Olivier P . Rochecouste
I am an independent researcher, who works as an Archaeologist and Heritage Consultant in Sydney, Australia.
I am a former Honorary Postdoctoral Associate at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. My main research interests involve analysing the mortuary remains of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods of ancient Egypt (c. 4000-2680 BCE) and the applications of transdisciplinary methodologies within the wider field of social anthropology. Furthermore, I have interests in using technological applications for Archaeology, such as GIS and 3D scanning for educational purposes.
From 2015-2019, I completed a Doctor of Philosophy at Macquarie University, writing a thesis titled ' Who are the Early Dynastic Elite? Evaluating Egyptian Elite Cemeteries dated to the First, Second and Third Dynasties'. This project provided a systematic and articulate analysis of dispersed archaeological evidence concerning the tombs of the elite social group of the Early Dynastic period.
From 2013-14, I completed a Master of Research with Distinction at Macquarie University, writing a thesis titled 'Tomb Story: The Elite of Early Egypt'. A theoretical dissertation that analyses the influences of 'Elite Theory' within the interpretations of 'elite tombs' of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods in connection with state formation theories.
From 2009-2012, I completed a Bachelor of Arts at Macquarie University.
Supervisors: Professor Yann Tristant
I am a former Honorary Postdoctoral Associate at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. My main research interests involve analysing the mortuary remains of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods of ancient Egypt (c. 4000-2680 BCE) and the applications of transdisciplinary methodologies within the wider field of social anthropology. Furthermore, I have interests in using technological applications for Archaeology, such as GIS and 3D scanning for educational purposes.
From 2015-2019, I completed a Doctor of Philosophy at Macquarie University, writing a thesis titled ' Who are the Early Dynastic Elite? Evaluating Egyptian Elite Cemeteries dated to the First, Second and Third Dynasties'. This project provided a systematic and articulate analysis of dispersed archaeological evidence concerning the tombs of the elite social group of the Early Dynastic period.
From 2013-14, I completed a Master of Research with Distinction at Macquarie University, writing a thesis titled 'Tomb Story: The Elite of Early Egypt'. A theoretical dissertation that analyses the influences of 'Elite Theory' within the interpretations of 'elite tombs' of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods in connection with state formation theories.
From 2009-2012, I completed a Bachelor of Arts at Macquarie University.
Supervisors: Professor Yann Tristant
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Edited Books by Olivier P . Rochecouste
ISBN: 9789042941403
Book Sections by Olivier P . Rochecouste
ISBN: 9789042942554
Journal Papers & Conference Proceedings on Egypt by Olivier P . Rochecouste
Papers by Olivier P . Rochecouste
Full download of article is now available.
Thesis Chapters by Olivier P . Rochecouste
The word ‘elite’ has been used since the late 19th century as a social category to define the ruling minority of modern society. The term however, has also been used by archaeologists to socially categorise individuals from the mortuary evidence who may represent institutions or ruling minorities of ancient societies. This has been applied to the study of the Egyptian Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods (4000–2545 BC) in order to outline the role of elite interaction within the development of the state. But textual sources are too vague to provide an explanation of elite interaction within various state formation theories, which can lead to numerous conclusions concerning the archaeological evidence. This thesis will discuss how the concept of elite theory has been utilised by Early Egyptian archaeologists, to interpret the material and textual evidence that is available at numerous sites; such as Hierakonpolis, Saqqara and Naqada. I will also focus on how modern terms, such as ‘elite’, are obstacles for interpreting the archaeological record and prevent a thoughtful recount of the people who lived during ancient Egypt’s earliest known times.
Book Reviews by Olivier P . Rochecouste
Assistance Acknowledged by Olivier P . Rochecouste
Conference Presentations by Olivier P . Rochecouste
Prompted by the new archaeological material this presentation aims to review all available evidence for Early Dynastic occupation at Gebelein, including the recent archaeological material discovered by the GAP surveys and past archaeological publications. Furthermore, consulting comparable Early Dynastic evidence from contemporary sites, such as Armant, Hierakonpolis and Elkab. This presentation’s outcome is to clarify the references for Early Dynastic archaeological evidence at Gebelein and contribute an updated understanding of the site’s occupational history at the dawn of Pharaonic Egypt.
the other hand, there are a greater quantity of tombs, labelled to be ‘elite’, that are found inside cemeteries that are also categorised to be ‘elite’ within different regional locations across Egypt.
The application of the word ‘elite’, implies that all these tombs are categorised to be similar with the same markers and traits within this archaeological ‘elite’ group. This social typology has been used to simplify certain tombs into distinct social groups that form part of a social system. But, it cannot be ignored that not all elite tombs within various cemeteries are similarly constructed, which could indicate different degrees of elite individuals to be accounted for.
This presentation wishes to discuss the methodology of this research that will examine these elite cemeteries from published inventories and to analyse them from a multiscale perspective; which includes regional location, cemetery location and tomb design. The outcome of this project is to consider what processes and conditions that affect the scale and distribution of these different elite cemeteries and the tombs that they contain. By studying these elite cemeteries and their variation of scale could provide information about the dynamics of proximity that the Early Dynastic elite had towards the royal family.
ISBN: 9789042941403
ISBN: 9789042942554
Full download of article is now available.
