The environmental evidence. In B. J. Kemp Tell el-Amarna 2001-2

The insect remains from Ranefer’s house and Grid 12

443

Chapter 9

the insect remains from ranefer’s house and Grid 12

Eva Panagiotakopulu and Paul C. Buckland

9.1 Introduction

Insect remains, particularly Coleoptera (beetles), have been widely used to examine urban environments in north-west Europe (e.g. Kenward and Hall 1995), but there has been little similar work in the Mediterranean region (cf. Panagiotakopulu 1989). Similarly, whilst archaeoentomology has a long history in Egypt (Hope 1834; Panagiotakopulu 2001), previous work has almost exclusively been concerned with insects from mummies and tomb offerings (cf. Alfieri 1931). Work on samples from the Workmen’s Village and Late Antique Kom el-Nana at Amarna had indicated the potential of the site for archaeoentomological research and one of the initial aims of the re-excavation of Ranefer’s house was to recover organic remains within the debris used as fill for the foundation platform and then sealed by the laying of the new brick floor. Peet’s workmen had dug two irregular pits through this, but elsewhere the brick floors remained intact. In 2002 and 2003 the authors participated in the first stage of re-examining Ranefer’s house, cleaning back Peet’s sections and subsequently analysing the residues from beneath the floors in Rooms 1 and 5.

In the sections of the trench cut through the house floor and accumulations beneath, down into the underlying sandy gravel of the desert surface, it was evident that there were several irregular trampled surfaces, called ‘floors’ by Peet (COA I: 12–13), within layers of debris, rich in organic remains, sand, gravel and broken mudbrick (Plate 9.1; also Figures 1.5, 1.7; Plates 1.7, 1.8). The fill in several of the rooms contained fragments of painted ceiling plaster, which are likely to have derived from the earlier house, and there was evidence to show that it had been dumped elsewhere before being brought back in and spread over the earlier foundations. The insect evidence, especially from Room 1, also shows that some of the material must have come from deposits outside the original house.

Plate 9.1. House of Ranefer: Section through deposits beneath the surviving brick floor of the house down to trampled surface within the sub-floor accumulation (cf. Plates 1.7, 1.8).

Busy Lives at Amarna: Excavations in the Main City, Vol. I

444

In addition to Ranefer’s house (Table 9.1), material from several contexts from Grid 12 and N50.23 was also studied (Tables 9.2, 9.3). Although 34 samples were analysed, with a few exceptions the material was not rich in organic remains.

9.2 Methods

During the excavation of the house, approximately 75% of all sealed contexts was sieved over a 5 mm mesh, and subsamples of approximately 3–5 litres were taken from the section cut back from Peet’s original excavation and from the new excavation from the quarters near Ranefer’s house, Grid 12. This material was dry-sieved through 5 mm and 300 µm sieves stacked upon each other. Residues were sorted under a stereo-microscope and the insect remains identified.

9.3 Results

9.3.1 Ranefer’s house

Material from above the final floors

Peet’s excavation of the later house had been virtually complete, with all floors cleared down to either the mud plastered surface, where it survived, or the mudbrick. Under the modern accumulation of structural debris, the preserved mudbrick floor of the west corner of Room 1 was penetrated by a large number of pupal chambers of maggots, positioned vertically on the floor (Plate 9.2). The chitinous remains of puparia remained in many of the chambers and their often truncated nature indicates that they had been bored through the overlying mud plaster surface of the floor, the broken fragments of which had been removed during excavation. This confirms that the mass pupation of flies in the corner of the room had been penecontemporaneous with activity on the site, rather than a modern occurrence. The puparia belong to the family Sarcophagidae, the flesh flies, which can be found in excrement and carrion (Greenberg 1971). There is little information about the immature stages of many Diptera and few fossil examples (but cf. Skidmore 1992; 1996). In this case, there is another example of vertical pupal chambers of flesh flies. Around the burial of cow, which had died in parturition and been buried in a Late Roman midden deposit at the site of Zawiyet Sultan, near Minya in Middle Egypt, were many vertical puparia, identified by Skidmore (pers. comm.) as sarcophagids (Buckland, unpubl.).

Although no bones were found together with the flies, their presence indicates meat waste thrown into, or pieces of meat or offal dumped in the corner of the room, probably after the building was abandoned.

Sarcophagidae are more characteristic of carrion in exposed locations, but they will also attack carrion indoors (Smith 1986). In the case of the Zawiyet Sultan cow skeleton its articulated nature indicates that this animal had been buried in the midden, although the adult flies may have oviposited on the carcase before burial, in which case the absence of numerous calliphorids is curious. Without a more precise taxonomic determination and additional ecological information, it is not possible to take this discussion further.

Material from between the floors

Secure contexts, which come from the archaeological matrix, are necessary for archaeoentomological sampling. The material from between the floors of Ranefer’s house provided sealed well-stratified deposits. The samples included a large amount of organic materials including plant remains both charred and desiccated. The archaeoentomological results indicate domestic refuse.


