Salima Ikram is a Distinguished University Professor of Egyptology at The American University in Cairo and has worked as an archaeologist in Turkey, Sudan, Greece and the United States. After double majoring in history and classical and near eastern archaeology at Bryn Mawr College, United States, she received her MPhil in museology and Egyptian archaeology and PhD in Egyptian archaeology from Cambridge University. She previously directed the Animal Mummy Project, the North Kharga Darb Ain Amur Survey, Valley of the Kings KV10/KV63 Mission co-directed the Predynastic Gallery project and the North Kharga Oasis Survey. She has also participated in several other archaeological missions throughout Egypt. She has lectured on her work internationally and publishes in both scholarly and popular journals. She also has an active media presence.
Egyptian Bioarchaeology: Humans, Animals, and the Environment pdf by Salima Ikram
Although the bioarchaeology (study of biological remains in an archaeological context) of Egypt has been documented in a desultory way for many decades, it is only recently that it has become an inherent part of excavations in Egypt. This volume consists of a series of essays that explore how ancient plant, animal, and human remains should be studied, and how, when they are integrated with texts, images, and artifacts, they can contribute to our understanding of the history, environment, and culture of ancient Egypt in a holistic manner.
Topics covered in this volume relating to human remains include analyses of royal, elite and poor cemeteries of different eras, case studies on specific mummies, identification of different diseases in human remains, an overview of the state of palaeopathology in Egypt, how to analyze burials to establish season of death, the use of bodies to elucidate life stories, the potential of visceral remains in identifying individuals as well as diseases that they might have had, and a protocol for studying mummies. Faunal remains are represented by a study of a canine cemetery and a discussion of cat species that were mummified, and dendroarchaeology is represented by an overview of its potentials and pitfalls for dating Egyptian remains and revising its chronology.
Leading international specialists from varied disciplines including physical anthropology, radiology, archaeozoology, Egyptology, and dendrochronology have contributed to this groundbreaking volume of essays that will no doubt provide much fodder for thought, and will be of interest to scholars and laypeople alike.