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Department of Archaeology

Current Research Postgraduates

Mr Francis Lankester

Research Topic

Rock Art in Egypt’s Eastern Desert.

Abstract

Many boat petroglyphs have been recorded in the Nile Valley. In addition to those, there are many more boats that have been found in Egypt’s Eastern Desert. My doctoral research will focus on a roughly rectangular area of the Eastern Desert, between 25° 00´ N to 26° 05´E and 33° 15´ N to 33° 45´ E. This area measures about 125 by 50 km (about 6,250 sq km, only about 3% of the whole territory covered by this desert).

In my research area fifteen wadis were surveyed and partly published before the start of my doctoral work. The principal sources considered here are the Eastern Desert (2000) and Rock Art Topographical (2002) surveys. These projects were inspired by the work of Weigall (1909), Fuchs (1989, 1991), and especially that of Hans Winkler (1938) and the Robert Mond Expedition. The EDS and RATS surveys recorded/re-recorded 220 sites, including 120 new ones.

The aim of my thesis is to analyse the rock art found in Egypt's Eastern Desert, focusing in particular in the boat motifs. A classification and quantification of the different motifs found will be undertaken. In addition, an assessment of the combination of motifs will be carried out. Moreover, the thesis will propose a chronology for the different types of motifs in the light of other findings in the Nile Valley. Finally, in this thesis the location and accessibility of the rock art panels will be examined in order to identify possible spatial patterns both within the wadis and among the wadis.

Research Groups

  • Prehistory of Eurasia Research Group