445

The bed bug Cimex lectularius

The genus Cimex includes two species noxious to humans, C. lectularius L., the common bed-bug, and C. hemipterus (F.), the tropical bed-bug. The more orbicular nature of the abdomen allows exclusion of the latter from the identification, but the pigeon-bug, C. columbarius Jenyns has been variously regarded as subspecific (cf. Southwood and Leston 1959) or distinct (Usinger 1966). The size of the Amarna specimens, and less securely the context, would support identification as C. lectularius and would also exclude the bat-bug, C. pipestrelli. Several specimens of the bed-bug occur in the material from the adjacent Workmen’s Village (Panagiotakopulu and Buckland 1999), and the single specimen from beneath the floor of Ranefer’s house does confirm the assumption that ectoparasites were likely to be as prevalent in the Main City, not differentiating between the rich and the poor. Whilst a traditional remedy referred to in the Ebers Papyrus of washing house walls with natron solution (Ebbell 1937) may have had some impact on flea populations, which clearly were a problem in the Workmen’s Village (Panagiotakopulu 2001a), since the minute crystals of the mineral would cut the tegument of the insect leading to desiccation, the more robust bed-bugs are less susceptible to this treatment, concealing themselves in cracks in wooden furniture and in bed linen, and may be particularly difficult to eradicate (Anon 1973).

The house fly, Musca domestica L.

The most frequent identifiable insect remains from deposits beneath the floors, present in most of the samples, consist of puparia of the common house fly, Musca domestica L. Whilst house flies will breed in a wide range of rotting organic material, Skidmore (1985) noted their preference for breeding in horse dung, and Hewitt (1914), in his monograph on the species, considered that horse dung and stables were the primary habitat of the species. It is possible that the source of the comminuted cereal debris and many of the pests of stored products lay in slightly infested grain fed to domestic animals, perhaps horses. Experiments by Osborne (1983) have shown that insect sclerites pass virtually unchanged through the human digestive system and the evidence from the Workmen’s

Plate 9.2. House of Ranefer: puparia of sarcophagid flies in the mudbrick floor surface of Room 1.


446

Village at Amarna indicates their passage through the gut of pigs (Panagiotakopulu 1999); it is probable that this also applies to the much less rigorous digestive regime of most herbivores. High numbers of the house fly pose significant health risks and are known to be associated with the transmission of several diseases from dysentery to the eye disease Trachoma, which remains endemic in the area. Amelia Edwards in her travel diary (1888) comments on the frequency of trachoma in Minya. The recognition of the importance of Diptera as vectors in the transmission of disease is a relatively recent development. In the spirit of the 19th century Edward Lane (1860) blames ‘exhalations from the soil’ for dysentery and ‘ophthalmia’. He notes however the abundance of flies. M. domestica remains the most common fly in Egypt and is responsible for the spread of various infections (Abd el-Halim et al. 2005).

The grain fauna

Much of the organic material between floors beneath Room 1 was both desiccated and charred cereal debris, and Sitophilus granarius L., the grain weevil, an apterous primary pest of stored cereals (Longstaff 1981), occurred amongst the abundant chaff in the deposit. This is now a cosmopolitan species, which is well known from a wide range of stored products, including corn, rye, barley, maize, oats, buckwheat, millet, and chickpeas; it has more rarely been found in chestnuts, acorns, and in corn meal (Hoffmann 1954) in barns, warehouses, stores, mills and dwellings (Koch 1992). This is perhaps the only species of beetle which has not been found in a natural habitat, although Howe (1965) has suggested that the primary host plant was oak, since it was able to breed in acorns. It is more probable, however, that the species lived in the subterranean nests of rodents, in the caryopses of wild cereals utilised as either bedding or food, in the region of the natural distribution of the wild progenitors probably of barley, which the species appears to have a preference for. From such small-scale habitats in the Fertile Crescent, S. granarius was able to move with synanthropic rodents to the more abundant and ultimately larger collections of grain in the storerooms of the earliest human collectors of cereals, occurring as early as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic at Atlit-Yam c. 7500 BP in Israel (Kislev et al. 2004). The weevil was probably then distributed with the seed corn of the earliest agriculturalists (Buckland 1991). Certainly by the time of its earliest record from Egypt, from offerings of grain in a tomb at Old Kingdom Saqqarah (Solomon 1965), it had already expanded across most of Europe (Schmidt 1998). Other Egyptian records include the Workmen’s Village at Amarna (Panagiotakopulu 2001b) and the Roman fort adjacent to the quarry site in the Eastern Desert at Mons Claudianus (Panagiotakopulu and van der Veen 1997). In these days of massive use of insecticides, it is salutary to note that before the Second World War, 5% of French corn production was destroyed by grain weevils. Cereals were both food and currency in pharaonic Egypt and the impact of S. granarius infestation on the centralised granaries and magazines in Amarna is likely to have been significant, exercising a tithe on all production.

The lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (L.), is represented by a single individual. This is a primary pest of cereals and other stored products, often found in mills, granaries, and open grain stores (shounas) in Egypt, where it may be a serious pest (Attia and Kamel 1965). It has been recorded from a wide variety of starch-rich grains, tubers, and seeds, including wheat, barley, millet, rice, maize, sorghum, juar, dried potatoes, manioc, roots, waternuts, as well as biscuits (Hickin 1968). Although now cosmopolitan, this species is a more typical pest of warmer, Mediterranean to dry tropical environments or heated stores, and Hill (1994) has suggested a South American origin, presumably based on the Linnaean name. Like the other common putative South American import, the saw-toothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.), however, the species has a respectable Old World fossil pedigree, including other records from Egypt, from Middle Kingdom Kahun (Panagiotakopulu 1998), in the contents of an alabaster (travertine) jar, presumably from a New Kingdom tomb in the Berlin Museum (Zacher 1934), and Roman Mons Claudianus (Panagiotakopulu and van der Veen 1997).

Currently, the earliest records of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Hbst) are from Amarna, with specimens, associated with its congener T. confusum Duval, in grain residues which had been fed to pigs in the Workmen’s


447

Village (Panagiotakopulu 1999) and a single example from beneath the floor of Room 1 in Ranefer’s house. The flour beetles are more frequently found in milled grain, but they will also attack damaged whole cereals (Andres 1931), particularly where previously damaged by other pests. T. castaneum has been observed in flight at the excavation house in Amarna, presumably from local stores of flour — it was present around the machinery of a mechanised corn mill in El-Hagg Qandil in 2002 — and outdoor records from under bark are widespread (cf. Horion 1956; Whitehead 1999), suggesting that this might be its natural habitat. Horion (1956) has suggested that the species originated in India, and it is likely to have been introduced to Amarna with stored products.

Palorus ratzeburgii (Wiss.), the small eyed flour beetle, is also present in the deposit. It occurs in farinaceous products (Andres 1931) particularly in mouldy grain, which has already been infested with weevils (Brendell 1975); Pals and Hakbijl (1992) suggest that it feeds primarily on the faecal pellets of Sitophilus. Koch (1989) also notes the beetle from under bark in Central Europe, which again is likely to be the species’ primary habitat. It is unfortunate that another tenebrionid beetle, Gnatocerus cf. cornutus could not be firmly identified to the species level. Two species, G. cornutus (F.) and G. maxillosus (F.) are minor pests of cereal and animal products (Brendell 1975), of which the former is recorded from stores and warehouses in Egypt (Andres 1931). Outside of the Amarna material, there is only one fossil record, of G. cornutus, from seventeenth century deposits in Boston, Massachusetts (Bain 1998).

The biscuit or drug store beetle, Stegobium paniceum L., occurred in the material from beneath Ranefer’s floor, as well as in samples from house floors in the Workmen’s Village. This now cosmopolitan pest is also recorded in material from Kahun (Panagiotakopulu 1998) and from the Tomb of Tutankhamun (Alfieri 1931). It acquired one of its vernacular names, the biscuit beetle, during the First World War from its frequent appearance in army biscuits (Munro 1966), and it feeds on a wide range of hard, dry, starchy, organic materials and seeds, including coriander and ginger (Hill 1994), as well as biscuits, dried meat and various other foodstuffs, especially farinaceous ones (Kingsolver 1991; Koch 1989).

As well as the identified insect remains, there was much evidence for the impact of the pests of stored products in the abundant charred barley in the deposit, with many of the grains showing evidence of damage by insects; gnaw marks also indicated the contemporary presence of some rodents, although no identifiable bones were recovered during sieving. Samples from the several contexts showed evident infestation levels of between 8.75% and 27.5%, but because the scale of preservation after partial consumption by pests and burning is largely unpredictable, it is not possible to extrapolate this evidence to discuss levels of loss. In addition, what was unpalatable to humans may still have been fed to domestic animals, as the evidence from the Workmen’s Village pig pens suggests (Panagiotakopulu 1999), although the detail of the indictment of a late medieval miller, one Thomas Sharp, in England is salutary, ‘for feeding corn that was so raw, racked and riven with weevils that it killed the hogs and capons which fed upon it’ (quoted in Buckland 1981). The build-up of carbon dioxide in underground stores is sufficient to control levels of loss to insect pests, since they are suffocated as the grain respires (Dendy and Elkington 1920), and to a certain extent, the crusting effect of the partial consumption of the grain by pests has a similar effect in shounas and heaps, although any aeration leads to further losses. Miller (1987) has argued that the scattering of fire ash around saddle querns at Amarna was an attempt to control insect pest problems, and Hakbijl (2002) has examined its use experimentally. A range of organic and inorganic insecticides, for which there is either archaeological or literary evidence for use in antiquity, has been considered by Panagiotakopulu and others (1995). Many, such as the burnt dung of gazelle mixed in water referred to in the Ebers Papyrus (XCVIII), are unlikely to have had much impact, whilst the aromatic nature of others, such as the coriander and fenugreek, found in the Tomb of Tutankhamun (Hepper 1990) would have had limited impact when mixed with cereals (Panagiotakopulu et al. 1995).

