Posted by Mary Anne Murray

Well, that was a long and interesting Giza Lab season!  The Giza Field Lab was open from January 8th and closed its doors on May 31st.  There were scheduled to be 36 specialists working in the Lab on the material culture and environmental evidence excavated from our sites in 2011, however due to recent events in Egypt only 24 specialists participated this time around.   The main objective of the 2011 season overall was to have each team member finish the analysis of their class of material culture from Area AA at Heit el-Ghurab (HeG) for publication,  including ceramics, all manner of artifacts, clay sealings, human bone, animal bone, plants, lithics, and pigments.   We… READ MORE »

Posted by Steve LaPidus

I have spent the last six weeks as a volunteer on the AERA Giza Plateau Project with some of the most interesting and knowledgeable people I have ever met. I went on a site tour set up for the team early on in the schedule. We had a chance to walk through the sites, to listen to presentations and to ask questions on the project’s operations. It was easy to understand why there was a requirement by the Egyptian Government and AERA to submit your security paperwork six months in advance. It is obvious how much thought goes into the selection of the team members because there are multiple openings on the project and for each… READ MORE »

Posted by Richard Redding

We returned to the pyramids on Monday, 7 February, for a full morning of work. Three packed vehicles drove off from the Villa at 7am.

We passed through the military checkpoint and headed up the to the plateau. It was eerily quiet, primarily because no humans were around, and then I noticed something else was missing. I saw no pigeons.

Normally pigeons roost on the pyramids in hundreds. They nest high up, on the steps, amongst the rocks and probably have done so for thousands of years. Indeed, the Great Pyramid has its own mini-ecosystem. I have seen insects of many types, foxes, rodents, snakes and many birds, including, not only the pigeons, but… READ MORE »