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Book chapter
Beyond the boundaries of the Periplus: the Persian Gulf route in the supply to Myos Hormos and Berenike
This article compares the quantity of Parthian and Sassanian pottery found at the Egyptian Red Sea ports of Myos Hormos and Berenike. It demonstrates greater interconnections during the Sassanian period than the Parthian, correlating to the rise in international importance of the Sassanian empire.Tomber, Roberta
Parthian pottery, Myos Hormos, Red Sea, Sassanian pottery, Berenike, and Persian Gulf
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Book
Relics and Relic Worship in Early Buddhism: India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Burma
Among the world religions, only Buddhism and Christianity attach a central significance to the role of relics. These two traditions however, are different in both conceptual and material terms. In Buddhism, the most sacred relics are those considered parts of the cremated remains of the Buddha: a hair, a tooth,...Stargardt, Janice ; Willis, Michael
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Book
Seals and Status: Power of Objects
For 7,000 years, seals have functioned as signs of authority. This publication deals specifically with aspects of status in the history of seals, exploring this theme across a diverse range of cultural contexts – from the 9th century through the Early Modern period and across the world, looking at Byzantine,...Cherry, John ; Berenbeim, Jessica ; de Beer, Lloyd
art history and History
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Book
Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, Hertfordshire
The hoard of Romano-British temple treasure discovered at Ashwell, Hertfordshire, in 2002, was a unique and sensational find. Comprised of some 27 gold and silver objects, it appears to have been buried in the later 3rd or 4th century AD. It includes an important silver-gilt figurine, a splendid suite of...Jackson, Ralph ; Burleigh, Gilbert
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Book
Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic Glyphs and Stamp Seals in the British Museum
Stamp seals were used in a similar way to modern signet rings: a negative object used to impress a design into another material, often clay. They appeared around 7000 BC and have remained in use in parts of the world continuously until the present day. This volume focuses on the...Denham, Simon
material culture, Neolithic, Middle Eastern archaeology, and stamp seals
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Book
An Etruscan Affair: The Impact of Early Etruscan Discoveries on European Culture
This volume considers how the discovery of Etruscan sites and artefacts has inspired artists, architects, statesmen, collectors, scholars and travellers to Italy from the 16th through to the 20th century, from Ferdinando de' Medici to Piranesi and Federico Fellini. Subjects include the reclaiming of Etruscan identity and its influence on...Swaddling, Judith
Italy, Etruscans, and archaeology
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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
Human occupation of Northern Europe in MIS 13: a response to comments by Gibbard et al. (2019)
In a recent paper (Lewis et al., 2019) we reported the results of geological and archaeological investigations at Happisburgh Site 1. We also considered the significance of the site for understanding the human occupation of northern Europe during the early Middle Pleistocene. In a comment on the paper, Gibbard et...Lewis, Simon ; Ashton, Nick ; Hoare, Peter G. ; Parfitt, Simon
Happisburgh; human footprints; Lower Paleolithic; Early Pleistocene; Britain; Europe
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Journal article
‘A bastion of colonialism’: public perceptions of the British Museum and its relationship to empire
This article uses visitor research to explore public attitudes to the British Museum and perceptions of its relationship to the history of the British Empire. Firstly, it provides an analysis of direct messages received by the Museum over a twelve month period via letters, emails and comments on social media...Frost, Stuart
British Museum; colonialism; imperialism; exhibitions; visitor research
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Journal article
QSAP: Dangeil 2018-19. Conservation challenges and an ever-expanding sacred landscape
Recent excavations and conservation conducted in the late Kushite temple complex at Dangeil over the course of the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project (2013-2019) have revealed many surprises and provided much information about this ancient edifice. Of note, work in the Amun temple’s peristyle court exposed the processional way through the building...Anderson, Julie ; Guiducci, Francesca ; Hajduga, Roksana ; Bashir, Mahmoud Suliman ; elRasheed , Rihab Khidir
