From individualized mummies to collective accumulations

An archaeothanatological analysis of funerary reuse in Theban Tomb 209 (Twenty-Fifth Dynasty–Ptolemaic Egypt)

Dados Bibliográficos

ID24033979
AutoresJared Carballo-Pérez (Leiden University), Miguel Ángel Molinero Polo (0000-0002-4892-3686, Universidad de La Laguna)
Ano2026
Volume5
Data de publicação2026-08-18
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoFrontiers in Environmental Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2813-432X • E-ISSN: 2813-432X
EditoraFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fearc.2026.1888379
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas30

Side Chamber 3 of Theban Tomb 209 (Luxor) preserves a stratified assemblage of 17 mummified bodies documented in primary or partially primary position, and a secondary deposit of at least 4 individuals dated between the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty and the Ptolemaic period. This study applies an integrated archaeothanatological approach—combining body position, coffin use, stratigraphic relationships, superposition, and material associations—to reconstruct the depositional sequence and assess how funerary reuse transformed the organization of the chamber. The earliest phases, probably associated with the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, are characterized by relatively individualized burials deposited in coffins and arranged in spatially distinct sectors. From the late Twenty-Fifth Dynasty onwards, this pattern becomes progressively more flexible, with new individuals inserted into already occupied spaces and directly interacting with earlier remains. During the Persian and Ptolemaic periods, this process intensifies, resulting in a dense and vertically structured accumulative system. This transformation does not imply a loss of funerary order, but rather a shift in depositional logic. The gradual dissolution of one-to-one relationships between body, coffin, and associated objects reflects the emergence of a sequential system in which each burial is conditioned by the material persistence of previous deposits. In this context, the coffin does not disappear but loses its primary structuring role, progressively replaced by a depositional topography defined by bodies, sedimentary surfaces, and architectural constraints. The presence of a thermally altered secondary deposit and evidence of hydrological reshaping further indicate that the chamber was continuously reconfigured, generating a complex context in which primary, secondary, and transformed deposits coexist.