This volume contains twenty-five papers presented at the Third International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project held in Melbourne in 2000, plus several other invited papers, which together reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the project. Five deal with Pleistocene and Holocene archaeology, including the first charaterization of the Older Middle Stone Age culture of the Oasis; there are three on pharaonic archaeology and fifteen devoted to Roman period Kellis. They include: discussions of the most recent archaeological work; the first detailed publication of a unique glass jug decorated with scenes of combatant gladiators, accompanied by colour images; and specialist reports on human skeletal remains.
Editor's Preface
Conference programme
Prehistory
Strategies for Studying Pleistocene Archaeology based on Surface Evidence: First Characterization of an Older Middle Stone Age Unit, Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt (Maxine R. Kleindienst)
The Early Holocene Masara A and Masara C Cultural Sub-Units of Dakhleh Oasis, within a Wider Cultural Setting (Mary M. A. McDonald)
Health and Disease of Neolithic Remains from Sheikh Muftah, Dakhleh Oasis (Jennifer L. Thompson and Gwyn D. Madden)
Interregional Contacts with the Sudan: Ceramic Evidence from the Mid-Holocene Period (Ashten R. Warfe)
Environment
Hyaenas in the Dakhleh Oasis II (Charles S. Churcher)
Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Fossil-Spring Tufa Deposits, Western Desert, Egypt: Implications for Palaeoclimatic Interpretations (Jennifer R. Smith and Robert F. Giegengack)
Historical Archaeology I: Pharaonic Period
La Ceramique Datee de la Fin de la XIIIe Dynastie (Deuxieme Periode Intermediaire) Decouverte en Contexte Urbain a 'Ain Aseel (Oases de Dakhleh) (Sylvie Marchand)
'Ain el-Gazzareen: Developments in the Old Kingdom Settlement (Anthony J. Mills and Olaf E. Kaper)
Magnetic Survey at 'Ain el-Gazzareen (Tatyana N. Smekalova, Anthony J. Mills and Tomasz Herbich)
Historical Archaeology II: Ptolmaic-Roman Period at Kellis
Bio-anthropological Features of Human Mummies in Kellis I Cemetery: The Database for Mummification Methods (Arthur C. Aufderheide, Larry Cartmell and Michael Zlonis)
The Small East Church at Ismant el-Kharab (Gillian E. Bowen)
Some Observations on Christian Burial Practices at Kellis (Gillian E. Bowen)
A Preliminary Analysis of the Human Skeletal Remains from North Tombs 1 and 2 (Tosha L. Dupras and Matthew W. Tocheri)
Preliminary Analysis of the Human Skeletal Remains from South Tomb 4 (Tosha L. Dupras and Matthew W. Tocheri)
Report on the editing of both the Coptic and Manichean Texts from Ismant el-Kharab (Iain Gardner)
The Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab from 2000 to 2002 (Colin A. Hope)
The Gladiator Jug from Ismant el-Kharab (Colin A. Hope and Helen V. Whitehouse)
The God Tutu at Kellis: On Two Stelae Found at Ismant el-Kharab in 2000 (Olaf E. Kaper)
The Decoration of North Tomb I (Olaf E. Kaper)
Ancient Antibiotics: Evidence of Tetracycline in Human and Animal Bone from Kellis (Corey Maggiano, Tosha L. Dupras and John Biggerstaff)
Late Roman Period Human Skeletal Remains from Areas D/6 and D/7 and North Tomb I at Kellis (J. Eldon Molto, Peter Sheldrick, Antonietta Cerroni and Scott Haddow)
A Preliminary Report on the Analysis of Organic Materials from Ismant el-Kharab (Andrew Ross and Benjamin Stern)
The Chronology of Kellis 2: The Interpretative Significance of Radiocarbon Dating of Human Remains (Joe D. Stewart, J. Eldon Molto and Paula J. Reimer); A Mythological Ostrakon from Kellis (Klaas A. Worp)
