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Journal article
Designs for coins and medals by William Wyon (1795–1851) and his circle
In 2020 the British Museum acquired two folios of drawings consisting of designs for coins, medals, seals and decorations as well as portrait and life studies. Numbering more than 150 separate drawings, they feature works attributed to leading British sculptural artists and designers of the first half of the 19th...Hockenhull, Tom
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Journal article
Bretford, Warwickshire: new insights into a medieval new town
This article investigates the town of Bretford, Warwickshire, identified as a new medieval town, through new documentary and archaeological evidence, notably from the Bretford Deed Collection, and finds recorded through the Portable Antiquities Scheme, including a unique gold brooch.Dyer, Christopher ; Lewis, Michael
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Journal article
Courtly experiments: early portrait etchings by Lucas van Leyden and Jan Gossart
For a brief moment in the early sixteenth-century Low Countries, etching became a significant technique for elite commissions. I examine the two earliest etchings made in the Low Countries as a case study: the portrait of Maximilian I by Lucas van Leyden and the portrait of Charles V by Jan...Horbatsch, Olenka
Lucas van Leyden , etching, and Jan Gossart
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Journal article
From Jemdet Nasr origins to an early Muslim town in the wetlands: second preliminary report on excavations at Kobeba (Dhi Qar governorate), southern Iraq
In 2022, targeted excavations were carried out as part of a study season at the site of Kobeba, near the town of al-Rifa’i, in Dhi Qar governorate, southern Iraq. The results were very successful and clarified a number of outstanding questions over the dating and phasing. One sounding has confirmed...Simpson, St John
Kobeba and Jemdet Nasr
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Journal article
Did our ancestors nearly die out?
Genetic analyses suggest an ancient human population crash 900,000 years ago Earth’s climate system began to change during the Middle Pleistocene transition, which is associated with a severe cooling phase about 900,000 years ago. How this change might have affected human populations is difficult to determine, because the human fossil...Ashton, Nick ; Stringer, Chris
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Journal article
Giants of the sands: the giraffe and its place in symbolic vocabulary in the Kingdom of Kush, Sudan
The image of a giraffe was added to both wheelmade and handmade pottery, faience plaques, temple walls and rock art in the Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush ( 570 – 550), located in modern-day Sudan. However, giraffes do not appear in contemporary royal and elite art and architecture....Kilroe, Loretta
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Journal article
Preliminary investigation of the chaîne opératoire of Meroitic potsherds from the cemetery of Faras, northern Nubia (Sudan)
Handmade, black-burnished pottery had a significant presence in Meroitic contexts across Sudan, from Jebel Moya in central Sudan to Seyala in Lower Nubia, suggesting the production and exchange of handmade vessels was a key industry in the Meroitic kingdom. The macroscopic identification of examples with no discernible organic temper, in...Kilroe, Loretta ; Spataro, Michela
Meroitic ceramics, polarised light microscopy, and chaîne opératoire
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Journal article
Rediscovering famous assemblages: A rare Bronze Age crucible from El Argar, Spain
A rare open shallow crucible from the British Museum collection, excavated at the Bronze Age site of El Argar in south‐east Spain by Louis and Henri Siret, was studied using X‐radiography and scanning electron microscopy. The crucible has relatively thick walls, a spout and a non‐refractory fabric. It was used...Mongiatti, A. ; Montero‐Ruiz, I.
