This page presents a catalog of ancient Egyptian vessel artifacts, modern replicas, and industrially produced vases. Each artifact was analyzed using geometric precision metrics, including circularity (how closely a surface aligns with a perfect circle), concentricity (alignment of inner and outer diameters), and coaxiality (matching of inner and outer axes). These metrics were measured to the fullest extent, guided by industrial precision standards (e.g., GD&T principles), making the artifacts comparable to industrially manufactured objects.
Surface variability (deviations from an idealized smooth surface) has been quantified for each object by comparing 3D scan data to a derived best-fit surface model. This innovative approach eliminates the traditional reliance on CAD models, which are currently the standard for analyzing manufactured parts. The best-fit model is generated by fitting a series of mathematical functions to the 2D profile of the scan data, creating a smooth, continuous surface that mathematically represents the artifact’s actual curvature.
By bypassing the need for a CAD model, this method allows deviations and surface irregularities to be analyzed and visualized in a rigorous, standardized way. A color-coded heatmap is overlaid on the scan data to highlight variations, transforming raw numerical data into an intuitive visual representation. This process, developed to address limitations in conventional metrology, enables precise, artifact-specific analysis without prior design information. Surface variability measurements inform the precision scores assigned to each artifact.
Extensive reports, detailing all measurements and analyses, can be downloaded for individual artifacts. A summary report, encompassing all objects, is also available.
The figure below provides an overview of the precision scores.
Download: Catalogue overview - Sorted by precision score
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MV001a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Pottery Height: 178 mm | 7.01 in Precision score exterior: 1.93 Precision score interior: 9.73 |
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MV003a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Andesite Porphyry Height: 64 mm | 2.52 in Precision score exterior: 24 Precision score interior: 748 |
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MV003b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Andesite Porphyry Height: 64 mm | 2.52 in Precision score exterior: 20 Precision score interior: 223 |
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MV004a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 63 mm | 2.48 in Precision score exterior: 72 Precision score interior: 109 |
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MV004b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 63 mm | 2.48 in Precision score exterior: 70 Precision score interior: 83 |
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MV004c Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 63 mm | 2.48 in Precision score exterior: 70 Precision score interior: 79 |
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MV005a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Limestone Height: 64 mm | 2.52 in Precision score exterior: 114 Precision score interior: 134 |
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MV006a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 65 mm | 2.56 in Precision score exterior: 11 Precision score interior: 274 |
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MV007a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Granite Height: 63 mm | 2.48 in Precision score exterior: 19 Precision score interior: - |
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MV008a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Diorite Height: 39 mm | 1.54 in Precision score exterior: 200 Precision score interior: - |
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MV009a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Diorite Height: 58 mm | 2.28 in Precision score exterior: 15 Precision score interior: 63 |
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MV010a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Calcite (Egyptian Alabaster Height: 120 mm | 4.72 in Precision score exterior: 1.17 Precision score interior: 11 |
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MV011a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Porphyry Height: 114 mm | 4.49 in Precision score exterior: 1.81 Precision score interior: 40 |
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MV012a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 195 mm | 7.68 in Precision score exterior: 5.95 Precision score interior: 33 |
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MV013a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Diorite Height: 94 mm | 3.7 in Precision score exterior: 3.84 Precision score interior: 6.29 |
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MV014a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 61 mm | 2.4 in Precision score exterior: 54 Precision score interior: 243 |
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MV015a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Black & White Syenite, perhaps Hornblende Diorite Height: 72 mm | 2.83 in Precision score exterior: 26 Precision score interior: 9.33 |
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MV015b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Black & White Syenite, perhaps Hornblende Diorite Height: 72 mm | 2.83 in Precision score exterior: 50 Precision score interior: 14 |
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MV015c Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Black & White Syenite, perhaps Hornblende Diorite Height: 72 mm | 2.83 in Precision score exterior: 52 Precision score interior: 12 |
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MV016a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 144 mm | 5.67 in Precision score exterior: 2.22 Precision score interior: 28 |
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MV016b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 144 mm | 5.67 in Precision score exterior: 2.12 Precision score interior: 12 |
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MV016c Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 144 mm | 5.67 in Precision score exterior: 2.27 Precision score interior: 2.76 |
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MV017a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Limestone Height: 68 mm | 2.68 in Precision score exterior: 30 Precision score interior: 342 |
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MV018a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Diorite Height: 41 mm | 1.61 in Precision score exterior: 13 Precision score interior: 86 |
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MV018b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Diorite Height: 41 mm | 1.61 in Precision score exterior: 13 Precision score interior: 65 |
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MV019a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Porphyry Height: 137 mm | 5.39 in Precision score exterior: 14 Precision score interior: 21 |
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MV019b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Porphyry Height: 137 mm | 5.39 in Precision score exterior: 15 Precision score interior: 31 |
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MV020a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 67 mm | 2.64 in Precision score exterior: 8.96 Precision score interior: 464 |
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MV020b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 67 mm | 2.64 in Precision score exterior: 7.2 Precision score interior: 180 |
