From 4 to 6 November 2017 Giulio took part in the SAEMT (Science of Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technologies) Conference, organised in Cairo by the Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities and a number of international archaeological institutes and universities (ARCE, AUC, DAIK, EES, IFAO). During these intense three days 44 papers and 30 posters were presented in the extraordinary venue of the Prince Mohamed Ali Palace, in the beautiful island of El Manial along the Nile. This was a very important occasion to discuss the application of archaeological science approaches in the study of Egyptian Cultural Heritage. The conference kicked off with a speech by the Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and with keynote lectures from Paul Nicholson, Ian Shaw and Anna Kathrin Hodgkinson.
Giulio gave his paper ‘Out of the orphanage: Shedding new light on the ground stone tools from North African contexts through functional analysis’ in the session on ‘Agriculture and Food Technologies’. He presented the data coming from the Mediterranean and Saharan contexts he recently worked on together with Anita Radini, one of our very own MedAfrica friends. During his presentation, Giulio stressed the great potential of a combined application of use-wear analysis and micro-residues for a better understanding of the role that ground tools played in the complex relation between humans and plants in the North African past.
A very special thank for the brilliant organisation of the conference goes to Mennat-Allah El Dorry and Based Gehad.
The Conference hall at the Manial Palace (photo: Giulio Lucarini)
The Minister of Egyptian Antiquities Khaled El-Enany (photo: Giulio Lucarini)
Paul Nicholson (Cardiff University) keynote lecture 'Ancient Egyptian crafts and industries, cultural context of workshop organization and layout' (photo: Giulio Lucarini)
The SAEMT at the Egyptian Museum (photo: Giulio Lucarini)
Giulio Lucarini giving his talk 'Out of the orphanage: Shedding new light on the ground stone tools from North African contexts through functional analysis' (photo: Claire Malleson)
The concert of 'Light and Hope' orchestra organised for the SAEMT participants (photo: Giulio Lucarini)
The panel discussion at the end of the conference (photo: Giulio Lucarini)
