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Journal article
Acquisition, duplicates and exchange: C. P. de Bosset’s collections from Cephalonia, Ithaca and Delphi in the British Museum
Charles Philippe de Bosset (1773–1845) was a Swiss soldier and British imperial official who established an extensive archaeological and numismatic collection from the Mediterranean region, particularly the Ionian Islands. His collections are now in the British Museum, the Laténium in Neuchâtel and the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Neuchâtel. This...Dowler, Amelia
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Journal article
Money on the Silk Road - research at the British Museum
This paper was originally prepared for the international workshop ‘Chinese Civilization on the Silk Road’ hosted by Professor Rong Xinjiang at Peking University, 9–10 November 2019. The proceedings were published in Rong Xinjiang (ed.-in-chief), Sichou zhi lu shang de Zhonghua wenming (Chinese Civilization on the Silk Road), Beijing, The Commercial...Wang, Helen ; Cribb, Joe ; Errington, Elizabeth ; Curtis, Vesta ; Bracey, Robert
numismatics and Silk Road
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Journal article
Changes in the production materials of Burmese textiles in the nineteenth century - dyes, mordants and fibres of Karen garments from the British Museum’s collection
The materials of six Karen textiles from the British Museum’s collection were investigated with the main aim of studying the production changes over the course of the nineteenth century and how these changes related to local and colonial trade networks. The textiles span chronologically from the 1830s to the early...Tamburini, Diego ; Dyer, Joanne ; Cartwright, Caroline ; Green, Alexandra
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Journal article
Earliest systematic coal exploitation for fuel extended to ~3600 B.P.
Coal has long fueled human civilizations. The history of systematic coal fuel exploitation has been traced back to the late third millennium before present (post-2500 B.P.). Although sporadic combustion of coal for fuel was reported in some prehistoric archaeological sites, evidence for the systematic exploitation of coal for fuel before...Qiu, Menghan ; Liu, Ruiliang ; Li, Xingyuan ; Du, Linyao ; Ruan, Qiurong …
China, metallurgy, and coal
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Journal article
First evidence and characterisation of rare chrome-based colourants used on 19th-century textiles from Myanmar
First evidence for the use of the chrome yellow dyeing method was obtained on late 19th-century Karen textiles from Myanmar. Non-invasive observations obtained by digital microscopy and fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) provided hints of the possible presence of non-conventional organic colourants in yellow, orange and green threads used to...Tamburini, Diego ; Dyer, Joanne ; Cartwright, Caroline
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Book
Sasanian Archaeology: Settlements, Environment and Material Culture
The Sasanian empire was one of the great powers of Late Antiquity, and for four centuries ruled the vast region stretching from Syria and the Caucasus to Central Asia. Classical, Armenian, Jewish and Arab written sources throw light on its history, and studies of its rock reliefs, stuccoes, silver, silks,...Simpson, St John
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Book
Late Hokusai: Society, Thought, Technique, Legacy
This publication has been developed from ideas first presented at the international symposium Late Hokusai: Thought, Technique, Society, held at the British Museum in May 2017. The symposium was organised to enable specialists in a range of disciplines relating to early modern Japan to view and consider the critically acclaimed...Clark, Timothy
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Book
Repeopling La Manche: New Perspectives on Neanderthal Archaeology and Landscapes from La Cotte de St Brelade
The current geography of north-west Europe, from the perspective of long-term Pleistocene climate change, is temporary. The seaways that separate southern Britain from northern France comprise a flooded landscape open to occupation by hunter-gatherers for large parts of the 0.5 million years since the English Channel’s formation. While much of...Scott, Beccy ; Shaw, Andrew ; Scott, Katharine ; Pope, Matt
climate change, La Cotte de St Brelade, ecology, and Middle Palaeolithic
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Journal article
Evaluating transformations in small metal finds following the Black Death
This paper seeks to evaluate transformations in portable material culture following the Black Death in England (1348–1349), specifically through an analysis of small metal finds data recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). It will discuss the use of Geographic Information Systems and other computational methods in archaeological research, and...Oksanen, Eljas ; Lewis, Michael
Black Death, material culture, and Portable Antiquities Scheme
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Book
The Bioarchaeology of Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide today, but are not just a modern phenomenon. To explore the deep roots of CVDs in human history, this book, for the first time, brings together bioarchaeological evidence from different periods, as old as 5000 BC, and geographic locations from...Binder, Michaela ; Roberts, Charlotte A. ; Antoine, Daniel
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Journal article
Will my boomerang come back? New insights into Aboriginal material culture of early Sydney and affiliated coastal zone from British collections
Aboriginal material culture of the Sydney region has been analysed extensively by Australian archaeologists, notably Vincent Megaw and Val Attenbrow, yet many new insights can be obtained through the examination of hitherto unidentified and unexamined museum objects and dispersed archival documentation in Britain and Ireland. Close engagement with these sources...Sculthorpe, Gaye ; Simpson, Daniel
