Ancient Fingerprints show that Egyptian Sculpture Was Collaborative
A new study of ancient Egyptian sculpture has taken a new approach by looking at the fingerprints left embedded in the artwork. A study of these fingerprints has revealed much about their working practices.
The study, by Oxford University PhD student Leonie Hoff and published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, uses the fingerprints to identify the sex and age of the various people who worked as sculptors in the ancient Egyptian port city of Thonis-Heracleion. The study focuses on locally produced ceramics and imported Greek figurines during the Late and Ptolemaic Periods from the seventh to the second centuries BC.
The city itself was a key harbor for Egypt close the Nile delta, and was lost to archaeology until it was rediscovered in 2000. Much of the city is currently underwater with the mud brick houses of commoners long since washed away, but we know from the historic records that it was a thriving trade hub.
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Of the 60 terracotta figurines so far collected from the ruins of Thonis-Heracleion, nine were found to have fingerprints from the sculptor still visible in the clay. It is hoped that more will be found in the future but even from this limited sample several conclusions can be drawn.
The Greek figurines which were a popular item in Thonis-Heracleion, and according to Greek tradition making these figurines was solely the work of men. But, as with many such stories, the claim is apparently not borne out by the facts.
The study has found that both men and women were working to sculpt the figurines, and even the fingerprints of children were found. Greek figurine-makers were not held in high esteem in their homeland, considered toy makers whose profession did not require much skill, which may be why children were used.
We know even less about ancient Egyptian figurine makers and the goods they produced locally, but it seems likely they used children as well. This makes some sense as with the Greek figurines: creating the figurines involved simply pressing wet clay into the figurine mold, a task which does not require very much skill or strength.
According to the study most of the fingerprints come from the inside of the figurine as a complete statue was made from two clamshell halves joined together. The analysis of the fingerprints suggests that the oldest sculptor was in their late twenties, and the youngest maybe ten years old.
Perhaps these myriad fingerprints might indicate that making these figurines was a family business, and that the Greeks were simply wrong to say it was only down to the men. There is some evidence that the fingerprints of children are associated with simpler aspects of the figurine, which could suggest a craft being taught.
Header Image: One of the clay figurines, and the impression of three fingerprints taken from the interior of another. Source: Oxford Journal of Archaeology.
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