Digging in Egypt

Excavating in Egypt: recruiting specialists

According to the type of excavation and type of structures and artefacts found, it is useful to have certain specialists.

pottery expert: almost all excavations yield high numbers of pot sherds, the essential source of information on economic and social life, as well as the dating of the site.
human remains: at any cemetery site it is imperative to have bone specialists present for the on-site recording of human remains, not only for pathological data but more essentially for addressing questions of social history (class, ethnicity, age and sex)
botanical experts and experts for animal bones: specialists in these domains are needed in particular for processing finds from settlement sites
photographer: photographic pictures might be taken by members of the team, and on sites yielding fragile items of art historical importance it may be deemed necessary to have a professional photographer on hand

Evidently, not all these specialists need to be present at each excavation. Excavation almost always requires the presence of one or more pottery experts, and always an expert on human remains at the excavation of a cemetery, other categories of find might not appear very often; therefore some specialists may be needed for a shorter period only, perhaps in a later study season, to examine the objects for research purposes and for the final publication.