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Journal article
Analysis and conservation of a Bronze Age linen textile from Suffolk, UK
A rare Bronze Age linen textile was found inside a socketed axe, part of a bronze age hoard dating to circa 800 BCE, discovered in Somerleyton, Suffolk, in the 1920s. The recent loan of the objects from the hoard provided the opportunity for a collaborative study of the fragmentary textile...Harrison, Anna ; Cartwright, Caroline ; Harris, Susanna ; Shearman, Fleur ; Wilkin, Neil
Bronze Age, conservation, and textiles
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Journal article
Analysis and conservation of a Bronze Age linen textile from Suffolk, UK
A rare Bronze Age linen textile was found inside a socketed axe, part of a bronze age hoard dating to circa 800 BCE, discovered in Somerleyton, Suffolk, in the 1920s. The recent loan of the objects from the hoard provided the opportunity for a collaborative study of the fragmentary textile...Harrison ; Cartwright, Caroline ; Harris, Susanna ; Shearman, Fleur ; Wilkin, Neil
Bronze age, metalwork, linen, and textile
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Journal article
‘A lost chapter of ancient art’: archaeometric examinations of panel paintings from Roman Egypt
Ancient panel paintings on wood are, with the exception of the mesmerising mummy portraits, extremely rare. However, a small corpus of other types of Romano-Egyptian panel paintings is preserved in collections worldwide. The aim of this study is to explore the technical histories of these rare and intriguing artefacts. We...Brøns, Cecilie ; Stenger, Jens ; Newman, Richard ; Cartwright, Caroline ; Di Gianvincenzo, Fabiana …
radiocarbon dating, panel paintings, multi-spectral imaging, wood identification, and Roman Egypt
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Journal article
Understanding the transport networks complex between South Asia, Southeast Asia and China during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age
The emergence and intensification of transcontinental exchange during both the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age profoundly influenced the social history of Eurasia. While scholars have intensively discussed east-west long-distance communication along the proto-Silk Road, the north-south transport networks that connected China to South and Southeast Asia during the Late Neolithic...Ma, Minmin ; Lu, Yongxiu ; Dong, Guanghui ; Ren, Lele ; Min, Rui …
Late Neolithic, Southeast Asia, transport networks, Bronze Age, South Asia, and China
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Journal article
From diversity to monopoly: major economic policy change in the Western Han Dynasty revealed by lead isotopic analysis
The relationship between the flow of metal and the state political and economic structures of the Qin and Han empires has thus far received inadequate scientific investigation. In this study, lead isotopic analysis was conducted on 54 bronzes unearthed from multiple sites of Eastern China dated to WHD (Western Han...Yang, Dongyi ; Wu, Xiaotong ; Liu, Ruiliang ; Wang, Qing ; Shi, Benheng …
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Journal article
Human migration in the eastern Tianshan Mountains between the 7th and 12th centuries
Mid- to late-Holocene large-scale population migration profoundly impacted the interaction of ethnic groups and cultures across Eurasia, notably in Central Asia. However, due to a lack of thorough historical documents, distinctive burial items, and human remains, the process of population migration during this historical era in the area is still...He, Letian ; Cao, Huihui ; Wang, Yongqiang ; Liu, Ruiliang ; Qiu, Menghan …
geopolitical pattern, isotopic analysis, cultural interaction, and ancient silk road
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Journal article
Diversification of faunal exploitation strategy and human-climate interaction in Southern China and Southeast Asia during the last deglaciation
Southern China and Southeast Asia were favourable habitats for foragers during the Last Glacial Maximum (∼25–18 ka BP) and the Last Deglaciation (∼18–11.7 ka BP), despite various climate fluctuation. However, the underlying subsistence strategies in these areas remains unclear, due to the lack of systematic chronological and archaeological data. The...Lu, Yongxiu ; Gao, Feng ; Wang, Yiren ; Ma, Minmin ; Zhou, Aifeng …
foragers, Southeast Asia, Southern China, and Late Paleolithic
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Journal article
A 'Scheme of My Protection': Rosalind Birnie Philip and the history of the James McNeill and Beatrix Whistler Collection at the University of Glasgow
