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The Coffins in Context conference represented a chance to pause and consider what we have learned through coffins studies in recent years and the direction of future research. In light of this,
we prioritised papers addressing the following potential themes, rather than studies of individual coffins:
- The relationship between coffins, the dead and funerary practice, for example
- coffins with specific iconographic elements
- coffins with evidence of specific treatments (e.g. anointing)
- Recent finds, for example
- how to approach them
- how to disseminate information and tap into existing knowledge
- The role of museums in research, preservation and presentation of coffins
- Terminology and documentation, for example
- manuals for describing and recording coffins
- construction
- decoration/iconography
- condition
- agreed naming of coffin elements
- terminology in non-English languages
- Recent developments in coffin archaeometry and materials studies, for example
- organic materials on coffins
- integration of scientific data and Egyptological interpretation
- Social groupings, for example
- access to burial
- availability and variety of coffins
- organisation of craftspeople
- socio-economic context around workshops
- Regional variations, for example
- production centres and their spheres of influence
- ‘stray’ coffins (coffins from one region found in an unexpected context)
- Textual sources on coffins and their place in society, for example
- ownership and price of coffins in legal and administrative texts
- documents concerned with coffin manufacture
- disputes and court cases around coffins