The remainder of the insect fauna from the site are not primary pests of storage or decaying plant or animal materials, but species which feed essentially either upon those insects or their detritus. One of the most frequent


448

beetles in the samples from the Workmen’s Village (Panagiotakopulu 1999) was the tenebrionid Alphitobius diaperinus (Panz.), the lesser mealworm, and this was similarly common in the material from Ranefer’s house. It has been recorded from a wide range of materials, from cereals to bones. It frequently occurs where there are large numbers of maggots and puparia, including those of the house fly, M. domestica (Brendell 1975; Despins et al. 1988), and it is probably primarily a predator on other insects and mites, although its larvae have also been noted boring into the flesh of dead and moribund bats (Crook et al. 1980). Populations may become sufficiently dense to lead to cannibalistic behaviour (Brendell 1975). Outside of Egypt, the only fossil records are from Roman sites in the north of England (Kenward and Allison 1995; Kenward et al. 1986); given its otherwise Old World primary distribution, as indicated by the fossil record, the specimen from a pre-Columbian Peruvian mummy in the Lima Museum (Riddle and Vreeland 1982) probably represents a later invasion. Similarly feeding largely on maggots and other insect larvae, Hister (s.l.) sp., also often occurs in dung and carrion (Koch 1989). Species of the dermestid genera Attagenus and Anthrenus may occur in grain-derived products and spices (Fogliazza and Pagani 1993; Peacock 1993), where they probably feed largely on the debris of other insects. Their larvae, often referred to as ‘woolly bears’, also feed on fur and feather, fragments of both of which occur in the deposits.

Another beetle associated with more foul conditions occurs in the deposits, namely fragments of the spider beetle Gibbium psylloides (Czen.), a flightless detrital feeder, sometimes found in damp, mouldy grain residues, but also in vegetable, leather and other animal products (Koch 1989). Recorded from granaries and mills (Dillon and Dillon 1972), there has been much confusion with its congener G. aequinoctiale Boield., and much habitat data cannot be confidently referred to either species, but the latter has been found burrowing into dry human faeces in warm, completely dark places (Constantine 1995). G. psylloides may be associated with similarly foul organic residues. Large numbers (Plate 9.3), apparently in tunnels which they had excavated, occur in a desiccated fragment of

Plate 9.3. Two individuals of Gibbium psylloides (approximately 2.5 mm each) dissected from desiccated fragment of organic material from deposit between the floors at Ranefer’s house.


449

organic material, which looks like dried faeces from the deposit, and there are also large numbers in similar material stuck to the inside of a large potsherd (Pot 222). G. psylloides also occurs in material from the Tomb of Tutankhamun (Alfieri 1931), as well as one of the Manchester mummies (Curry 1979).

Further evidence of herbivore faeces or similarly rotted plant material is provided by the dung beetle, Aphodius sp, although as most species fly readily, its presence in the deposit may be accidental.

Dates

A large amount of date stones, Phoenix dactylifera L., several of them with the flesh of the fruit still preserved, was recovered under the floor of Room 5 (Plate 9.4). After examination it was evident that most of the dates were infested by insects and/or gnawed by rodents. In order to quantify systematically damage from insects, infestation traces were noted on 1250 dates stones. 73% of the date stones showed evidence of insect damages including emergence holes of the scolytid Coccotrypes dactyliperda (F.). In contrast with most other so-called bark beetles, this beetle lays its eggs on the surface of dates whilst on the palm. As soon as the larvae emerge, they burrow into the stone, where multiple generations may develop (El-Sherif et al. 1996; Zchori-Fein et al. 2006). It is difficult to be certain whether this deposit belongs to the first or the second phase of the house, but the relevant area during the first phase of the house, with its granaries, was used for storage and this provides an explanation for the volume of the deposit.

Relevant ethnographic examples indicates that mature fruits (tamr) were packed tightly in order to reduce infestation, often into goatskin sacks, palm leaf baskets, or mud bins. Large mud bins are used in Shatt el-Arab in the Gulf for large-scale storage (Barreveld 1993). They are reminiscent of Old Kingdom granaries, as a spout at the

Plate 9.4. House of Ranefer: desiccated datestones with evidence of insect and rodent attack.


450

bottom of the mud bin, which can be up to 2m high, is used for the collection of dates and date syrup (Barreveld 1993).