The Whistler Collection, held at the University of Glasgow, is one of the most important collections related to the nineteenth-century American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) in the world. It was established in the mid-1930s by the artist's sister in-law Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) who donated the Whistler Estate to...Hughes, Alicia
James McNeill Whistler, University of Glasgow, history of collecting, and museum of studies
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Journal article
A linchpin cap from Portstewart, Co. Antrim, and a harness ring from Kilrea, Co. Londonderry
Article about a linchpin cap from Portstewart, Co. Antrim, and a harness ring from Kilrea, Co. LondonderryMaguire, Rena ; Scott, Brian G. ; Perucchetti, Laura
Ireland and archaeology
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Journal article
Manufacturing variations in ISO Blue Wool fading standards under microfading exposure conditions
As is the case for other accelerated light-ageing methods, microfade test results are usually rated against the responses of the International Standards Organisation’s Blue Wool Fading Standards, the production of which is regulated by the International Standards Organisation. The suitability and convenience of the ISO Blue Wools for this purpose...Ford, Bruce ; Korenberg, Capucine
ISO Blue Wool Standards, Microfade testing, MFT, accelerated fade testing, and blue wool standard manufacturing
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Journal article
Diversified pottery use across 5th and 4th millennium cal BC Neolithic coastal communities along the Strait of Gibraltar
The region around the Strait of Gibraltar offered Neolithic societies a bridge connecting Iberia and North Africa. Using the sea for access to additional resources, Neolithic groups in the area developed close links with this territory as evidenced by its burial rites and storage practices. Nonetheless, the role pottery and...Breu-Barcons, Adrià ; Vijande-Vila, Eduardo ; Cantillo-Duarte, Jesús ; Comes, Pau ; Heron, Carl …
Strait of Gibraltar, pottery use, Neolithic, and organic residue analysis
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Journal article
On the reliability of historic books as sources of reference samples of early synthetic dyes – The case of “The Coal Tar Colours of the Farbwerke vorm. Meister, Lucius & Brüning, Höchst on the Main, Germany – A General Part” (1896)
The swatches present in the popular book “The Coal Tar Colours of the Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning, Höchst on the Main, Germany – A General Part”, published in 1896, were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS/MS) with...Tamburini, Diego
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Journal article
New insights into the dyes of Central Asian ikat textiles
Central Asian ikat textiles are characterised by their bold and large abstract patterns, made up of vibrant colours with a characteristic “blurred edge” effect, which makes them some of the most recognisable fabrics worldwide. Eleven ikats from the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC,...Tamburini, Diego ; Klink-Hoppe, Zeina ; McCarthy, Blythe
Central Asia, Dye analysis, Ikat textiles, Synthetic dyes, Mass spectrometry, Liquid chromatography, and 19th century
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Journal article
Shattered glass of Beirut: collaboration between the Archaeological Museum (American University of Beirut) and international partners following the 2020 port explosion
The Archaeological Museum at the American University of Beirut (AUB) lies approximately 3 km west of the main port of Beirut, the site of the massive explosion that sent a catastrophic shockwave through the city on 4 August 2020. A display case containing Classical and early Islamic period glass vessels was...Panayot, Nadine ; Rizk, Aimée Bou ; Çamurcuoglu, Duygu ; Cuyaubère, Claire ; Dyer, Joanne …
Beirut port explosion, heritage management, and glass conservation
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Journal article
The Carolingian cup from the Vale of York Viking hoard: origin of its form and decorative features
In 2007, near Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, a Viking-period hoard was discovered with a Carolingian silver-gilt cup. This article examines this cup, highlighting Oriental, Central Asian and classical parallels in both metal and pottery for the cup’s form and decoration. The overall significance of the cup’s iconography has already been...Ager, Barry
Sasanian, Byzantine, and silverware
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Journal article
The date of Kanishka since 1960