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Journal article
Making pottery in the Nile Delta: ceramic provenance and technology at Naukratis, 6th–3rd centuries BC
The interdisciplinary study of Egyptian- and Greek-style pottery found in the Nile Delta aims to test and expand the potential of different scientific methods to identify regional variation and cultural traditions in ceramic fabrics from a relatively uniform geological setting. Neutron activation analysis (NAA), polarised light microscopy and SEM-EDX analyses...Spataro, Michela ; Mommsen, Hans ; Villing, Alexandra
SEM-EDX, Polarised microscopy, NAA, Egyptian pottery, and chaîne opératoire
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Book
Inscriptions of the Aulikaras and Their Associates
The Aulikaras were the rulers of western Malwa (the northwest of Central India) in the heyday of the Imperial Guptas in the fifth century CE, and rose briefly to sovereignty at the beginning of the sixth century before disappearing from the spotlight of history. This book gathers all the epigraphic...Balogh, Dániel
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Book
A Buddhist Ritual Manual on Agriculture: Vajratuṇḍasamayakalparāja - Critical Edition and Translation
This volume is the first in-depth study of a recently discovered Sanskrit dharani spell text from around the 5th century CE surviving in two palm-leaf and three paper manuscript compendia from Nepal. This rare Buddhist scripture focuses on the ritual practice of thaumaturgic weather control for successful agriculture through overpowering...Hidas, Gergely
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Book
Reimagining Captain Cook: Pacific Perspectives
The accompanying publication to the British Museum exhibition Reimagining Captain Cook: Pacific Perspectives, held from 29 November 2018 – 4 August 2019. On the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s extraordinary voyages of exploration, this publication reflects on and charts the enduring legacies of his encounters with Pacific peoples. Objects...Adams, Julie ; Bolton, Lissant
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Book
Salamis-Toumba. An Iron Age Sanctuary in Cyprus Rediscovered. Excavations of the Cyprus Exploration Fund
An edited volume on the Cyprus Exploration Fund's excavations at the Iron Age sanctuary of Salamis-Toumba.Kiely, Thomas ; Karageorghis, Vassos
archaeology and Cyprus
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Book chapter
The use of an Er:YAG laser in the removal of biological growth from polychrome archaeological terracotta figurines from Cyprus
The British Museum preserves a large and archaeologically important collection of painted terracotta and limestone figurines from ancient Cyprus. These were the subject of a collaborative conservation and study programme as part of the Cyprus Digitisation Project. The figurines were covered by dark and ingrained speckles of biological growth, possibly...Pereira-Pardo, Lucía ; Camurcuoglu, Duygu ; Orsini, Miriam ; Weglowska, Katarzyna ; Kiely, Thomas …
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Book chapter
Taharqo and his descendants: a statue cache upstream of the Fifth Nile cataract
A study of the statues of Taharqo and his descendants upstream of the Fifth Nile cataract in a collection of essays on Egyptian statuary from the Old Kingdom to Late Antiquity.Anderson, Julie ; Ahmed, Salaheldin Mohammed ; Bashir , Mahmoud Suliman ; elRasheed, Rihab Khidir
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Book chapter
From Salamis to Bloomsbury: Transporting the Bull’s Head Capital to the British Museum
An account of the transportation of the famous marble bull's head capital discovered in the 1890 excavations at Salamis to the British Museum.Kiely, Thomas
archaeology, Cyprus, and Salamis
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Book chapter
Poachers turned gamekeepers? The British Museum’s archaeological agents in Cyprus, 1893−1899
An account of the agents working for the British Museum in Cyprus in the late 19th century.Kiely, Thomas
19th century, archaeology, and Cyprus
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Book chapter
Scanning Sobek. Mummy of the Crocodile God
Ancient Egyptians always had an intense and complex relationship with animals in daily life as well as in religion. Despite the fact that research on this relationship has been a topic of study, gaps in our knowledge still remain. In a volume with over 30 contributions that explore Human-Animal relationships...Anderson, Julie ; Antoine, Daniel
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Journal issue
Sudan & Nubia Volume 23
Volume 23 of Sudan & Nubia, edited by Julie Anderson with 54 authors. PDF freely downloadable from http://www.sudarchrs.org.uk/resources/publications/journal-sudan-nubia/#toggle-id-23Anderson, Julie
