Obsidian Vessels and Eye Inlays from Naqada and Abydos in the Collection of the Garstang Museum, Liverpool, UK

Abstract

Nine unpublished obsidian artefacts (one cosmetics jar, two vessel fragments, and six eye inlays) from the Garstang Museum collection are presented, with the aim of patching gaps in the current record concerning their excavation contexts and material properties, which were presumably detailed in John Garstang’s now-lost excavation report/notes. The objects date to the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods, and five objects were matched to those described in previous archival research on Garstang’s Abydos excavations. SEM-EDS was conducted to characterise the material compositions and make a preliminary assessment of the obsidian’s provenance. It is suggested that the obsidian for the three vessels (analyses on prepared surfaces) may have originated in the region of modern Eritrea and Ethiopia, but the eye inlays (non-destructive analyses on raw surfaces) could not be matched to any geological obsidian source, highlighting the difficulties with balancing object preservation and analytical quality in researching museum collections.