collecting, museums, boomerang, Sydney, provenance, Britain, and repatriation
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Book
Chandragupta Maurya: The Creation of a National Hero in India
We take it for granted that some historical figures become heroes, and others do not. Chandragupta Maurya evolved from obscure ruler to contemporary national icon. The key moment in the making of this Indian hero was a meeting by the banks of the River Indus between Chandragupta and Seleucus, founder...Jansari, Sushma
history, Chandragupta Maurya, and India
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Journal article
Report of the Portable Antiquities Scheme 2020
An annual report on finds reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme from the Post-Medieval period, featuring overall statistics and highlighted objects.Richardson, Ian ; Wyatt, Stuart
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Journal article
Nubian agricultural practices, crops and foods: changes in living memory on Ernetta Island, Northern Sudan
Agricultural practices in northern Sudan have been changing rapidly but remain little documented. In this paper we aim to investigate changes to crops grown in living memory and their uses through interviews with Nubian farmers on the island of Ernetta. By exploring cultivation and crop processing practices, together with associated...Ryan, Philippa ; Kordofani, Maha ; Saad, Mohamed ; Hassan, Mohammed ; Dalton, Matthew …
agricultural heritage, crop diversity , and traditional ecological knowledge
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Journal article
A technological study of Assyrian clay tablets from Nineveh, Tell Halaf and Nimrud: a pilot case study
Ancient Middle Eastern clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing have traditionally been studied more as textual documents than as archaeological objects per se. In contrast to previous analytical studies which, with few exceptions, focused on provenance and palaeo-environmental reconstruction, the current study aims to describe the tablet makers’ technological choices,...Spataro, Michela ; Taylor, Jonathan ; O’Flynn, Daniel
cuneiform tablets, optical microscopy, SEM-EDX, and x-ray CT
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Journal article
Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the southern North Sea Basin: evidence from the sandscaping sediments emplaced on the beach between Bacton and Walcott, Norfolk, UK
During the summer of 2019, the Bacton to Walcott Coastal Management Scheme involved the emplacement on to the foreshore of 1.8 million cubic metres of sand and gravel dredged from the submerged sediments of the Palaeo-Yare in the southern North Sea 11 km off Great Yarmouth. During the following 2-year...Davis, Rob ; Ashton, Nick ; Bynoe, Rachel ; Craven, John ; Ferguson, Rob …
Norfolk, Middle Palaeolithic , lithics, and artefacts
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Journal article
Authorship, image-making, and excess: William Hunter's Anatomia uteri humani gravidi tabulis illustrata (1774)
In 1774, the physician-anatomist William Hunter (1718–1783) published Anatomia uteri humani gravidi tabulis illustrata/The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus, Exhibited in Figures (1774). Issued as an elephant folio, the book is the culmination of twenty-four years of work and includes thirty-four plates with life-size hyper-naturalistic engravings by artists such...Hughes, Alicia
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Journal article
Neutron tomography of sealed copper alloy animal coffins from ancient Egypt
Animal mummification was commonplace in ancient Egypt, with the remains of many animals placed inside statues or votive boxes with representations of animals or hybrid human–animal creatures. Votive boxes were made from a variety of materials and often sealed; some boxes are still preserved in this state in museum collections....O’Flynn, Daniel ; Fedrigo, Anna ; Perucchetti, Laura ; Masson-Berghoff, Aurélia
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Book
Technological Knowledge in the Production of Neolithic Majiayao Pottery in Gansu and Qinghai
This book is the first comprehensive study of the technological knowledge needed to produce Neolithic Majiayao-style pottery (5300-4000 cal yr BP) which is famous for its painted designs in black and red. It examines the technological choices in the production of fine and coarse Majiayao-style pottery found across three river...Dammer, Evgenia
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Book chapter
Amanitore and Natakamani at Dangeil: reconstruction the sacred landscape of the 1st century CE
The sacred building program and landscape at Dangeil Sudan, initiated by the Kushite Rulers Natakamani and Amanitore during the 1st century CE is reviewed and evaluated.Anderson, Julie ; Mohamed Ahmed, Salah ; Khidir el-Rasheed , Rihab ; Suliman Bashir, Mahmoud
Kushite, Sudan, and architecture
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Journal article
Metals and pigments at Amara West: cross-craft perspectives on practices and provisioning in New Kingdom Nubia
This paper presents the results of elemental and lead isotopic analysis of copper alloys, copper-based pigments and an extremely rare tin-based alloy from the town of Amara West (Sudan), the centre for pharaonic control of occupied Upper Nubia between 1300 and 1070 BCE. It is the first assemblage of its...Rademakers, Frederik W. ; Auenmüller, Johannes ; Spencer, Neal ; Fulcher, Kate ; Lehmann, Manuela …
Egyptian blue, copper alloys, Archaeometallurgy, Nubian archaeology, New Kingdom, and Amara West
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Research report
The Amorepacific Project for the Conservation of Korean Pictorial Art
