Sequence Dating was a very important contribution to the methods of archaeology and anthropology. A man by the name of Flinders Petrie came up with a way to date pottery, and therefore determine the approximate age of an archaeological site. “Petrie was the first to recognize the chronological value of ceramics,” (Bard, 95). More specifically, Petrie used this system in Egypt to help date the many predynastic burial sites he had uncovered. The actual specifics of the dating system were a little over my head. It seemed that Petrie documented pottery from burials that he already knew the relative date of. Then, if and when, he found any similar pottery at other archaeological sites, then he knew that site was from the same relative time period. Eventually, Petrie’s Sequence Dating model was updated and reformed.
I found the information about Sequence Dating interesting, and actually quite amazing. Petrie took these objects that someone else could have found insignificant and turned them into a key piece of determining dates and times in history! I do believe that Sequence Dating ended up being used by archaeologists all over the world thanks to Petrie’s work in Egypt.
Another section I recently read about in the textbook was about Mortuary Analysis. I have always found the study of grave sites and mortuary practices to be extremely interesting and informational. The textbook discusses some of the mortuary rituals that took place during the Dynastic period. It is important to keep in mind that, “Although burials can provide much information for archaeologists, burial is only one means of disposing of the dead. How this is done and the form it takes reflect a number of beliefs in a society,” (Bard, 99). Burials tell archaeologists and historians a lot about a society’s beliefs about the afterlife – what the afterlife entails, how to get there, what a person needs after they die, etc. In Egypt, many grave sites and tombs were found with a large amount of “grave goods”. These grave goods included items such as ceramic pots, crafts, coins and other items of wealth, and sometimes even animals. The textbook states, “A number of tombs also contained the remains of animals. Both domesticated species … and wild species,” (Bard, 100). The animals could have been placed there as a sacrifice to the dead to honor them. Or, it is also possible that the animals were killed so that they could enter into the afterlife with the deceased person, and then be of service to the individual.
Overall, I found these particular subjects of Egyptian Archaeology very interesting and informative. I would love to learn even more in depth about these two topics.
I was also pretty amazed at what Flinders Petrie was able to do with sequence dating. That he could come up with this method of simply comparing pottery found in different mortuary sites and was able to build a chronology around it, and the fact that it is a common method still used today, even though it has been updated, is both remarkable and fascinating. Like you said, he found a way to take something most people would think of as pretty insignificant and helped determine a chronology, something that so many had struggled with previously, He added so much to our understanding of ancient Egypt and his findings still have an influence over how archaeologists work, even today. A lot of this was new information for me and I was a bit surprised to learn about his methods and to hear about what he was like as a person, but Petrie’s methods are no doubt very important to our understanding of ancient Egypt now. Mortuary rituals and analysis are also very fascinating. I also thought it was interesting that Bard mentioned that there was multiple ways ancient Egyptians disposed of their dead and how different methods of disposal reflected their beliefs. The concept of ‘grave goods’ was an interesting reflection of these beliefs. Like you said, they basically believed that they could take everything with them when they went to the underworld like, pots, moneys, and animals, for whatever reasons they say as fit. I agree, that I would love to delve more deeply into these topics and learn more about mummification and other ways they dealt with their dead and the beliefs they has associated with their methods.