The deposit from beneath and west of Room 5 may be a residue of stored dates to be used for syrup, oil or perhaps as food supply for animals. Later, the waste may have been incorporated into the material built up below the floor of the later house.

The background fauna

Other elements of the fauna provide a little evidence for the natural environment of the area. Coccinella undecimpunctata L., the 11-spot ladybird, flies well and is ubiquitous in the cultivated areas of modern Egypt, feeding on aphids (Abdel-Galil et al. 1991), and its presence in the Ranefer deposit is matched by specimens from the Workmen’s Village. The presence of some trees, probably fruit trees, is implied by a small Scolytus sp. The most likely taxon is S. amygdali Guerin, a frequent pest of peach and apricot trees in Egypt (Hammad 1961), although insufficient remains of the single individual recovered to secure a firm identification. Similarly the one specimen of Bembidion could not be identified beyond the generic level, but most species fly readily and can be found at the present day on damp ground by the Nile, and on mud adjacent to irrigation ditches. There are a few indicators of arid conditions. The large tenebrionid Trachyderma hispida (Forsk.) is frequent in the dry desert environment, but can also be found scavenging in open shounas, mostly on wheat and barley (Attia and Kamel 1965). Whilst species of the tenebrionid genus Zophosis can be found running rapidly on the loose sand of the desert surface, they also are not uncommon in gardens in suburban areas and will also scavenge in shounas.

Plate 9.5. Greater part of a desert locus, Schistocerca gregaria L., recovered from beneath the floor of Room 1 of Ranefer’s house.


451

The greater part of a locust was recovered from the deposits beneath Room 1. This was identified to the species Schistocerca gregaria L., the desert locust (Plate 9.5). This could have been accidentally incorporated in the sediments, but it should be noted that locusts were a popular dish in several parts of the Old World (Beavis 1998; Panagiotakopulu 2001b), and the specimen could reflect food waste. High densities of desert locusts, combined with favourable weather conditions and lack of their usual food resources, can turn them to a major field pest, and they are recorded in the Bible as one of the plagues of Egypt (Book of Exodus 10:1–20). Several nymphs, probably of the same species, were also recovered from beneath the second-phase house floors, mainly from the natural sand deposits spread between the accumulations of debris, probably being accidentally incorporated in the sediments from their breeding area.

Dung

The presence of dung beetles, Aphodius sp. and Rhyssemus cf. algiricus Luc., and animal dung, including a fox pellet between the floors, amongst the structural materials may have another explanation than simple disposal of rubbish. In Thessaly, Greece, where mudbrick building was a family activity until about sixty years ago, the brick used for the floor had a different consistency from that used for the walls. The wall brick was made by mixing clay and straw in the right amounts to achieve the preferred consistency, whilst for the construction of the floors, instead of using straw the builders mixed in small amounts of dung. The reasoning behind this was that the partly digested materials in the dung were less evident in the floors, and the mixture had more plasticity. It was laid down by hand and occasionally by using a piece of wood. When the mixture became stable it would be levelled with a piece of wet cloth. A mixture of clay and dung was used for plastering floors and walls and ceilings, and much of the debris from beneath Ranefer’s house probably reflects the decaying debris of the earlier building itself. Fragments from the original ceiling, many coated with white or browny-pink paint, were notably rich in straw-impressions.

9.3.2 Grid 12

A slightly different picture is revealed from the deposits from Grid 12. Desert species are present in most of the samples, and the most frequent species is Trachyderma hispida. From a few Grid 12 contexts, however, there is a strong synanthropic signal.

Square R5

From R5 was also recovered a single specimen of the large, frequently synanthropic tenebrionid Blaps sp. The scarabs, Scarabaeus sp. (a female individual) and Scarabaeus sacer L. (a male individual), the sacred scarab (cf. Alfieri 1956), recovered from two areas in R5 imply the presence of herbivore dung. The scarab was a sacred insect for the ancient Egyptians and its hieroglyphic image transliterates to kheper ‘to come into existence’ (Erman and Grapow 1926–31, III: 260–5; Cambefort 1987). Although there was a belief that the beetle has no female form, scarabs work in pairs, male and female, roll the cow dung and bury it in the soil, where they dig a tunnel and nest chamber, and they mate. The larva pupates in the chamber and eventually the adult emerges. The suggestion has been made that the pyramids are idealised dung pats (Cambefort 1987; Hanski 1988).

During modern sampling dung beetles were quite rare, partly a reflection of the meticulous collection of dung for fuel, and the occurrence of two scarabs from the same area in Grid12 may suggest that dung, probably of cattle, had been brought in for a similar purpose, or if the same species, a buried brood ball in which the adults had died.


