Busca
Resultados da Busca
-
2024
Journal article
An introduction and recent advances in the analytical study of early synthetic dyes and organic pigments in cultural heritage
This article reviews the research recently undertaken to characterise and identify early synthetic dyes (ESDs) and synthetic organic pigments (SOPs) as well as study their degradation pathways with a focus on cultural heritage applications. Since the invention of the first fully synthetic dye in 1856, these materials have been used...Tamburini, Diego ; Sabatini, Francesca ; Berbers, Sanne ; van Bommel, Maarten ; Degano, Ilaria
-
2024
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
-
2024
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
-
2024
Journal article
Everyday Protection: Learning from United Nations Protection of Civilians Sites
‘Protection of Civilians’ (PoC) has been a dominant focus of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions in recent decades. At the same time, ‘Protection of Civilians’ is a contested and ambiguous concept, with its practical meanings often established in the realities of implementation. The introduction to this special issue argues that...Cormack, Zoe ; Pendle, Naomi
South Sudan, Protection of Civilians, United Nations , humanitarian protection, and peacekeeping
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
Journal article
The Western European Acheulean: Reading variability at a regional scale
In the context of the Western European Acheulean Project, this study aims to characterize Acheulean technology in Western Europe through the analysis of handaxes and cleavers from 10 key sites (Britain 4, France 4, and Spain 2) to acquire a regional view of the occupation. The historically different systems used...García-Medrano, Paula ; Moncel, Marie-Hélène ; Maldonado-Garrido, Elías ; Ollé, Andreu ; Ashton, Nick
-
2023
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
-
2023
-
2020
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.
-
2023
Journal article
Dating ancient canal systems using radiocarbon dating and archaeological evidence at Tello/Girsu, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq
Mesopotamia is often regarded the “cradle of civilization.” The development of water management practices in the region is thought to have played a key role in the emergence of these early civilizations. We present the first direct dating of a palaeo-canal system at the ancient city of Girsu, Mesopotamia (modern...Egberts, Ella ; Jotheri, Jaafar ; Di Michele, Angelo ; Baxter, Antony ; Rey, Sebastien
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
Journal article
Applicability and efficacy of an enhanced nanolime consolidation technique for British Museum limestone objects
Stone consolidation is one of the most important and complex treatment actions performed in museums. However, products routinely applied on limestone objects are often chemically incompatible with the treated substrate. Despites the established efficiency of nanolime for outdoor conservation and its chemical compatibility with the carbonate mineral matrix, its performance...Maucourant, Cyril ; O'Flaherty, Fin ; Drago, Amy
-
2023
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
-
2023
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 …
-
2023
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
-
2023
Journal article
Predicting bronze casting recipes in ancient China: ternary copper-lead–tin alloys and the “unit sum problem”
This paper explores the relationship between trends in the observed composition of ternary copper-lead–tin alloys and the recreation of “recipes” used for the casting of bronze objects, and in particular, to ask if the recipe can be reconstructed from the chemical data. The archaeological context is specifically the manufacture of...Pollard, A. M. ; Liu, Ruiliang
Bronze casting recipes , Chinese bronze coins, and Unit sum problem
-
2023
Journal article
Bronze alloying recipes at Anyang during the Shang Dynasty
We present a detailed analysis of the chemical alloying data (Cu, Sn, Pb) on the bronzes recovered from the Late Shang capital at Yinxu, revealing a complex pattern which varies by social status and object typology, and which also changes over time. The preference for higher tin in the bronze...Pollard, A. Mark ; Zhang, Yun ; Liu, Ruiliang
-
2024
Journal article
Forager-farmer transition at the crossroads of East and Southeast Asia 4900 years ago
The southward expansion of East Asian farmers profoundly influenced the social evolution of Southeast Asia by introducing cereal agriculture. However, the timing and routes of cereal expansion in key regions are unclear due to limited empirical evidence. Here we report macrofossil, microfossil, multiple isotopic (C/N/Sr/O) and paleoproteomic data directly from...Ma, Minmin ; Lu, Minxia ; Sun, Rui ; Zhu, Zhonghua ; Fuller, Dorian Q. …
proteomics, isotopes, agricultural origins, Yunnan, and millet
-
2023
Journal article
New solidification simulation reveals the secret of the hidden metal cores in ancient Chinese bronzes
Regardless of the tremendous number of studies on ancient Chinese bronzes and fruitful understanding of the raw materials, technologies and their cultural significance, many related issues have still not been tackled. In particular, it has been known for decades that the legs of Shang and Zhou bronzes have metal cores,...Yang, Huan ; Fang, Minghui ; Chang, Yihang ; Liu, Ruiliang ; Fang, Zhao …
solidification process simulation, metal core, casting defects, and bronze tripod
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2024
