative sample seems rather small.
Thus, Balat offers a unique opportunity to look at neonates and infants in the
context of a graveyard. This is not so new as one would expect. MESKELL (1999)
made a study on child burials in the eastern necropolis of Deir el Medineh, while
PATCH (1989 unpublished, cited by ROBINS 1994) calculated the percentage of infant
burials in the cemeteries of Gurob, Matmar and Mostagedda. However, these
calculations are mostly based on old excavation reports and additionally all date back
to the New Kingdom and Third intermediate period (ROBINS 1994). In Balat, on the
other hand, we have recently excavated material at our disposal, which dates back to
the Old Kingdom. In my presentation, I will discuss the anthropological data from
Balat, first concentrating on the subsidiary burials, then moving on to the bigger
picture of the necropolis. I will speculate on whether the portion of child burials can
be seen as a representative sample, or a group which received special treatment. If the
former is true, I will try to draw some conclusions about the exact child mortality rate.
References:
L.M. MESKELL (1999) Archaeologies of Social Life, Age, Class et cetera in Ancient
Egypt, Oxford-Malden.
A. MINAULT-GOUT (1980) ‘Rapport préliminaire sur la première et seconde campagne
de fouilles du mastaba II à Balat (Oasis de Dakhleh)’, BIFAO 80, 271-86.
A. MINAULT-GOUT en M. WUTTMANN (1983) ‘Rapport préliminaire sur la quatrième
campagne de fouilles du mastaba II à Balat, (oasis de Dakhleh): neuf tombes du
secteur nord. Annexe. Observations sur les matériaux des sarcophages’, ASAE 69,
113-9.
A. MINAULT-GOUT, P. DELEUZE, P. BALLET, J. VERCOUTTER (1992) Le mastaba
d’Ima- Pépi (mastaba II): fin de l’Ancien empire. Balat II, Fouilles de l’Institut
français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 33, Caïro.
M.P. PEARSON (2000) The Archaeology of Death and Burial, Texas A and M
University Anthropology Series 3, Texas.
G. PINCH (1994) Magic in Ancient Egypt, London.
G. ROBINS (1994) ‘Woman and children in peril; pregnancy, birth and infant
mortality in ancient Egypt’, KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt 5/4, 24-35.
G. ROBINS (1994) Women in Acient Egypt, London.
M. VALLOGGIA (1978) ‘Rapport préliminaire sur la première campagne de fouilles à
Balat’, BIFAO 78, 65-80.
M. VALLOGGIA, N.H. HENEIN, J. VERCOUTTER (1986) Le mastaba de Medou-Nefer.
Balat I, Fouilles de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 31, Caïro.
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