The 1960 London Conference on the Date of Kanishka involved many leading scholars of Central and South Asian studies and had a profound impact on the field. This article examines the historiography of the central problem posed at the conference: In what year did the era of Kanishka commence? It...Bracey, Robert
Kushan, numismatics, Kanishka, and epigraphy
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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
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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Journal article
Time to be nosy: Evaluating the impact of environmental and sociocultural changes on maxillary sinusitis in the Middle Nile Valley (Neolithic to Medieval periods)
Objective To investigate the prevalence of maxillary sinusitis in people who lived in the Middle Nile Valley across different periods, cultures, and environmental conditions. Materials 481 skeletons from 13 sites, curated at the British Museum, London, were analysed. The sites ranged in date from the Neolithic to Medieval periods (c....Davies-Barrett, Anna M. ; Roberts, Charlotte A. ; Antoine, Daniel
Particulate matter, Upper respiratory tract disease, Air quality, and Sudan
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Journal article
Natural mummies from Predynastic Egypt reveal the world's earliest figural tattoos
The application of tattoos to the human body has enjoyed a long and diverse history in many ancient cultures. At present, the oldest surviving examples are the mainly geometric tattoos on the individual known as Ötzi, dating to the late 4th millennium BCE, whose skin was preserved by the ice... -
Journal article
Early Islamic torpedo jars from Siraf: scientific analyses of the clay fabric and source of Indian Ocean transport containers
This paper concerns Sasanian to Early Islamic period transport containers, usually lined with bitumen, known as Torpedo jars. Widely distributed throughout the western Indian Ocean, with outliers as far west as Egypt and to the east in Indonesia, they are an important marker of maritime exchange. Their area of production...Tomber, Roberta ; Spataro, Michela ; Priestman, Seth
Torpedo jar; Siraf (Iran); scientific analyses; bitumen; Early Islamic
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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
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
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
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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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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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... -
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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
Between Apollo and Osiris: Egyptianising East Greek pottery, translating gods and cross-cultural interaction in the 6th century B.C
Relatively few Greek fine ware vessels have been uncovered in Egyptian contexts of the late 7th and 6th centuries B.C., the majority of East Greek production. Remarkably, though, the shape and imagery of a good number of them seem to reference local Egyptian customs and ideas, notably Osirian religion and...Villing, Alexandra
Apollo, East Greek pottery, Typhon, Greeks in Egypt, and Greek mythology
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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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Journal article
Beaded rims on silver plate vessels in Late Roman Britain and beyond
Beaded rims are a characteristic feature of late Roman silver plate vessels, many of which have been found in British treasures including Mildenhall and Traprain Law. This paper discusses how these beaded rims provide insights into the production of silver plate, adding to what little is known of silver plate...Hobbs, Richard ; Perucchetti, Laura
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Journal article
Coin hoards from England, Scotland and Wales, 2022
Annual round up of coin hoards studied for the Treasure Act 1996Andrews, Murray ; Ghey, Eleanor
Iron Age, numismatics, and Roman
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Journal article
An Iron Age coin hoard from Nursling, Hampshire
The article outlines the contents of an Iron Age coin hoard found in 2018 and discusses the significance of the coinage and the broader archaeological context of the find.Ghey, Eleanor ; Talbot, John
numismatics and Iron Age
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Journal article
Expanding space and time at Igbo-Ukwu: insights from recent fieldwork