Journal article
A view from the countryside: radiocarbon chronology for Zaolinhetan of the pre-Zhou culture in early dynastic China
The conquest of the Shang Dynasty at Anyang around 1046 BCE by the Zhou is one of the major events for not only Chinese Bronze Age but also early interaction between the pastoralist groups from the Eurasian Steppes and agriculture ones in the Central Plains of China. It is well-known...Li, Xiaojian ; Liu, Wei ; Xu, Yongxiang ; Dou, Haifeng ; Pollard, A Mark …
-
2023
Journal article
How can Neutron Imaging contribute to Heritage Science? An overview at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source
Heritage Science HS spans a large variety of objects and materials, as well as anything that has historic, artistic, anthropological, and natural significance. This paper aims to bridge the gap between the physical and natural sciences and the humanities, and divulge neutron imaging techniques to a wider community. Here we...Fedrigo, Anna ; Grazzi, Francesco ; O’Flynn, Daniel ; Kockelmann, Winfried ; Cantini, Francesco …
-
2022
Journal article
Light production by ceramic using hunter-gatherer-fishers of the Circum-Baltic
Artificial illumination is a fundamental human need. Burning wood and other materials usually in hearths and fireplaces extended daylight hours, whilst the use of flammable substances in torches offered light on the move. It is increasingly understood that pottery played a role in light production. In this study, we focus... -
2023
Journal article
Forensic examination of a fragmentary funerary portrait in the collection of the Harvard art museums
The Harvard Art Museums’ collection includes six Egyptian funerary portraits of the Roman period. These portraits are all that remains of the funerary equipment of individuals whose bodies were carefully prepared for burial and the afterlife. One example, depicting a man, is particularly complicated, broken into multiple fragments which have...Rayner, Georgina ; Eremin, Katherine ; Smith, Kate ; Cartwright, Caroline ; Degryse, Patrick …
workshop, composite, analysis, Roman Egypt, and technical imaging
-
2023
Journal article
Parallel worlds and mixed economies: multi-proxy analysis reveals complex subsistence systems at the dawn of early farming in the northeast Baltic
The transition from foraging to farming was a key turning point in ancient socio-economies. Yet, the complexities and regional variations of this transformation are still poorly understood. This multi-proxy study provides a new understanding of the introduction and spread of early farming, challenging the notions of hierarchical economies. The most... -
2023
Journal article
Industry and art on osseous materials from Courbet cave (Penne, Tarn, France) in the British Museum collections : evidence of Magdalenian connections
The Magdalenian site of Courbet cave in the Aveyron valley is renowned for a significant contribution to the nineteenth century debate about human antiquity and an outstanding set of engraved and sculpted artworks. The typological content of the assemblage nevertheless remained poorly known, making it difficult to assess the place...Lucas, Claire ; Cook, Jill ; Pétillon, Jean-Marc ; Mcgrath,, Krista ; van der Sluis, Laura …
osseous industry, circulation network, Aveyron valley, whale bone, and portable art
-
2023
Journal article
The impact of farming on prehistoric culinary practices throughout Northern Europe
To investigate changes in culinary practices associated with the arrival of farming, we analysed the organic residues of over 1,000 pottery vessels from hunter-gatherer-fisher and early agricultural sites across Northern Europe from the Lower Rhine Basin to the Northeastern Baltic. Here, pottery was widely used by hunter-gatherer-fishers prior to the...Lucquin, Alexandre ; Robson, Harry K. ; Oras, Ester ; Lundy, Jasmine ; Moretti, Giulia …
hunter-gatherers, organic residue analysis, pottery, and early farmers
-
2023
Journal article
The making of Bikini glass in Bida, Nigeria: ethnography, chemical composition, and archaeology
This paper discusses the process, prospects, and challenges of making glass in Bida (Nupeland), central Nigeria. The Masagá glassmakers of Bida provide the ideal case study for investigating the production of . Nineteenth-century Arab and European writings have described glassmaking in Nupeland; however, with the exception of the study carried...Lababidi, Lesley ; Babalola, Abidemi Babatunde ; Gratuze, Bernard ; Rolland, Joëlle ; Véron, Emmanuel …
Indigenous technology, Bida, Nigeria, ethnography, and glass making
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
Journal article
An exploration of potential raw materials for prehistoric pottery production in the Tao River Valley, Gansu Province, China
Northwest China is known for its Majiayao‐style Neolithic painted pottery which has received much praise for its high level of craftsmanship, yet its chain of production, in particular the step of raw material selection, is still poorly understood. To fill this lacuna, the present study explores the raw materials used...Dammer, Evgenia ; Hein, Anke ; Spataro, Michela
Northwest China, petrographic analysis, ceramic technology, and Majiayao style
-
2023
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
-
2023
Journal article
Molecular evidence for new foodways in the early colonial Caribbean: organic residue analysis at Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico
Ceramic objects account for over 90% of the cultural material recovered from archaeological sites in the Caribbean. However, little research has been conducted on molecular evidence for past food production from these same vessels. Forty ceramic sherds from Isla de Mona have been analysed by GC–MS and GC-C-IRMS in order...Briggs, Lisa ; Cooper, Jago ; Craig, Oliver E. ; Heron, Carl ; Lucquin, Alexandre …
food, organic residues, Colonial Caribbean, pottery, and wine
-
2023
Journal article
Inside out: Fusing 3D imaging modalities for the internal and external investigation of multi-material museum objects
3D imaging methods are increasingly employed in cultural heritage research to analyse and document objects in museum collections. In this work, we provide an interactive visualisation plugin for the open-source software Blender, to combine and inspect two complementary 3D imaging modalities: CT images, which capture the interior; and surface scans,... -
2023
Journal article
Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago
Wood artefacts rarely survive from the Early Stone Age since they require exceptional conditions for preservation; consequently, we have limited information about when and how hominins used this basic raw material . We report here on the earliest evidence for structural use of wood in the archaeological record. Waterlogged deposits...Barham, L. ; Duller, G. A. T. ; Candy, I. ; Scott, C. ; Cartwright, C. R. …
archaeology and limnology
-
2023
Journal article
Science, not black magic: metal and glass production in Africa
Ongoing research continues to show that ancient Africans had their own versions of science that were embedded in local contexts. The apparent lack of writing systems in most of the continent, especially south of the Sahara, was used to undermine the continent’s scientific achievements. Rather than relegate Africa to a...Bandama, Foreman ; Babalola, Abidemi Babatunde
-
2023
Journal article
Some thoughts on glass in African archaeology: an introduction
The history of this collection of articles on glass dates to 2020, when one of us (Babalola) proposed a symposium on Glass in African Archaeology for the meeting of the Society for Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA) scheduled for Oxford, but eventually held virtually in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although...Babalola, Abidemi Babatunde ; Rehren, Thilo
-
2024
Journal article
Advances in the characterisation and identification of mastic (Pistacia sp.) resin in archaeological samples by GC-QToF-MS
A new analytical method based on GC-QToF-MS is proposed for the enhanced characterisation and identification of mastic ( sp.) resin in archaeological samples. New insights into the use of mastic in ancient Egypt are provided. The optimisation and application of an analytical method based on gas chromatography coupled to quadrupole...Tamburini, Diego ; Fulcher, Kate ; Briggs, Lisa ; von Aderkas, Nelly ; Pulak, Cemal …
-
2024
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
-
2024
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
-
2023
-
2023
Journal article
Human-environment interaction systems between regional and continental scales in mid-latitude Eurasia during 6000–3000 years ago
The Late Neolithic and Bronze Ages witnessed the extensive expansion of human settlements, along with the dispersal of crops and livestock originating from West and East Asia. These events profoundly reshaped the human-environment relationship in mid-latitude Eurasia and the underlying trans-Eurasian exchange. While the processes and factors that underpin the...Dong, Guanghui ; Du, Linyao ; Liu, Ruiliang ; Li , Yuejiao ; Chen, Fahu
Environment, Climate change, and Eurasia
-
2023
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
-
2020
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
-
2017
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2022
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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
-
2022
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
-
2023
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
-
2023
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 …
-
2022
-
2022
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
-
2014
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... -
2022
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... -
2020
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
-
2022
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. ;
-
2022
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
-
2022
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 ;
-
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2013
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
-
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2017
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
-
2021
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
-
2023
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 …
-
2022
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
-
2022
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.
-
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2014
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
-
2016
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
-
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2023
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
-
2022
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... -
2022
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... -
2022
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... -
2022
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
-
2022
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
-
2022
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