The word ‘elite’ has been used since the late 19th century as a social category to define the ruling minority of modern society. The term however, has also been used by archaeologists to socially categorise individuals from the mortuary evidence who may represent institutions or ruling minorities of ancient societies. This has been applied to the study of the Egyptian Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods (4000–2545 BC) in order to outline the role of elite interaction within the development of the state. But textual sources are too vague to provide an explanation of elite interaction within various state formation theories, which can lead to numerous conclusions concerning the archaeological evidence. This thesis will discuss how the concept of elite theory has been utilised by Early Egyptian archaeologists, to interpret the material and textual evidence that is available at numerous sites; such as Hierakonpolis, Saqqara and Naqada. I will also focus on how modern terms, such as ‘elite’, are obstacles for interpreting the archaeological record and prevent a thoughtful recount of the people who lived during ancient Egypt’s earliest known times.
Prompted by the new archaeological material this presentation aims to review all available evidence for Early Dynastic occupation at Gebelein, including the recent archaeological material discovered by the GAP surveys and past archaeological publications. Furthermore, consulting comparable Early Dynastic evidence from contemporary sites, such as Armant, Hierakonpolis and Elkab. This presentation’s outcome is to clarify the references for Early Dynastic archaeological evidence at Gebelein and contribute an updated understanding of the site’s occupational history at the dawn of Pharaonic Egypt.
the other hand, there are a greater quantity of tombs, labelled to be ‘elite’, that are found inside cemeteries that are also categorised to be ‘elite’ within different regional locations across Egypt.
The application of the word ‘elite’, implies that all these tombs are categorised to be similar with the same markers and traits within this archaeological ‘elite’ group. This social typology has been used to simplify certain tombs into distinct social groups that form part of a social system. But, it cannot be ignored that not all elite tombs within various cemeteries are similarly constructed, which could indicate different degrees of elite individuals to be accounted for.
This presentation wishes to discuss the methodology of this research that will examine these elite cemeteries from published inventories and to analyse them from a multiscale perspective; which includes regional location, cemetery location and tomb design. The outcome of this project is to consider what processes and conditions that affect the scale and distribution of these different elite cemeteries and the tombs that they contain. By studying these elite cemeteries and their variation of scale could provide information about the dynamics of proximity that the Early Dynastic elite had towards the royal family.
Due to the absence of contemporary textual evidence that would help to compliment such Predynastic mortuary evidence, theoretical approaches are relied upon and speculate that these tombs belonged to an emerging ‘elite’ group of individuals who had control over ‘specialised craft production’ at the time; hence signifying their positions of power within a developing complex ancient society. These theoretical interpretations are not original though and date back to Karl Marx’s (1818–1883) ‘relations of production’ materialist theories, which in turn were embraced and applied to archaeological theory by Vere Gordon Childe (1892-1957) through his ‘Urban Revolution’ hypothetical criteria. This presentation wishes to discuss how such theories from Marx and Childe have made a lasting effect on how Egyptian archaeologists interpret Predynastic mortuary evidence, especially how deceased tomb owners at the site of Hierakonpolis are considered to be ‘elite’ and the revolutionary roles they managed to initiate state formation in Egypt.
This has been applied to the study of the Egyptian Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods (4000–2545 BC) in order to outline the role of elite interaction within the development of the state. Textual sources however are too vague to provide an explanation of elite interaction within various state formation theories, which can lead to numerous conclusions concerning the archaeological evidence.
This paper will discuss how ‘elite theory’ has been utilised by Early Egyptian archaeologists to interpret the material and textual evidence that is available at sites, such as Hierakonpolis, Saqqara and Naqada. I will also focus on how modern terms, such as ‘elite’, are obstacles for interpreting the archaeological record and prevent a thoughtful recount of the people who lived during Ancient Egypt’s earliest known times.
This presentation aims to review the theme of identifying elites from the mortuary record by considering the literature which points out these elite tombs from these Early Dynastic cemeteries and their associated archaeological data. Constituting the funerary features of these elite tombs have been used to promote the emergence of state formation, including mortuary provisions for craft specialisation, written evidence for administrative activities and distinctive tomb architecture for social complexity. The funerary features used to highlight the presence of elite tombs from these cemeteries will be evaluated using an inductive approach, inspired by Jean Pascal Daloz, that involves evaluating whether any modalities of social distinction for elites can be accounted for from Early Dynastic tombs, whether they be external signs, embodied signs and/or vicarious signs of superiority. Determining the ‘superiority’ of these three modalities means to assess the utilitarian and symbolic qualities associated with archaeological evidence deemed to be beneficial for social standing purposes. The expected outcome is to determine what forms of archaeological evidence can be used to distinguish elite social groups for Early Dynastic studies, especially since the presence of elites are a crucial component for the origins of the first Egyptian state.
In 2015, NASC was co-hosted by archaeology students of both Macquarie University and the University of Sydney from the 14th-16th of August, hosting over 100 attendees, with over 30 papers and poster presentations from students nationwide. Keynote speakers included Professor Amanda Esterhuysen (University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa -https://wits.academia.edu/AmandaEsterhuysen) and Dr. Aedeen Cremin (University of Canberra - https://independent.academia.edu/aedeencremin).