Defining the Foundation Deposit in the Late and Ptolemaic Periods

Abstract

In this article, we take a closer look at the process and contents of caching in the Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara. Most of the contents of the approximately 68 caches are unpublished, but we are using the information preserved in the excavation archive held at the Egypt Exploration Society in London. This study has three parts. First, we take a closer look at the conceptual categorization of caches, followed by a review of a particular deposition practice, that of foundation deposits. Then we consider in detail four caches of bronzes found during British excavations at the North Saqqara Sacred Animal Necropolis. Finally, we argue that these caches point towards a conceptual blending of foundation deposits with other categorizations of caches in the Late and Ptolemaic periods, opening up the possibility that new types of foundation deposits, otherwise unrecognized, may be added to the known corpus.