Human remains, textiles, and burial micro-environment
Why do some ancient remains and artefacts survive for thousands of years while others disappear almost completely?
In our new study, published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, we explore this question by examining human remains and funerary textiles from the late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period cemetery in Saqqara West. Archaeologists often uncover burials where bones are well preserved, but fragile materials such as textiles survive only in certain places or not at all. We wanted to understand why. By bringing together archaeological, geological, and bioarchaeological evidence, we found that the answer lies in a complex combination of environmental conditions and ancient burial practices.
The people buried at the Lower necropolis at Saqqara West lived during a period of climatic change known as the 4.2-kiloyear event, a time when conditions in the region became increasingly dry. Yet climate alone does not explain what survives in the archaeological record. Our research shows that the design of tombs, the materials used in burials, the properties of the surrounding rock, and even the way water moved underground all helped determine whether textiles were preserved or lost over time. While the human remains we studied were generally exceptionally well preserved, the textiles told a more varied story. Some survived remarkably well, offering rare glimpses into ancient funerary practices, while others had deteriorated significantly. These differences helped us reconstruct the unique microenvironments that existed within individual tombs thousands of years ago.
Our findings provide a new perspective on life, death, and environmental change in ancient Egypt. They also highlight the importance of preserving and studying fragile organic materials such as textiles, which can reveal information that stone monuments and artefacts alone cannot provide. Ultimately, this research demonstrates that even the smallest traces of ancient cloth can tell a much bigger story: one of climate change, burial traditions, and the remarkable journey of archaeological materials through millennia.