New data from old bones

Using bioarchaeology and forensics to reassess legacy data from ancient Abydos, Egypt

Bibliographic Data

ID24219210
AuthorsRoselyn A Campbell (0000-0001-8936-369X, Department of Anthropology, Purdue University)
Year2026
Volume5
Publication date2026-10-05
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Environmental Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2813-432X • E-ISSN: 2813-432X
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fearc.2026.1858940
OpenAlexW7219618324
References cited47

Introduction Despite the wealth of preserved human remains from ancient Egypt and Nubia, archaeologists have traditionally focused heavily on burial goods and context in the interpretation of interments, and many historical excavations did not include experts in human anatomy as part of their permanent team. Even today, many interpretations rely on the opinions of previous excavators with questionable or outdated expertise in the analysis of human remains rather than updated analyses. One example of just such a scenario is that of the subsidiary burials around the First Dynasty (c.3078–2900 BCE) royal funerary complexes at Umm el-Qaab in Abydos, where hundreds of court officials and craftspeople were interred around the burials of the early kings. When these burials were first excavated early in the 20th century, excavators believed that these subsidiary burials were the remains of sacrificed officials, but also noted that evidence of physical trauma was lacking, spawning decades of debate over whether human sacrifice, and specifically retainer sacrifice, was actually practiced in ancient Egypt. Methods Using the Abydos example as a case study, this article will consider how important advances in forensic and bioarchaeological research, as well as the holistic examination that characterizes bioarchaeology as a field, allow us to not only reinterpret many of the legacy collections excavated in the past few centuries, but also fundamentally reshape the way we interpret ancient Egyptian and Nubian society. Results Modern analysis has indicated that not only is perimortem trauma present on the remains of many individuals from the subsidiary burials at Abydos, but that the original probably excavators observed these injuries and simply misinterpreted them as postmortem damage. Discussion Advances in our knowledge of trauma etiology, taphonomy, and the nuances of socioeconomic status as represented in burials allow us to reassess the original conclusions drawn by excavators from their analyses a century ago. The goal of this study is to promote the reassessment of legacy data collections and consider how our understanding of the past may be reshaped by updated methods of analysis.

Abydos · ancient Egyptian funerary practices · First Dynasty · Human sacrifice · perimortem trauma · Taphonomy · Umm el Qaab · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases

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