We present the results of fieldwork conducted at Igbo-Ukwu in 2019 and 2021 aimed at expanding the temporal and spatial record of the ancient settlement. Local participation and public engagement are central to the project, which has yielded a new dataset that enhances our understanding of the archaeological and landscape...Daraojimba, Kingsley Chinedu ; Babalola, Abidemi Babatunde ; Brittain, Marcus ; Adeyemo, Elizabeth ; Champion, Louis …
stratigraphic excavation, ceramic, Igbo-Ukwu, and southeast Nigeria
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Journal article
A metallographic study of objects and fragments from the site of Igbo Isaiah, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria
This work presents a new analytical and metallographic examination of fragmentary objects and components from Igbo-Ukwu, eastern Nigeria dating to approximately the ninth to twelfth centuries AD. These objects are thought to be part of the early accidental discoveries within the compound of Isaiah Anozie, collected in 1939 by the...Wang, Quanyu ; Craddock, Paul ; Hudson, Julie
bronze, metallography, Igbo-Ukwu, metalworking, copper, and Nigeria
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Journal article
FLAME‐D database: an integrated system for the study of archaeometallurgy
This paper discusses the reorganisation of archaeometallurgical legacy data for future research. When archaeometallurgical research aims to answer questions that involve significant movements of raw material or metal objects, it needs to rely on large sets of data. These data are available but scattered across hundreds of publications, where they...Perucchetti, L. ; Bray, P. ; Felicetti, A. ; Sainsbury, V. ; Howarth, P. …
Bronze Age, archaeometallurgy , and database
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Journal article
What is a dagger? A metallurgical interpretation of three metal daggers from western Switzerland dated from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age
The role of daggers in prehistoric European society has been long debated. Within this discussion, we may add some hints to understand the human choices behind daggers’ production, in a study in combination with the University of Oxford and the University of Geneva, that combines their shape, the metal used...Perucchetti, Laura ; Northover, J. Peter ; David-Elbiali, Mireille
Late Neolithic, Elemental composition, Daggers, Early Bronze Age, and Microstructure
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Journal article
Mapping archaeometallurgical data of the Iberian Copper Age: different ways to look at a big picture
Traditionally, archaeometallurgical projects have visualised information through distribution maps of the find spots for different metal compositions or types of objects. However, this is limiting, and more innovative styles of communication are required to engage with more dynamic technological questions such as what underpins the use and circulation of metal....Perucchetti, L. ; Montero-Ruiz, I. ; Bray, P.
Iberian peninsula, Copper age, Data visualisation, Archaeometallurgy, and GIS
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Journal article
Protecting Three-Dimensional Museum Collections During Transport: Engineering and Evaluation of Transport Crates Featuring Wire-Rope Isolators for Improved Vibration Mitigation
Shock and vibration generated during transport can lead to overload failure and fatigue fracture in museum objects. Damage can be prevented using transport packing providing both adequate shock absorption and vibration isolation. This research demonstrated that standardized packing with enhanced vibration mitigation is achievable for three-dimensional objects in a busy...Kotonski, Verena ; Kracht, Kerstin ; York, Evan ; Barton, Caroline
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Journal article
‘A Very Curious Series of Paintings’: Marco Ricci’s Paintings on Leather
The 2017 Royal Collection Trust exhibition ‘Canaletto and the Art of Venice’ necessitated the examination and conservation treatment of eight paintings by the artist Marco Ricci (1676–1730). Marco’s artworks were unusually catalogued as ‘tempera on kidskin leather’, however it became apparent that internationally widespread confusion and inconsistency existed in the...Turner, Emma
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Journal article
Coherent changes in wood charcoals, site occupation and lithic technology across the MIS 4/3 transition at Klein Kliphuis rock shelter, South Africa
We explore the correspondence between changing palaeoenvironments, patterns of site use, and lithic technology at the rock shelter site Klein Kliphuis (South Africa) across the interval 65–55 000 years before present. This period coincides with the termination of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4, and the disappearance of an iconic late...Mackay, Alex ; Cartwright, Caroline R.