This report provides details of the conservation treatments completed during the Amorepacific project for the conservation of Korean pictorial art, 2018–2023. Additionally it includes articles about Korean art history, materials and scientific outcomes related to the project.Burden, Louisa ; Kosek, Joanna
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Book chapter
The Roman coin hoard
Specialist report in a report on sites excavated by Archaeology South-East and Surrey County Archaeological UnitClifford, Trista ; Ghey, Eleanor
archaeology, coins, and Roman
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Journal article
Hobby metal-detecting as citizen science. Background, challenges and opportunities of collaborative archeological finds recording schemes
This paper discusses five digital archeological finds recording schemes from England and Wales, Denmark, Finland, Flanders (Belgium), and the Netherlands; countries and areas where members of the public can search for archeological material, usually by metal-detecting. These schemes are a part of the European Public Finds Recording Network. The authors...Wessma, Anna ; Thomas, Suzie ; Deckers, Pieterjan ; Doba, Andres S. ; Heeren , Stijn …
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Book
Pahu: Historical Collections, Artistic Continuance
This book results from an ongoing collaboration between the Benioff Oceania Programme at the British Museum and Dennis Kanaʻe Keawe, a Hawaiian artist and artisan specialised in pahu (drum) making and based in Hilo (Hawaiʻi). Shaped and nutured through the artist’s unique lens, this volume combines a renewed understanding of... -
Book chapter
The Assyrian fort at Usu Aska in Iraqi Kurdistan
MacGinnis, John
Usu Ask, archaeology, and Assyria
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Book chapter
A Parthian Manor on the Lower Zab
MacGinnis, John
Lower Zab, Parthia, and archaeology
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Journal article
A text of Shalmaneser I from Üçtepe and the location of Šinamu
This article presents a newly discovered cuneiform text from the site of Üçtepe in Diyarbakır province in southeastern Turkey. The text bears a previously unknown inscription of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser I. While incomplete, it never-theless gives the most extensive lists of the conquests of Shalmaneser I yet known, including...Genç, Bülent ; MacGinnis, John
Shalmaneser I, Assyria, and archaeology
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Book
Laying the Foundations: Manual of the British Museum Iraq Scheme Archaeological Training Programme
Laying the Foundations, which developed out of the British Museum’s ‘Iraq Scheme’ archaeological training programme, covers the core components for putting together and running an archaeological field programme. The focus is on practicality. Individual chapters address background research, the use of remote sensing, approaches to surface collection, excavation methodologies, survey...MacGinnis, John ; Rey, Sebastien
archaeology, Iraq, and training
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Book chapter
Conservation and the care of human remains in museums
In this chapter, the breadth, value, and distinctiveness of human remains in collections are explored. To place the conservation discussion in context, the various preservation methods of human remains along with the history of such collections, the development of relevant protocols, and the analytical possibilities are all briefly described. Conservation...Wills, Barbara
conservation, human remains, and museums
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Book
Amber: From Antiquity to Eternity
Amber: From Antiquity to Eternity is a history of human engagement with amber across three millennia. The book vividly describes our conceptions, stories, and political and scholarly disputes about amber, as well as issues of national and personal identity, religion, art, literature, music and science. Rachel King rewrites amber’s history...King, Rachel
material heritage, history, and amber
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Book
Encounters With Medals, 40 Years of BAMS Conferences
A review of medal scholarship, artist talks, historic venues and practical workshops held as part of conferences of The British Art Medal Society over 40 years since its foundation in 1982.Attwood, Philip ; Leavitt Bourne, Marcy ; Larkin, Janet
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Book chapter
Some thoughts on the Assyrian ivories from the Temple of Nabu at Nimrod
Excavations in a throne room in the Temple of Nabû at Nimrud uncovered ivory plaques carved in an Assyrian-style. These appeared to be part of the temple furniture that had been deliberately burnt at the end of the Assyrian empire. The incised imagery includes processions of foreign tributaries interpreted as...Collins, Paul
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Book
The Metopes of the Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassai
This book brings together for the first time all of the fragments of sculpture which formed the metopes from the Temple of Apollo at Bassai. Recent research by the author and colleagues has yielded fresh discoveries in the British Museum, Athens and at the ancient site itself. Further sculptural fragments...Higgs, Peter John
Greek sculpture, Bassai, and metopes
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Book chapter
Kingship in time and space in the Northwest Palace, Nimrud
The wall reliefs of Neo-Assyrian palaces have been investigated for relationships between text and image, their historiographical significance and affective properties. The sculptured images and associated inscriptions projected the power and authority of Assyrian kingship through representations of the achievements of individual rulers and their connections with royal ancestors and...Collins, Paul
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Book chapter
Telling stories at the Ashmolean Museum: an Ancient Middle East gallery for the 21st century?