452

Square R6

Part of the material from square R6 was also possibly faecal, although the aggradation of seventeen near complete Trachyderma cf. hispida in a single mass (Plate 9.6) could be from another source, perhaps a cast crop pellet from a bird (cf. Girling 1977), perhaps a corvid perched on the structure. Hope’s (1842) examination of the gut contents of mummified sacred ibises, Threskiornis aethiopicus, fascinated the contemporary scientific world and put an end to the debate about the bird’s diet. Armchair ornithologists had decided that the shape of the beak precluded the bird feeding on insects, yet Hope’s dissection found the sacred scarab, S. sacer, and two large tenebrionids, Akis reflexa and Pimelia pilosa F. in the gut.

The pests of stored food Tribolium sp. and Alphitobius diaperinus, together with a few charred cereals and straw fragments, were recovered from the same area. Dung and domestic debris could have been also used as fuel, although further research is needed to provide more information on the use of the area. Petrie (1911) believed that straw was used as fuel during the Graeco-Roman period. Nicholson and Peltenburg (2000), in discussing Egyptian faience production, consider that this could not have been an efficient fuel and that dung used with wood would have been better.

Square R7

A concentration of 80 housefly, M. domestica, puparia (Plate 9.7) from a rubble deposit in Square R7 together with a single R. dominica indicates a very foul deposit. House flies thrive on rotten moist materials (Skidmore 1985), and this foul deposit in the rubble could be an indication of an accumulation of human faeces or other foul organic debris, either domestic or industrial.

Plate 9.6. Trachyderma hispida in bird pellet from Grid 12.


453

Square T5

M. domestica was also the most frequent fossil from T5. It occurred in the rubble which contained fragments of a ceramic oven and also from a dark layer, presumably organic. The concentration of six T. hispida from one sample could be another indication of bird faecal material.

Square S5

From a deposit of degraded mudbrick containing clumps of animal hair in S5, Musca domestica and a single puparium of Sphaeroceridae were recovered. Animal hair forms a good binding material for plaster (Ashurst and Ashurst 1988), and the use of ram’s hair for this purpose is still widespread in Greece (A. Panagiotatkopoulos pers. com); but since this was not a normal Egyptian practice this can probably be discounted. The presence of M. domestica in the S5 sample could indicate that other materials, perhaps domestic debris, dung or stable manure, had become incorporated into the mud of this deposit as well. Sphaeroceridae occur in various niches which range from carrion and refuse to fungi. They are troglodytic, being frequently found in caves. The single puparium found in the hair sample would probably indicate storage in a dark place.

9.4 Conclusions

The optimal preservation and recovery of both infested crops and pests raises several points for discussion. The insect faunas recovered from the contexts sealed beneath Ranefer’s house are almost wholly either pests of stored products or strongly synanthropic species, and, in contrast to samples from the Workmen’s Village

Plate 9.7. Fragments of Musca domestica from Grid 12. Average size of puparia approximately 2 mm.


454

(Panagiotakopulu 2001b and forthcoming), there is little evidence for the broader environment. This probably reflects the taphonomic problem of intermittent rapid accumulation, with little time for accretion of background fauna. It should be noted that few of the insects recovered included articulated sclerites and none of the dipterous puparia from beneath the floors were clearly in situ. The overall impression is of debris dumped largely after completion of its entomological cycle of decay, although some penecontemporaneous reworking and consumption is probable, particularly by Alphitobius diaperinus and the dermestids. During the later phase (II) of the house it is probable that similar processes took place in order to repair, and replace when necessary, mudbrick floors, where the plaster skins are likely to have required repair or replacement almost on an annual basis. The in situ sarcophagid puparia in the corner of Room 1 may indicate that at least towards the end organic debris was being left in dark corners, although equally they may reflect a short period, perhaps months rather than years, when the occupants were absent and carrion was brought in to be cleared out during refurbishment, leaving the puparia sealed beneath a later floor skim. With hindsight, a more detailed forensic examination during excavation may have shed light upon this, although Peet’s clearing of the Phase II house had been fairly thorough.

Archaeological interpretation primarily depends on good excavation and effective recording, but it is also determined by taphonomy and preservation. As Peet (COA I: 13–14) noted, the nature of the contexts makes it impossible to assign precise time spans for individual archaeological layers, although occasionally forensic entomological evidence can be used to narrow down the timespan (e.g. Panagiotakopulu et al. 2007). Even in the almost total preservation conditions offered by this part of the Amarna site, and despite the application of a range of techniques, the detailed history of the accumulated deposits at the Ranefer house remains uncertain.

The infested cereals and dates recovered from Rooms 1 and 5 reveal a facet of the economy and life of the settlement not otherwise available; life was not as ideal as depicted on the walls of the rock tombs at Amarna, or indeed elsewhere (Strouhal 1996). Whilst artists’ reconstructions of house interiors tend to give the impression of clean, light, airy interiors, thick deposits of soot have been noted on ceiling fragments from the densely packed houses of the Workmen’s Village, a few kilometres to the east of the main city (Kemp in AR III: 19). Whilst the houses of the city’s elite were perhaps less squalid, many rooms may have been penetrated by little natural light, relying on smoky animal fat-fuelled lamps for dim illumination. In such circumstances, large numbers of emerging flies, bed-bugs and insect-infested food may have been only a few of numerous irritations.

