TESTS 2018-2019 (Saqqara)

Within the framework of a MoU between Politecnico di Milano and Museo Egizio, Torino, LIFE collaborates with the joint Turin/Leiden archaeological mission to Saqqara, led by Museo Egizio, Torino and Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.

Team members of LIFE so far participated to the 2018 and 2019 seasons of the Turin/Leiden mission and had the chance to test on the field methods and techniques that will be later applied to Umm al-Dabadib, when the desert re-opens to archaeological missions.

In 2018 LIFE started three lines of research applied to the field: the three-dimensional survey of the stratigraphy, the construction of an overall three-dimensional model of the entire concession and the survey of narrow and dark spaces. Some of the preliminary results have been published and can be found here.

During the 2019 season the three methodologies were refined and improved, and further tests will be carried out before the 2020 season. Hopefully they will be later applied at Umm al-Dabadib, respectively on the excavations planned within the Fortified Settlement, the overall site and the interior of the subterranean aqueducts.

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizion 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement n°  681673).