“Nubian” archers in Avaris: A study of culture historical reasoning in archaeology of Egypt
“Nubian” archers in Avaris: A study of culture historical reasoning in archaeology of Egypt

Summary/Abstract: The archaeology of Egypt is in world archaeological circles widely regarded as non-theoretical in a negative sense. The consequence of such a state of the discipline are often uncritical uses of concepts and models which were under heavy critique in archaeology since the 1960s. This paper examines the culture-historical reasoning inarchaeology of Egypt by analysing the arguments provided for the presence of “Nubian” archers in Avaris (Tell el-Dabca). Their presence in Tell el-Dabca is often argued with the presence of Nubian pottery, arrowheads and skeletal remains. This paper analyses the way these finds of different date and contexts, are brought together in a coherent archaeological narrative. It is argued that the finds were identified as Nubian and mutually related because of the cultural-historical reasoning taken as an unquestionable interpretative model, a hidden theory.

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