Permanent galleries in museums often receive less focus and investment than temporary exhibitions but in order to meet the needs of modern museum visitors their displays need to be equally responsive to changing demographics and the political landscape. An opportunity to refurbish the Ashmolean Museum’s Ancient Near East gallery (renamed...Collins, Paul
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Book
Grave Goods: Objects and Death in Later Prehistoric Britain
Britain is internationally renowned for the high quality and exquisite crafting of its later prehistoric grave goods (c. 4000 BC to AD 43). Many of prehistoric Britain's most impressive artefacts have come from graves. Interred with both inhumations and cremations, they provide some of the most durable and well-preserved insights...Cooper, Anwen ; Garrow, Duncan ; Gibson, Catriona ; Giles, Melanie ; Wilkin, Neil
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Book chapter
Dating hillforts part II: more detailed approaches to dating the Iron Age hillforts of Britain
Examination of the dating of hillforts in Britain through analysis of artefact evidence and radiocarbon dating. Focus is upon typo-chronologies of brooches, interrogation of the context of these finds and Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates.Hamilton, Derek ; Horn, Jonathan A. ; Adams, Sophia ; McCaskil, Kat ; McDonald, Sophie
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Journal article
Dangerous perfection’ and an old puzzle resolved: a ‘new’ Apulian krater inspired by Euripides
An Apulian calyx krater attributed to the Underworld Painter that entered the British Museum in 1867 as part of the collection of the Duc de Blacas (GR 1867,0508.1335, Vase F270) has long puzzled scholars on account of its enigmatic iconography, seemingly representing Orpheus and Cerberus in the Underworld. Yet cleaning... -
Book chapter
Changing exchange values in Solomon Islands
Burt, Ben
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Journal article
A Soter (re)connection. Five fragments of shrouds from Roman Egypt at the British Museum
Five fragments of shrouds, held at the British Museum, were rediscovered in the storerooms of the museum in the late 1970s. The style of their decoration suggests that they were produced in the Theban necropolis during the first or second century AD and that they are probably to be associated... -
Journal article
Ein Leben mit dem Schiff. Nachruf auf Karin Hornig (2.8.1963-23.11.2020)
Obituary for Dr Karin Hornig, expert on ancient seafaring, cross-cultural exchange and the history of animals in antiquity.Ebbinghaus, Susanne
Ancient seafaring, Underwater archaeology, and Animals in ancient society
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Book chapter
Untangling megalithic typologies and chronologies in the Levant
The Levant comprises southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. These well-surveyed archaeological landscapes contain a miscellany of features that incorporate megalithic blocks in various ways. To 19th century explorers, these features recalled megalithic monuments in Europe, and they used European terms such as cromlech and...Fraser, James
Levant, Dolmens, and Bronze Age
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Book
Speak My Name: Investigating Egyptian Mummies
“Speak my name so that I may live again” was often written on the walls of Egyptian tombs, imploring visitors to speak the names of the dead and make offerings on their behalf. These acts of continued remembrance sustained the dead in the afterlife.Fraser, James ; Lord, Conni ; Magnussen, John
Egypt, Mummies, and Scientific analysis
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Journal article
Dental insights into the biological affinities of the inhabitants of Gabati over a period of cultural transition
Gabati is located below the 5th Cataract of the Nile 40km north of Meroe, the capital of the Nubian empire from circa 300 BC–350 AD (Edwards, 2004). The cemetery at Gabati contains graves dating to the late Meroitic (c. 200BC – 200 AD), post-Meroitic (c. 550 - 700 AD), and...Phillips, Emma L.W. ; Irish, Joel D. ;
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Book chapter
Diet and mobility: stable isotope analysis of the Iron Age population at Burnby Lane and The Mile
Examination and analysis of the stable isotope evidence for mobile and sedentary populations in the context of the Iron Age cemeteries at Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire.Hamilton, Derek ; Fox, Thomas G.B. ; Adams, Sophia ; Alexander, Michelle ; Sayle, Kerry L. …
Iron Age, stable isotopes, and mobility
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Book chapter
Chronological framework
Interrogation of the dating of the Iron Age cemeteries at Pocklingon, East Riding of Yorkshire through examination of artefact chronologies and Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates.Hamilton, Derek ; Adams, Sophia
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Book chapter
Iron Age brooches and bracelets from Burnby Lane and The Mile
Artefacts report and analysis of the brooches and bracelets from recent excavations in Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire in light of new research and older finds.Adams, Sophia
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Book chapter
The Havering Hoard, Greater London, England: a multiple hoard in the context of the carp’s tongue complex
