The lifecycle of pottery data

A case study in archival practice

A recent project in Aswan, Egypt, resulted in the discovery of an exceptionally large number of pottery fragments. While the large quantity of pottery in combination with the stratified contexts was seminal to the study authors in gaining more detailed insights into the commercial and social life of the inhabitants of Hellenistic, Roman and late antique Syene/Elephantine than expected, it also resulted in considerable problems regarding the publication of the data and the management of such large amounts of information.