Stored crops could suffer levels of infestation which might render them unfit for human consumption but they could still be fed to domestic animals. As modern experience testifies (cf. Abate et al. 2000), losses from insect and other infestation could be almost total, leading to famine. There is some evidence for attempts to mitigate losses in antiquity (Panagiotakopulu et al. 1995), although it is uncertain how efficient such methods were. Much of the infested foods would either be totally consumed by insects and/or rodents, or become extremely fragile and unlikely to be recognisable after extensive infestation and simply vanish. In severe infestation cases, burning could be used to control infestation (Buckland 1982). As a result, any attempted estimates for the scale of crop losses are unlikely to be anywhere near reality. Infested residues had to be disposed of, frequently ending up in general midden materials, and being dumped into any convenient abandoned space.

In the absence of inscriptions or seals, there is no way to be certain that Ranefer was the owner of the house for the duration of both its phases. Perhaps he acquired the plot and used it to build a larger residence. During the construction of the second phase of the house, eroded mudbrick and rubbish were used as building materials, to level a platform in order to build the new residence. The city’s garbage is strictly domestic debris from an urban area lacking any indicators for natural or semi-natural environment. Dung from herbivores and bird dung was used in the Main City as a construction material and perhaps also as fuel. Further research from targeted areas in the Main City, as well as the recently discovered cemeteries, will provide information on Akhenaten’s short


455

lived capital and its surrounding environments and aid create a more data based understanding of New Kingdom Egypt, away from the idealised projections of the tomb paintings.

Acknowledgements

The initial study of insect remains from Amarna formed part of a Leverhulme Trust grant to Jon Sadler at the University of Birmingham. Thanks are due to the late Peter Skidmore for his comments on the Diptera.


456

Room 1 Room 2 Room 5 Room 15

Taxon 10035 10029 10037U 10037M 10027 10030 10036 10357*

10567 in Pot 222

10046 10084 10351 10395

Coleoptera

indet. 1

Carabidae

indet. 1

Bembidion sp. 1

Histeridae

Gnathoncus sp. 2

Gnathoncus spp. 5

Hister sp.

Dermestidae

Attagenus sp. 1

Anthrenus sp. 1

Cryptophagidae

Cryptophagus sp. 1

Coccinellidae

Coccinella undecimpunctata (L.)

2 1 3

Bostrychidae

Rhizopertha dominica (F.) 1

Anobiidae

Stegobium paniceum (L.) 1

Ptinidae

Gibbium psylloides (Czen.) ff ffff

Tenebrionidae

indet. 1 1 1 1 1 1

Zophosis sp. 1

Trachyderma hispida (Forsk.) 1 2 1 1 3

Blaps cf. mucronata (Latr.)

Palorus ratzeburgii (Wiss.) 1

Tribolium castaneum (Hbst.) 1

Tribolium sp.

Alphitobius diaperinus (Panz.) 6 1 1

Gnatocerus sp. 1

Scarabaeidae

Aphodiinae

indet. 1

Table 9.1. Archaeoentomological remains from Ranefer’s house. All samples are from beneath the floors of their respective rooms with the exception of sample 10357*. Pot 222 came from deposits beneath the floor of Room 1.ff = fragments ffff = many fragments


457

Room 1 Room 2 Room 5 Room 15

Taxon 10035 10029 10037U 10037M 10027 10030 10036 10357*

10567 in Pot 222

10046 10084 10351 10395

Aphodius sp. 1 1

Scarabaeus sacer (L.)

Scarabaeus sp.

Rhyssemus cf. algiricus (Luc.) 1

Bruchidae

Bruchus sp.

Scolytidae

Scolytus sp. 1 1

Curculionidae

indet.

Sitophilus granarius (L.) 1

Diptera

Muscidae

Musca domestica (L.) ffs ff 18 ffff ff 3

Sphaeroceridae

indet.

Sarcophagidae

indet. 91

Orthoptera

Akrididae

Schistocerca gregaria (L.) 6 3

Hemiptera

Cimicidae

Cimex lectualrius (L.) 1

Hymenoptera

indet. 13

Scorpionidae

indet.

Table 9.1 cont.


458

Q6

R5

R6

R7

S5S6

T5

U6

U7

Tax

on10

298

1028

310

293

1027

310

535

1064

610

667

1046

810

529

1046

110

903

1030

110

350

1041

910

511

1052

710

528

1030

510

466

1043

110

304

1033

910

514

1044

310

957

1092

2

Col

eopt

era

Car

abid

ae

inde

t.1

Bem

bidi

on s

p.