The Havering Hoard is a rare example of a Late Bronze Age hoard recovered during archaeological excavation of an occupation site in England. It consists of four discrete deposits of copper alloy objects and copper ingot pieces buried in a pit cut into a partially filled enclosure ditch. Most items...Adams, Sophia ; O'Connor, Brendan
Hoard, metalwork, and Bronze Age
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Journal article
The Frome Hoard: chemical and lead isotope analysis of three silver-alloy denarii of Carausius
This article presents and discusses the metallurgical analysis of three silver denarii of the Roman emperor Carausius (AD 286-93) found in the Frome Hoard (2010).Ponting, Matthew ; Minnitt, Stephen ;
numismatics, Roman, and Carausius
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Journal article
Roman coin hoards from Wiltshire
This paper considers a corpus of 127 Roman coin hoards from Wiltshire discovered between 1653 and 2019.Henry, Richard ;
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Book chapter
A toy coach from London
Shirt study of a small lead toy from London as an example of practices of ephemera. This object probably only survives as it was discarded, perhaps after being repurposed, perhaps by a small child.Lewis, Michael
toy, ephemera, and archaeology
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Book chapter
A man of both Aššur and Kaneš: the case of the merchant Ḫabdu-mālik
In a letter dating to the reign of Zimri-Lim, the merchant Ḫabdu-mālik writes to the Mariote “Chief of the Merchants” Iddin-Numushda in order to enter a business agreement that he proposes they solidify through the marriage of their children. This letter has previously been discussed in relation to trading partnerships...Highcock, Nancy
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Journal article
Searching for silphium: an updated review
From luxury spice to medical cure-all, silphium was a product coveted throughout the ancient world and occupied an essential place in the export economy of ancient Cyrene. The mysterious extinction of the silphium plant in the 1st century CE leaves us with little evidence as to the exact nature of...Briggs, Lisa ; Jakobsson, Jens
archaeobotany, Cyrene, silphium, and shipwrecks
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Journal article
There’s more to a vessel than meets the eye: organic residue analysis of ‘wine’ containers from shipwrecks and settlements of ancient Cyprus (4th–1st century )
Despite growing evidence to the contrary, wine remains the assumed content of many types of ancient pottery. Vessels from the Kyrenia and Mazotos shipwrecks, and Yeronisos island presumed to have contained wine were subjected to three different extraction protocols to test the assumption that these vessels were used to import...Briggs, Lisa ; Demesticha, Stella ; Katzev, Susan ; Wylde Swiny, Helena ; Craig, Oliver E. …
pottery, shipwrecks, and organic residue
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Book
Sailing the Monsoon Winds in Miniature: Understanding Indian Ocean Boat Models
Models of non-European watercrafts are commonly found in museum collections in the UK and throughout the world. These objects are understudied, rarely used in museum displays and at risk of disposal. In addition, there are several gaps in current understanding of traditional watercraft from the Indian Ocean, the region spanning...Dixon, Charlotte
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Book
Mummies of Ancient Egypt, Rediscovering Six Lives
This exhibition book explores the lives of six mummified individuals who once lived in Egypt between the Third Intermediate Period (about 1069-664 BC) and the Roman time (30 BC - AD 395). Using cutting-edge scientific investigations, each mummy offers insights into specific aspects of their lives and deaths, which are...Vandenbeusch, Marie ; Antoine, Daniel
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Journal article
Clues to the presence of an Assyrian administration in the Mahidasht Plain, Kermanshah, Iran
Large sculpted circular door sockets are a characteristic feature of Neo-Assyrian monumental architecture and have been found in palaces, temples, and admin- istrative centers both at core imperial sites such as Khorsabad and Nimrud and at provincial capitals such as Till-Barsib, Arslan-Tash, and Ziyaret Tepe. In the case of Iran,...Alibaigi, Sajjad ; MacGinnis, John
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Journal article
Roman coins from the Masson and Mackenzie collections in the British Museum
The British East India Company’s Museum in Leadenhall Street housed an eclectic range of objects that were predominantly collected by those associated with the Company. Charles Masson and Colin Mackenzie were two such individuals. Their collections were acquired by the EIC, and after the closure of the museum in 1878...Jansari, Sushma
British Museum, India, and coins
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Journal article
Hominins likely occupied northern Europe before one million years ago
Our understanding of when hominins first reached northern Europe is dependent on a fragmented archaeological and fossil record known from as early as marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 or 25 (c. 840 or 950 thousand years ago [Ka]). This contrasts sharply with southern Europe, where hominin occupation is evidenced from...Key, Alastair ; Ashton, Nick