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Journal article
Coin hoards from England, Scotland and Wales 2021
Early Medieval, archaeology, hoards, Post-Medieval, numismatics, coins, Medieval, Iron Age, and RomanGhey, Eleanor ; Andrews, Murray
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Journal article
Metal-detecting rallies: characterizing the phenomenon, understanding the challenges, and identifying strategies for heritage protection
Hobby metal detectorists search for archaeological finds as individuals and within groups, the latter being the focus of this article. Such groups come together as “clubs” and “meetings,” but also as part of large, often commercially run events typically known as “rallies.” All these activities are attractive to detectorists because...Wessman, Anna ; Deckers, Pieterjan ; Lewis, Michael ; Thomas, Suzie ; Nolet, Katelijne
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Journal article
Counting when, who and how: visualizing the British Museum’s history of acquisition through collection data, 1753–2019
This paper critically examines the possibilities of using the British Museum’s collection database as a research tool to examine acquisition history. It publishes initial findings from the author’s research into the history of the collection through a quantitative analysis of collection data. Rather than focusing on individual collectors, collections or...MacDonald, Isobel
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Journal article
The bad side of recycling: the use of ancient coins as a source of material for modern forgeries
A group of six coins from Ithaca in the British Museum collection has been analysed using a bench Bruker Artax X-ray fluorescence spectrometer on a polished surface. The coins can be stylistically divided into two variants. The analysis highlighted that the two variants are chemically different, with one suspected of...Perucchetti, Laura ; Dowler, Amelia
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Journal article
Coin hoards from England, Scotland and Wales 2020
An annual summary of coin hoards from England, Scotland and Wales found up to the end of the year before the year of publication of the journal.Ghey, Eleanor ; Andrews, Murray
Medieval, Iron Age, hoards, coins, archaeology, Early Medieval, Roman, Post-Medieval, and numismatics
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Journal article
Re-membering Osiris: Late Period casting moulds and Osirian ritual
In 1969, a unique set of Late Period bronze casting moulds was discovered at the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis illustrating the chaîne opératoire of the lost-wax technique. Usually only mould fragments, if anything at all, remain in the archaeological record, but this assemblage presents complete examples representative of different phases of...Verly, Georges ; Auenmüller, Johannes ; Delvaux, Luc ; W. Rademakers, Frederik
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Journal article
Refinements introduced in the Oddy Test methodology
The ‘Oddy test’ is an accelerated corrosion test introduced in the 1970s at the British Museum to identify materials likely to emit volatile substances that could harm museum artefacts. It is carried out in many museums all around the world, but not always using the same methodology, which makes it...Korenberg, Capucine ; Keable, Melanie ; Phippard, Julie ; Doyle, Adrian
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Journal article
The use of wood-based products in showcases: an insight into current practices
It has long been established that wood emits volatile organic compounds that can be harmful to museum collections. An online survey was conducted to assess whether museums still used wood and composite wood inside showcases and, should this be the case, what strategies they employed to reduce the risk posed...Bertolotti, Giulia ; Korenberg, Capucine
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Journal article
A non-invasive investigation of Egyptian faience using Long Wavelength Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) at 2 μm
Egyptian faience is a non-clay ceramic semi-transparent material formed of a quartz core and alkali-lime glaze. Previous investigations have identified production techniques by using microstructure images obtained from invasive methods. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive 3D imaging technique that produces virtual cross-sections of transparent and semi-transparent materials. A...Read, Margaret ; Cheung, C. S. ; Liang, Haida ; Meek, Andrew ; Korenberg, Capucine
Egyptian faience, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and microstructure
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Journal article
The British Museum and the State Hermitage Museum: collaboration, exhibitions, research
Explores the long history of collaboration between these two museums through exhibitions, conferences, research, scientific exchanges and archaeological excavations over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, and shows how museums exercise soft power and maintain dialogues even in challenging political timesSimpson, St John
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Journal article
The art of gardens: an introduction
This volume argues that looking at gardens through the lens of art and aesthetics generates new insights into the role that gardens have for those who make and depend on them. Drawing on some of the debates around the anthropology of art, we suggest that aesthetics provides a rich analytical...Bolton, Lissant ; Mitchell, Jean