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MV020c Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 67 mm | 2.64 in Precision score exterior: 7.54 Precision score interior: 97 |
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MV021a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Grey Basalt Height: 96 mm | 3.78 in Precision score exterior: 9.62 Precision score interior: 91 |
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MV021b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Grey Basalt Height: 96 mm | 3.78 in Precision score exterior: 9.33 Precision score interior: 66 |
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MV022a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 165 mm | 6.5 in Precision score exterior: 6.69 Precision score interior: 37 |
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MV023a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 80 mm | 3.15 in Precision score exterior: 21 Precision score interior: 39 |
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MV023b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 80 mm | 3.15 in Precision score exterior: 17 Precision score interior: 28 |
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MV024a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 74 mm | 2.91 in Precision score exterior: 1.84 Precision score interior: 14 |
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MV024b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 74 mm | 2.91 in Precision score exterior: 1.86 Precision score interior: 18 |
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MV025a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 83 mm | 3.27 in Precision score exterior: 3.87 Precision score interior: 14 |
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MV025b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 83 mm | 3.27 in Precision score exterior: 3.29 Precision score interior: 13 |
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MV026a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 80 mm | 3.15 in Precision score exterior: 39 Precision score interior: 322 |
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MV027a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 76 mm | 2.99 in Precision score exterior: 6.51 Precision score interior: 234 |
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MV027b Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 72 mm | 2.83 in Precision score exterior: 7.71 Precision score interior: 223 |
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MV028a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 84 mm | 3.31 in Precision score exterior: 9.51 Precision score interior: 75 |
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MV029a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 143 mm | 5.63 in Precision score exterior: 5.64 Precision score interior: 32 |
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MV030a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 100 mm | 3.94 in Precision score exterior: 26 Precision score interior: 87 |
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MV031a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 107 mm | 4.21 in Precision score exterior: 7.56 Precision score interior: 16 |
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MV032a Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Material: Basalt Height: 64 mm | 2.52 in Precision score exterior: 17 Precision score interior: 38 |
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PV001a In private collection of Adam Young Material: Red Granite Height: 120 mm | 4.72 in Precision score exterior: 1980 Precision score interior: 798 |
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PV006a In private collection Material: Dark grey granite Height: 110 mm | 4.33 in Precision score exterior: 621 Precision score interior: 479 |
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REF01a Material: Height: 25 mm | 0.98 in Precision score exterior: 43943 Precision score interior: - |
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RV001a In private collection Material: Red Granite Height: 251 mm | 9.88 in Precision score exterior: 84 Precision score interior: 3.68 |
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RV002a In private collection Material: Diorite Height: 151 mm | 5.94 in Precision score exterior: 47 Precision score interior: 7.24 |
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RV003a In private collection Material: Marble breccia Height: 83 mm | 3.27 in Precision score exterior: 1.46 Precision score interior: 1.53 |
Two independent scanning projects have produced overlapping datasets of artifacts in the Petrie Museum, enabling comparative analysis. In total, 32 unique ancient Egyptian vessels have been scanned.
Max Fomitchev-Zamilov (May 2025): Max Fomitchev-Zamilov traveled from the US to the UK with his Keyence VL-500 3D laser scanner to obtain high-quality 3D scans of 19 vessels from the Petrie Museum (University College London). Notably, Max’s scanner captured ~30% of interior surfaces, facilitating detailed exterior–interior comparisons. I am deeply grateful for his massive endeavor in obtaining this data, his work and his honest curiosity. In addition to obtaining 3D scans of the artifacts, he performed XRF (X-ray fluorescence) spectroscopy to determine elemental composition and gamma-ray spectroscopy to analyze the artifacts’ radioisotope signatures. Visit his website to explore his research of the datasets.
Max has uploaded all obtained data for everyone to download and analyze, enabling truly open research:
Max Fomitchev-Zamilov, 3D Scans of the Naqada Period Stone Vessels from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archeology, 2025.
Max Fomitchev-Zamilov, XRF Spectra of the Naqada Period Stone Vessels from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archeology, 2025.
Max Fomitchev-Zamilov, Gamma Spectra of the Naqada Period Stone Vessels from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archeology, 2025.
Károly Póka & Adam Young (September 2024): Károly Póka and Adam Young visited the Petrie Museum with their FreescanCombo+ scanner and obtained scans of 19 vessel artifacts, 4 drill cores, 1 pottery vessel and 1 calcite vessel.
While the raw scan data was shared with ArcSci for analysis, as of yet, none of their scan data, analysis or research has been made available to the public.
Artifact Foundation, headed by Adam Young, has obtained several high-quality scans of vessels in private collections. This includes 4 CT scans (PV001, PV002, PV003 and PV004), carried out by Zeiss.
Another important achievement of The Artifact Foundation has been to obtain scans of both an ancient artifact in a private collection, and a modern (CNC machined) replica of that exact same vessel. The comparison of these two vessels (RV001 and PV006) will provide valuable information in terms of learning more about the tools used to create these incredible artifacts.
A sincere thanks also to Olga Vdovina and Yulia Gukasova who have invested tremendous time and effort into making three vessel replicas in hard-stone, without the use of CNC machinery. Olga Vdovina and Yulia Gukasova had to reinvent methods of primitive stone processing, demonstrating what can be achieved with primitive tools. As this is the first time something like this has been tried in modern history, these vessels do not show the full potential of what can be achieved using primitive stone working methods.
Their stated goal was to make replicas of the ancient artifacts using: "just stone, bone, wood, sand and a lot of persistence". RV003 has been created only using these primitive tools, however in the final process of the creation of RV002, modern tools like a rotary table (supported by ball bearings) were used to obtain the final precision of the object. Still, their work stands as an important contribution to the combined ongoing efforts.
Downloads of their vessel scans can be found here.