early human dispersal , hominin demography, and Lower Palaeolithic
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Journal article
Flake tools in the European Lower Paleolithic: a case study from MIS 9 Britain
Studies of flake tools in the British Lower Paleolithic are rare owing to lower quantities of flake tools than handaxes and the perception that flake tool technology became more important in the succeeding Middle Paleolithic. In Britain, and Europe more broadly, MIS 9 (328–301 ka) has been characterized as a...Rawlinson, Aaron ; Dale, Luke ; Ashton, Nick ; Bridgland, David ; White, Mark
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Journal article
Rhodes and Kos: East Dorian pottery production of the Archaic period
To date, the pottery production of Rhodes, Kos and other ‘East Dorian’ islands and coastal areas remains little understood. This article presents and discusses new neutron activation analysis (NAA) of eighth–sixth-century vessels found on Rhodes and in related areas, placing them in the wider context of past and present archaeometric...Villing, Alexandra ; Mommsen, Hans
NAA, Rhodes, and East Greek pottery
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Book chapter
Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg? Some thoughts on bird sacrifices in Ancient Greece
Sokrates’ famous last words, ‘Krito, I owe a cock to Asklepios; will you remember to pay the debt?’, as reported in Plato’s Phaidon (117e–18a), have long occupied scholars trying to understand the reason for the ‘debt’, but the choice of sacrificial animal has equally surprised. Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs...Villing, Alexandra
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Journal article
Acheulean variability in Western Europe: the case of Menez-Dregan I (Plouhinec, Finistère, France)
The establishment of the Acheulean in Europe occurred after MIS 17, but it was after the harsh glaciation of MIS 12 and during the long interglacial of MIS 11 that human occupation of Western Europe became more sustained, with an increased number of sites. Menez-Dregan I (Brittany, France) is one...Ravon, Anne-Lyse ; García-Medrano, Paula ; Moncel, Marie-Hélène ; Ashton, Nick
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Journal article
Pandemic, protests and building back: 20 months at the British Museum
This article is a personal reflection that examines the impact of the pandemic on the British Museum’s (BM) onsite interpretation and audiences; however, it is informed by robust visitor insight and evaluation as well as by direct experience. Quotes from the public are incorporated throughout. Covid-19 led to the BM’s...Frost, Stuart
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Journal article
A terrestrial record of climate variation during MIS 11 through multiproxy palaeotemperature reconstructions from Hoxne, UK
A terrestrial (lacustrine and fluvial) palaeoclimate record from Hoxne (Suffolk, UK) shows two temperate phases separated by a cold episode, correlated with MIS 11 subdivisions corresponding to isotopic events 11.3 (Hoxnian interglacial period), 11.24 (Stratum C cold interval), and 11.23 (warm interval with evidence of human presence). A robust, reproducible...Horne, David J. ; Ashton, Nick ; Benardout, Ginny ; Brooks, Stephen J. ; Coope, G. Russell …
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Journal article
Acheulean diversity in Britain (MIS 15-MIS11): from the standardization to the regionalization of technology
The appearance of the Acheulean and the production of new bifacial tools marked a revolution in human behavior. The use of longer and complex operative chains, with centripetal and recurrent knapping, adapted to different raw materials, created long useful edges, converging in a functional distal end. How and why these...García-Medrano, Paula ; Shipton, Ceri ; White, Mark ; Ashton, Nick
Middle Pleistocene, handaxes, acheulean, Britain, and technology
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Book chapter
Mediterranean encounters: Greeks, Carians and Egyptians in the first millennium BC
The first millennium BC was a crucial period in the history of contact between Egypt and Greece. Three case studies examine the processes and people behind and the impact of this contact. They will take us from sixth century BC cosmopolitan Memphis, with its international population including Greeks and Carians,...Villing, Alexandra
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Book chapter
Southward Ho! A journey from Ionia to Egypt
The presence of Ionians in areas to the south and south-east of the homeland as attested by inscriptions and pottery is reviewed. From the Dodecanese to the Nile Delta pottery from Ionia is found at many sites, mostly after ca. 640 BC, but evidence of Ionians themselves through inscribed texts...Johnston, Alan ; Villing, Alexandra
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Journal article
High-status burials in the Napatan Period: cultural interactions between Egypt and Nubia
During the Napatan period, the elite within Kushite society adopted Egyptian funerary practices modifying and adapting them to suit their own needs. Notable changes similarly occurred in Egypt elite burials between the 8th and 7th centuries BC during the period of Kushite rule. The history and dynamics of the cultural...Taylor, John H.
