A complementary validation of Egyptian faience jewellery reconstruction using elemental and statistical analyses

Jewellery made from faience beads are frequently recovered from Middle Kingdom tombs at Abydos, Egypt. Through the passage of time, many of these artefacts became displaced from their original context due to post-depositional disturbances. We measured the elemental compositions of nine beaded faience artefacts to determine whether or not it was possible to infer the original arrangements of separate, multicomponent artefacts. Using statistical analyses of the elemental compositions, we demonstrated that it is possible to reconstruct the configurations of nine faience artefacts as defined by the groupings listed in their excavation reports.