Project description
Unveiling cartonnage secrets
Studies on the ancient craft of mummification processes and the impressive cartonnage artefacts covering bodies or faces of the dead is of great scientific significance. It still hides many secrets that could be unveiled with the help of new technologies. The EU-funded CRAFT project aims to study unresearched issues concerning manufacturing mummy masks, foot-cases, or body covers of the Graeco-Roman funerary cartonnage from the Fayum Oasis, Egypt. This ground-breaking, multidisciplinary study combines enhanced, non-invasive archaeometry analysis with high-resolution 3D reconstructions of preserved artefacts in international museums. It will enrich the understanding of social and cultural Graeco-Roman cartonnage artefacts’ role and enhance collaborations in the preservation of cultural heritage.
Objective
CRAFT aims to investigate Graeco-Roman funerary cartonnage from the Fayum Oasis, Egypt. The project raises and addresses new questions about the manufacturing of Ancient Egyptian cartonnage artefacts (mummy masks, foot-cases, full body covers) with an innovative approach that focuses on the multi-disciplinary study of such objects, never analysed in depth before. Through an Egyptological approach combined with enhanced, non-invasive archaeometric investigations, as well as with high-resolution 3D reconstructions of artefacts preserved in international museums, CRAFT will generate an unparalleled understanding of Graeco-Roman cartonnage artefacts and the socio-cultural milieu within which they were manufactured. Expected outcomes include advanced research collaborations, addressing questions of cultural heritage preservation, determining provenance, influences, regional features, and religious significance of a so far uninvestigated category of funerary objects.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
00185 Roma
Italy