His

teri

dae

Gna

thon

cus s

p.1

1

Gna

thon

cus s

pp.

His

ter s

p.

Der

mes

tidae

Atta

genu

s sp.

Anth

renu

s sp.

1

Cry

ptop

hagi

dae

Cryp

toph

agus

sp.

1

Coc

cine

llida

e

Cocc

inel

la

unde

cim

punc

tata

L.

Bost

rych

idae

Rhi

zope

rtha

do

min

ica

(F.)

1

Ano

biid

ae

Steg

obiu

m

pani

ceum

(L.)

Ptin

idaeTa

ble

9.2.

Arc

haeo

ento

mol

ogic

al re

mai

ns fr

om G

rid

12.

ff =

frag

men

ts

ffff

= m

any

fragm

ents


459

Q6

R5

R6

R7

S5S6

T5

U6

U7

Tax

on10

298

1028

310

293

1027

310

535

1064

610

667

1046

810

529

1046

110

903

1030

110

350

1041

910

511

1052

710

528

1030

510

466

1043

110

304

1033

910

514

1044

310

957

1092

2

Gib

bium

psy

lloid

es

(Cze

n.)

Tene

brio

nida

e

inde

t.2

Zoph

osis

sp.

Trac

hyde

rma

hisp

ida

(For

sk.)

11

171

11

11

26

2

Blap

s cf.

muc

rona

ta

Latr

.1

Palo

rus r

atze

burg

ii (W

iss.

)

Trib

oliu

m

cast

aneu

m (H

bst.)

Trib

oliu

m s

p.2

Alph

itobi

us

diap

erin

us (P

anz.

)1

Gna

toce

rus s

p.

Scar

abae

idae

Aph

odiin

ae

inde

t.

Apho

dius

sp.

Scar

abae

us sa

cer L

.1

1

Scar

abae

us s

p.

Rhy

ssem

us c

f. al

giri

cus L

uc.

Tabl

e 9.

2 co

nt.


460

Q6

R5

R6

R7

S5S6

T5

U6

U7

Tax

on10

298

1028

310

293

1027

310

535

1064

610

667

1046

810

529

1046

110

903

1030

110

350

1041

910

511

1052

710

528

1030

510

466

1043

110

304

1033

910

514

1044

310

957

1092

2

Bruc

hida

e

Bruc

hus s

p.1

Scol

ytid

ae

Scol

ytus

sp.

Cur

culio

nida

e

inde

t.1

Sito

philu

s gra

nari

us

(L.)

Dip

tera

Mus

cida

e

Mus

ca d

omes

tica

L.80

fff1

84

Spha

eroc

erid

ae

inde

t.1

Sarc

opha

gida

e

inde

t.

Ort

hopt

era

Akr

idid

ae

Schi

stoc

erca

gr

egar

ia L

.

Hem

ipte

ra

Cim

icid

ae

Cim

ex le

ctua

lrius

L.

Hym

enop

tera

inde

t.1

11

11

12

1

Scor

pion

idae

inde

t.1

Tabl

e 9.

2 co

nt.


461

Taxon 10853 10856 10860 10864

Coleoptera

Carabidae

indet.

Bembidion sp.

Histeridae

Gnathoncus sp.

Gnathoncus spp.

Hister sp.

Dermestidae

Attagenus sp.

Anthrenus sp.

Cryptophagidae

Cryptophagus sp.

Coccinellidae

Coccinella undecimpunctata L.

Bostrychidae

Rhizopertha dominica (F.)

Anobiidae

Stegobium paniceum (L.)

Ptinidae

Gibbium psylloides (Czen.)

Tenebrionidae

indet.

Zophosis sp.

Trachyderma hispida (Forsk.)

Blaps cf. mucronata Latr.

Palorus ratzeburgii (Wiss.)

Tribolium castaneum (Hbst.)

Tribolium sp.

Alphitobius diaperinus (Panz.)

Gnatocerus sp.

Scarabaeidae

Aphodiinae

indet.

Aphodius sp.

Scarabaeus sacer L.

Scarabaeus sp.

Rhyssemus cf. algiricus Luc.

Bruchidae

Bruchus sp.

Taxon 10853 10856 10860 10864

Scolytidae

Scolytus sp.

Curculionidae

indet.

Sitophilus granarius (L.)

Diptera

Muscidae

Musca domestica L.

Sphaeroceridae

indet.

Sarcophagidae

indet.

Orthoptera

Akrididae

Schistocerca gregaria L.

Hemiptera

Cimicidae

Cimex lectualrius L.

Hymenoptera

indet. 2 6 1 14

Scorpionidae

indet.

Table 9.3. Archaeoentomological remains from N50.23. ff = fragments ffff = many fragments


462

Documents

The environmental evidence. In B. J. Kemp Tell el-Amarna 2001-2