The Production, Use and Importance of Flint Tools in the Archaic Period and the Old Kingdom in Egypt

This book seeks to explore the issues of production, use and importance of flint tools in the Archaic Period, known also as the Early Dynastic Period, and the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the epoch immediately following the unification of pre-state organisms of Upper and Lower Egypt into one political body. This volume provides an in-depth study of tools made of flint, which unceasingly fulfilled a major role in the period being considered. Flint, occurring in a number of varieties, substantially outnumbers other raw materials used for manufacturing tools, to wit: chalcedony, obsidian, quartzite, carnelian or rock crystal, all found in small or even minute amounts, which attests to their minor role in the first periods of Egyptian history. Notwithstanding a growing number of implements made of copper, then bronze, flint tools constituted an essential element of a broad-based culture, and not only material culture, in the Archaic Period, the Old Kingdom and beyond.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Production of Tools

Chapter 3: Types of Flint Artefacts in the Archaic Period and the Old Kingdom Chapter 4 Flint Assemblages from Recently Investigated Old Kingdom Sites

Chapter 5: Comparison of Flint Assemblages Dated to the Old Kingdom: Sites from Dakhla Oasis, Kom el Hisn and Elephantine

Chapter 6: El Kharafish

Chapter 7: Three Lithic Complexes

Chapter 8: The Importance of Flint Tools in the Culture of Early Dynasties of Egypt

Chapter 9: The Cognitive Potential of Flint Materials

Chapter 10: Continued Interest in Flint

Chapter 11: Conclusions

Appendix: Contribution to the Functional Identification of Flint Tools used during the Old Kingdom of Egypt. A Case Study of Kom el Hisn and Ain el Gazzareen by Małgorzata Winiarska-Kabacińska