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Journal article
An old problem in a new light: elemental and lead isotopic analysis of Luristan Bronzes
The emergence and provenance of the Luristan Bronzes has been a subject of interest for many decades. This paper presents the results of elemental and lead isotopic analysis of a series of Luristan Bronzes discovered from recent excavations in the Sangtarashan sanctuary, as well as an extensive comparative study on... -
Journal article
Heavy metal and the beauty industry: an unexpected connection from ancient Afghanistan
Explores the relationship between facial whiteners, cosmetic containers and by-products of the metal industry by reference to archaeological finds from Afghanistan and objects seized by UK law enforcement and now in the National Museum of AfghanistanSimpson, St John
Afghanistan, cosmetic, and Bronze Age
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Journal article
A corroboree for the Countess of Kintore: enlivening histories through objects
This paper discusses a corroboree performed in Darwin in 1893 to illustrate the potential of British ethnographic collections for researching overlooked historical events. The performance was brought to light after a collection of Aboriginal artefacts used in it was noted and examined by the author in the collections of Marischal...Sculthorpe, Gaye
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Journal article
Peasants, produce and tractors: farming scenes on Communist banknotes
Communist regimes in the twentieth century deployed a common visual language through banknote imagery, forging new narratives framed within the context of shared political and economic goals. In particular, farming imagery came to dominate banknote design. All communist regimes pursued extensive agricultural reform, from the ownership of land to the...Hockenhull, Tom
communism, currency, and agriculture
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Journal article
Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution
A scholarly overview of the British Museum's 2020 exhibition, Tantra: enlightenment to revolution.Ramos, Imma
British Museum, Tantra, and exhibition
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Journal article
Putting the pieces back together: Rembrandt's Lamentation drawing under the microscope
A thorough examination of Rembrandt’s early drawing of the Lamentation at the Foot of the Cross in the British Museum (Benesch 154; registration number Oo,9.103) using magnification (x10), transmitted light, infrared imaging and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), in order to conclusively establish the construction of the paper and the different...Horbatsch, Olenka ; Snow, Rebecca ; Taylor, Samantha
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Journal article
Some weapons to take away: the spread of decorated projectile points across Magdalenian societies
This paper presents a consideration on the spread of decorated weapon tips across Magdalenian societies. Based on a comprehensive review of the ten types of decorations identified on weapon tips from south-western France, the comparative analysis of their distribution shows their value to document both short and long distances relationships,...Lucas, Claire
Weapon, Magdalenian, and Portable art
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Journal article
Technical steps towards enhanced localization of proteins in cultural heritage samples by immunofluorescence microscopy and micro-reflectance imaging spectroscopy
This study presents the results obtained during the optimization phase of a protocol based on immunofluorescence microscopy (IFM) with the aim to characterize and localize proteins in fluid-rich samples of cultural heritage interest. Chicken serum albumin from chicken blood was considered the primary target. Ovalbumin from chicken egg albumen (egg... -
Journal article
The haunting of Assyria: a chilling new detail from the Sack of Nimrud
Discusses a previously unrecognised ancient graffito on an Assyrian sculptureSimpson, St John
iconoclasm, graffiti, and Assyria
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Journal article
Revealing relationships: colonial photograph albums of the Niger Delta at the British Museum: a case study
The focus of this paper is a collection of photographs currently housed in the British Museum. Two albums (British Museum reference numbers Af,A46 and Af,A47) are identified as belonging to Arthur Purt, thought to be a European trader in the Niger Delta in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries....Anderson, Helen
Nigeria, Photographs, and Colonial
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Journal article
Шкатулки бронзового века: экзотические импорты,подражания-скевоморфы и локальное производствоот Центральной Азии до Шумера
Discusses archaeological finds of inlaid boxes at Bronze Age sites in Iraq, shows how some originated in the Indus Valley and how other types of box were carved from stone or made from fired clay in Arabia, Iran and Central Asia, probably as imitations of ones in organic materials that...Simpson, St John
box, Ancient Near East, and Bronze Age
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Journal article
Assyrian palaces: from their foundation to their destruction in antiquity
The more recent synthesis in English to explore all aspects of Assyrian palaces and their decorationSimpson, St John
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Journal article
The Great Wave: how to identify reproductions
Korenberg, Capucine