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Journal article
Salvage excavations in the Berber-Abidiya Region, 1999: a post-Meroitic single descendary, two-entrance tomb in el-Fereikha
Rescue excavations undertaken in el-Fereikha Sudan revealed a post-Meroitic tomb (4th-5th c AD) with a large oval burial chamber with two entrances reached by a single descendary. Few tombs of this type have been documented and their use seems restricted to the region between Meroe and Berber-Abidiya. Little organic material...Anderson, Julie ; Bashir, Mahmoud Suliman ; Ahmed, Salah Mohammed
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Book chapter
Shared histories: New work in British Museum and British Library collections
Since their formal separation following the British Library Act of 1972, the British Museum and British Library have largely taken separate paths. Several recent collaborations have aimed to study papyrological material across both institutions, addressing one or more of three strands of enquiry, 1. knowledge gained through systematic documentation of...O'Connell, Elisabeth
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Journal article
Investigating the potential of the Nd:YAG and Er:YAG lasers for the cleaning of feathers: a pilot study
A dual-wavelength Q-switched Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm and 532 nm and an Er:YAG laser were tested on a range of feathers containing melanin, carotenoids and psittacofulvins. Dyed, white and iridescent feathers, as well as down feathers, were also included in the study. First, the damage threshold fluence was...Bertasa, Moira ; Korenberg, Capucine
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Journal article
Polysaccharide Paint Binding Media at Two Pharaonic Settlements in Nubia
Paints and plasters from two pharaonic settlement sites in Nubia (northern Sudan) were analysed to investigate the presence and origin of organic binding materials. The town of Sai was founded around the time of the pharaonic conquest of Kush (Upper Nubia) around 1500 BC, with Amara West created as a...Fulcher, Kate ; Spencer, Neal ; Budka, Julia ; Stacey, Rebecca J.
archaeology, urbanism, Nubia, Egypt, technology, colonialism, pigment, botany, and gums
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Book chapter
Sloane's antiquities: providing a "body of history" through beads, bottles, brasses and busts
Sir Hans Sloane, Secretary and then President of the Royal Society, presented the Society of Antiquaries with the bronze lamp which became the symbol of their society but he was never a Fellow. Sloane’s collection included more than 2,000 antiquities, described in his own manuscript catalogue of his collections, the...Sloan, Kim
Society of Antiquaries, antiquities, Hans Sloane, and collecting history
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Book
Mary Gillick: Sculptor and Medalist
A fascinating study on the life and work of Mary Gillick (1881-1965) in honour of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Published by Spink in association with the British Museum, this book celebrates Gillick, best known for her portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that appeared on UK coins...Attwood, Philip
medals, Queen Elizabeth II, coinage, and sculpture
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Book
India: A History in Objects
India: A History in Objects is a beautiful exploration of India's past, which highlights objects from the British Museum collection. Arranged chronologically, and abundantly illustrated with expertly selected objects, this superb new overview connects today’s India with its past. Early chapters uncover prehistoric objects from 1.5 million years ago, examine...Blurton, Richard
material culture, history, and India
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Book
Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic
Divine women – in many guises – have featured in every world faith, from deep history until the present day, inspiring people and cultures across the world. In a cross-cultural and global approach, this book discusses Eve alongside Inanna, Radha and Aphrodite in the context of sex and desire, while...Crerar, Belinda
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Journal article
'Mediocre essays in medallic vituperation': German First World War medals and the British Museum
The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War provides a timely opportunity to examine the British Museum’s acquisition of German art medals relating to the conflict. A modest collection of thirty-six medals was acquired between 1916 and the end of the war in 1918 but, in that same...Hockenhull, Tom
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Journal article
Stamped all over the king’s head: defaced coins and women’s suffrage
Using the British Museum's 'Votes for Women' penny as its starting point, this article conducts an analysis of a group of similar coins. It attempts to answer how they were made, how many were made, their purpose and place in suffragette historiography.Hockenhull, Tom
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Book chapter
Rising above the propaganda: German medallic art in Britain (1914–1919)
During the First World War museums in Britain faced numerous challenges to their collecting and display strategies. Many museums were temporarily closed owing to a cut in government grant aid, which proved severely restrictive to available display space and caused considerable controversy, both in Britain and in Europe. In Vienna,...Hockenhull, Tom
medals and World War I
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Book chapter
'The idiot king': popular politics and defaced coins in Britain
The defacement of UK coins with political slogans and satirical messages from c.18th - 20th centuryHockenhull, Tom
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Journal article
Cuban complementary notes
