Fieldwork at Saqqara, February 2026

We are excited to report on another successful fieldwork season at Saqqara, where our team was busy working on the osteological remains. This year, we focused on completing specific tasks to complement the body of data collected during the previous seasons in preparation for publication of our project findings.

Iwona, Emily and Magda focused on detailed microscopic recording of skeletal evidence of physiological stress, such as cribra cranni and enamel hypoplasia. Evidence of the latter has been recorded in many individuals whose teeth were not affected by advanced or severe dental attrition. Presenting as horizontal lines on the crowns, these enamel defects occur during tooth development, often due to nutritional stress or illness. As such, these defects can be used to inform about the individual’s health during early childhood.

To further the study of childhood health at ancient Saqqara, Nina undertaken a detailed photographic recording of the first permanent molars, unaffected by dental wear, to investigate symmetry of the crown morphology. Tooth symmetry during developmental period can be affected by biological stressors, such as prolonged illness or famine, causing deviations in the symmetry between left and right side. Such deviations in tooth symmetry developed during childhood can help us to understand the early life history of the individual, including their health, and facilitate comparative studies between the late Old Kingdom and Graeco-Roman population groups buried at Saqqara.

This year, we welcomed our Czech colleagues to the team, Dr Šárka Bejdová and Dr Petra Brukner Havelková, who work at the neighbouring royal necropolis at Abusir on the project entitled “Titles and bones of ancient Egyptian officials: a new mathematical approach to processing data from the Old Kingdom” (GAČR Junior project 24-10275M). Jointly, we focused on the study of the skeletal remains recovered from the Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period burials at Saqqara. Petra focused on the evaluation of activity-related skeletal changes of complete skeletons and separate skulls (temporomandibular joints). This included a detailed assessment of features associated with physical activity, such as entheseal changes, degenerative changes of the appendicular skeleton and vertebrae, and selected non-metric traits. Meanwhile, Šárka undertook a detailed digital recording of cranial and mandibular morphology for comparative analysis. We hope to continue this work next season.

In between the recording of the skeletal evidence of physiological stress using a DinoLite microscope, our textile specialist, Magda, revisited some of our better preserved and most complete pieces of Old Kingdom garments, as part of a consultation with the textile specialists from the Fag el-Gamous team, who came to visit us all the way from the Fayoum Oasis. It was a fantastic opportunity for both teams to discuss individual cases and share their experience of working with textile artefacts in the field. We did not hesitate a moment to say “yes” to the visit at Fag el-Gamous and the opportunity to see the fantastic textiles as well as human remains recovered from a Graeco-Roman cemetery there, located in the vicinity of the Seila pyramid, believed to be erected during the reign of Snefru (4th Dynasty).

We concluded our fieldwork with a transfer of samples for radiocarbon dating and isotopic analysis, which we hope will provide information on the environmental conditions and dietary trends of the local people during the periods of interest to the project.

We would like to thank the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for granting the permission to continue our work at Saqqara West and for approving our extensive programme of research and sampling. We are equally grateful to our Egyptian colleagues from the Saqqara Antiquities Directorate for their support and assistance throughout our fieldwork, and our local workmen for their dedication and hard work throughout the season.