Craft specialization and the development of complex society in Predynastic Egypt

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K03167
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Archaeology
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Baba Masahiro 早稲田大学, 総合研究機構, 客員主任研究員 (00386583)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: エジプト考古学 / 古代文明学 / 国家形成 / 社会複雑化 / 専業化 / 古代ビール

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research aims to examine craft specialization and the complex society during the formative stages of Egyptian civilization. Craft specialization in Predynastic Egypt has been discussed mainly through the study of luxury goods from graves. However, excavations at Hierakonpolis provide a rare opportunity to examine this topic from non-funerary remains; a installation for beer and pottery production, and a mud-brick structure for fish and meat preparation. The evidence for intensive production on a large scale indicates that at Hierakonpolis, specialized activities had emerged by the early Naqada II period. This is the first specialization of manufacture in Egypt which could be by “attached specialists” to the elites. It is probable that from the late Naqada II onwards, the specialized production as a new economic package distributed across the whole Egypt. This sheds new light on aspects of the social transformation just before the emergence of Egyptian civilization.

Free Research Field

エジプト考古学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

エジプト先王朝時代における専業化は、これまでも研究の対象となってきた。ただし、実証的な分析は行われていない。主に、製品から看取される技術の熟練度や手間と時間を指標に推察しているのみである。この点において、生産遺構の発掘調査資料に立脚した本研究は、考古学的コンテキストから専業度、規模、地理的関係、生産者と消費者の関係という専業化指標の帰納的分析、生産形態と社会状況の考察を具体的に行った最初の例といえる。また、エジプト最古のビール醸造に関して、理化学的分析によるビールの同定とレシピを解明できたことは、ビールが現在でも愛飲されていることからも、本研究の社会的意義は小さくないであろう。