Cuba is well-known for its complex cash economy. The series discusses here addresses more of an ideological conundrum than a practical challenge – how the state engenders unity and material disinterest from work carried out in the name of the Cuban Revolution. Adopting a form reminiscent of revolutionary scrip money/bonds...Solorzano Arias , Zoreidi ; Hockenhull, Tom
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Book
I Object: Ian Hislop's Search for Dissent
A visual history of dissent, told through objects that challenge authority, published to accompany the exhibition at the British Museum co-curated by the satirist Ian Hislop. Challenging authority is an essential ingredient in the development of human civilisation. Across millennia, it has acted as a driving force behind social and...Hislop, Ian ; Hockenhull, Tom
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Journal article
Medals for a Sailor King
A survey of designs for medals produced in the period 1827-31 during the Duke of Clarence's short-lived tenure as Lord High Admiral and his later coronation as King William IV.Hockenhull, Tom
medals and William IV
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Book
Symbols of Power: Ten Coins That Changed the World
Money has always been a subject of interest, today more so than ever. For centuries it has performed a key role around the globe – most obviously in trade and the economy, but also in the development of national identities, religions and the spread of empire. Introduced as measurements of...Hockenhull, Tom
numismatics and currency
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Journal article
The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers
Human history has been shaped by global dispersals of technologies, although understanding of what enabled these processes is limited. Here, we explore the behavioural mechanisms that led to the emergence of pottery among hunter-gatherer communities in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Through radiocarbon dating, we propose this dispersal occurred at a...Dolbunova, Ekaterina ; Lucquin, Alexandre ; McLaughlin, T. Rowan ; Bondetti, Manon ; Courel, Blandine …
pottery, dispersal, hunter-gatherer communities, and chemical analysis
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Journal article
Copper at ancient Kerma: A diachronic investigation of alloys and raw materials
This paper describes the first comprehensive study of metal artefacts found at ancient Kerma, Sudan. Covering a period of several millennia, it investigates the development of copper alloy recipes as well as metal provenance through the trace element and lead isotope ratio analysis of forty-eight sampled objects. These include grave...Rademakers, Frederik W. ; Verly, Georges ; Degryse, Patrick ; Vanhaecke, Frank ; Marchi, Séverine …
provenance, Nubian archaeology, archaeometallurgy, copper alloys, and Kerma
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Journal article
Dye identification in mounting textiles of traditional Korean paintings from the Late Joseon Dynasty
In the framework of the ‘Amorepacific Project for the conservation of Korean pictorial art’ (2018–2023) at the British Museum, three traditional Korean paintings have been investigated with the aim of supporting their conservation and obtaining information about the dyes used in the mounting textiles and other mounting elements. The paintings...Tamburini, Diego ; Kim-Marandet, Meejung ; Kim, Sang-ah
textiles, dye analysis, and Korean art
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Journal article
Multiscale characterization of shellfish purple and other organic colorants in 20th-century traditional enredos from Oaxaca, Mexico
Enredos are iconic textiles that have been produced for centuries by Mexican communities to celebrate pregnancy, weddings, etc. They have been traditionally dyed with three natural dyes, namely indigo, cochineal, and shellfish purple. In this study two modern enredos produced in the 1980s, now in the collection of the National... -
Journal article
A multi-analytical study of the palette of impressionist and post-impressionist Puerto Rican artists
This paper presents the pigment characterization in six impressionist and post-impressionist paintings by three leading Puerto Rican artists: Francisco Oller (1833–1917), José Cuchí y Arnau (1857–1925), and Ramón Frade (1875–1954). The paintings, belonging to the Corporación de las Artes Musicales and Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (San Juan, Puerto... -
Journal article
Studying Saraha: technical and multi-analytical investigation of the painting materials and techniques in an 18th century Tibetan thangka
Scientific analyses of the traditional materials and methods in thangka production are uncommon, as thangkas are sacred objects, the sampling of which is discouraged, in order to preserve their integrity. This study builds on this important ethical challenge and presents a three-stage methodology that systematically delves deeper into each layer... -
Journal article
Displays of money and medals at the British Museum, 1759 to 2022
The aim of this paper is to give a survey of displays of money and medals at the British Museum from 1759 to 2022. It takes as its starting point Joanna Bowring’s Chronology of Temporary Exhibitions at the British Museum (2012), which is, to date, the only published list of...Wang, Helen
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Book
The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice
The Hay archive of Coptic manuscripts consists of seven fragmentary sheets of leather bearing spells for divination, protection, healing, personal advancement, cursing and the satisfaction of sexual desire. Purchased from the heir of the Scottish Egyptologist and draftsman, Robert Hay (1799–1863), the manuscripts arrived at the British Museum in 1869....O'Connell, Elisabeth
Egyptology, papyrology, Coptic studies, and religious studies