6 Faunal Remains 6.1 Introduction – First insights into the archaeo-zoological record Excavations at the cemetery site of Helwan yielded a remarkable diversity of animal remains, but this study will only focus on material recovered from tombs 1 to 50 located in the area of Operation 4. The analysis of the faunal remains stored in the Facility for Archaeological Research at Helwan (FARAH) took place during six weeks of the 2011/12 season and was conducted by this author for the first time. 75 Since the archaeozoological investigations are still ongoing, the faunal assemblage, which is predominantly dated to the Early Dynastic Period, will only be briefly presented in this pre- liminary report. Hence tomb inventories are not listed in detail and interpretations are reduced to a minimum. 6.2 Methods Before the identification process could be started many of the recovered bone and shell fragments required cleaning. To achieve adequate visibility of the morphological traits, sandy incrustations were carefully removed with an ordinary paint brush and reconstruction work was carried out by mending broken skulls and postcranial bones using ‘UHU Hart’ where necessary. The anatomical and taxonomical determination is mainly based on the author’s experience. The aim was to identify each specimen to the highest level of taxonomic classification, otherwise lower ranks in the hierarchy of taxa were used. In difficult cases species identification was aided by pub- lished bone atlases 76 , as there were no comparative skeletons available at the site except for a mallard. 77 In addition, identification guides 78 were employed. Even though the differentiation criteria set out by BOESSNECK 79 were used, a morphological separation of domestic sheep and goat, which always raises some difficulties, was sometimes impossible due to the poor condition of the material. These specimen are identified as ‘ovicaprids’. Several photographs of all indeterminable specimens were taken to enable identifications at a later time. Through studies at the collections housed in the Natural History Museum Vienna, the magazine of the American excavation at Giza (AERA) and the American University in Cairo 80 the writer was able to establish the taxonomic identity of mammals, birds, fishes and reptiles by comparing digital images made during the field work at Helwan. For the purpose of naming the domestic animals the scientific nomenclature system proposed by BOHLKEN 81 was used. To facilitate an estimation of age at death, epiphyseal fusion of long bones was recorded. Further on dental eruption and wear of fourth deciduous premolars or third molars were noted as either slightly, moderately or heavily worn. Osteometric data was collected following the conventions out- lined by VON DEN DRIESCH 82 and will be published in a more comprehensive article. Evidence of butchery, burning, gnawing and diseases was recorded. 75 The faunal remains were the subject of a preliminary analysis by S. Ikram in 2005/06. I thank the director, E. Christiana Köhler, for inviting me to join the expedition. 76 P ALES/LAMBERT, Atlas ostéologique; SCHMID, Knochenatlas. 77 I am grateful to Richard Redding, Museum of Anthropology (University of Michigan), for the loan of his mallard skeleton and for supporting me with useful information. 78 OSBORN/HELMY , Mammals of Egypt; COHEN/SERJEANTSON, Identification of Bird Bones; WOELFLE, Vergleichend mor- phologische Untersuchungen. 79 BOESSNECK, in: Science in Archaeology. 80 My gratitude goes to Heinz Grillitsch and Richard Gemell, Herpetological Collection (NHM Vienna), as well as to Frank Zachos and Alexander Bibl, Mammal Collection (NHM Vienna), for giving me access to their scientific collec- tions. I would also like to thank Richard Redding, Museum of Anthropology (Michigan)/ Ancient Egypt Research Associates (Giza), and Salima Ikram, SAPE Department (AUC Cairo), for sharing their comparative material with me. 81 BOHLKEN, in: Zeitschrift für Tierzüchtung und Züchtungsbiologie 76. 82 VON DEN DRIESCH, Vermessen von Tierknochen.