Miners and mistresses

Middle Kingdom mining on the margins

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2405237
AutoresElizabeth Bloxam (Institute of Archaeology, University College London, autor de correspondencia)
Año2006
Volumen6
Número2
Páginas277-303
Fecha de publicación2006-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Social Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1469-6053 • E-ISSN: 1741-2951
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1469605306064244
OpenAlexW2011851477
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas28

Expeditions to procure gemstones from mines in Egypt's marginal territories during the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055-1650 BC) are generally perceived as representing centralized, bureaucratized and hierarchical missions to essentially monopolized resources. Traditional 'top-down' approaches to the social context of mining in this period assume the pivotal role of the state in controlling such endeavours through large-scale centrally organized expeditions, as deduced from the epigraphic record. This article advances a 'bottom-up' approach to gemstone mining in the Middle Kingdom by the deployment of cross-cultural and cross-level theories in social archaeology to microlevel production data at three key mining sites in Egypt's marginal territories. Strategies of engagement and negotiation at local levels to get access to a local labour force and the source, rather than monopolization and state controlled procurement, are forwarded as significant aspects of Middle Kingdom gemstone mining outside the Nile Valley. Feminine imagery at gemstone mines may have constituted a ritual and symbolic device to foster solidarity and cohesion among a local labour force in Egypt's marginal zones

Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Economics · Economy · Geography · Management · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Procurement · Solidarity · State (computer science · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Computer Science · Law