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Other
British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (BMSAES) Issue 24
Editorial This special issue of BMSAES publishes papers and additional reflections arising from two workshops organised at the British Museum in 2011 and 2013 as part of the British Museum’s Naukratis Project. Contributions by archaeologists, Classicists, Egyptologists and other specialists explore the diverse and sometimes contrasting narratives of the different...British Museum
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Journal article
Landscapes, environments and societies: The development of culture in Lower Palaeolithic Europe
Identification of cultural groups is rare in the early Palaeolithic due to site formation processes including taphonomy and the effect of raw material and site function. This paper reviews a critical period in Europe at about 400 ka (MIS 11) when we may be able to identify such groups. This period,...Davis, Rob ; Ashton, Nick
Middle Pleistocene; Europe; Lower Palaeolithic culture; Acheulean; handaxes; fire
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Journal article
Human occupation of northern Europe in MIS 13: Happisburgh Site 1 (Norfolk, UK) and its European context
The timing, environmental setting and archaeological signatures of an early human presence in northern Europe have been longstanding themes of Palaeolithic research. In the space of 20 years, the earliest record of human occupation in Britain has been pushed back from 500 ka (Boxgrove) to 700 ka (Pakefield) and then...Lewis, Simon ; Ashton, Nick ; Field, Michael H. ; Hoare, Peter G. ; Kamermans, Hans …
Happisburgh; human footprints; Lower Paleolithic; Early Pleistocene; Britain; Europe
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Journal article
Evidence of an Ancient Archive? The Papyrus British Museum EA 9961
Used on both sides, the papyrus British Museum EA 9961 reproduces a marsh scene on the recto and a copy of the myth of Isis and her seven scorpions in cursive hieroglyphs on the verso. Although the high quality of the illustration is the most striking feature, the text has...Vandenbeusch, Marie
tomb decoration, papyrology, papyrus gathering, British Museum EA 9961, magic, Bird hunting, and Isis and the seven scorpions
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Journal article
Developing a systematic approach to determine the sequence of impressions of Japanese woodblock prints: the case of Hokusai’s ‘Red Fuji’
Ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints were mass-produced in the Edo Period and early impressions of a given print are generally of higher quality and more sought after by connoisseurs than late impressions. The present publication presents an innovative approach that combines the classical method of examining line quality with a systematic... -
Journal article
The chaîne opératoire of 6th millennium BC pottery making in the Maritsa Valley, Bulgaria: ceramics from Nova Nadezhda
40 potsherds and five other fired clay fragments from the prehistoric site of Nova Nadezhda in Bulgarian Thrace were analysed by archaeometric techniques. Twenty sherds and a daub fragment were analysed in thin section by optical microscopy; these thin sections, and thick sections of a further 24 sherds were also... -
Journal article
Fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy and multispectral imaging for the non-invasive investigation of Asian colourants in Chinese textiles from Dunhuang (7th-10th century AD)
The archaeological complex of Dunhuang (northwestern Gansu, China) is considered a pearl on the Silk Road and the content of its caves revolutionised oriental studies. The British Museum hosts a significant number of textiles and textile fragments from the site. Although mostly catalogued and studied from the point of view...Tamburini, Diego ; Dyer, Joanne
Dunhuang, Asian dyes, Silk road textiles, Multispectral imaging, and FORS
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Journal article
The potential of triterpenoids as chemotaxonomic tools to identify and differentiate genuine, adulterated and archaeological balsams
Plant exudates have been extensively used in the past for different applications related to their olfactory, physical or medical properties. Their identification in archaeological samples relies, notably, on the characterisation of chemotaxonomic molecular markers but is often hampered by the severe alteration of their typical genuine molecular signature due to...Courel, Blandine ; Adam, Pierre ; Schaeffer, Philippe
Styrax, Liquidambar, Myroxylon, GC/MS, 6‑oxygenated oleanolic acid, 3-epi oleanolic acid
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Journal article
Twisted handaxes in Middle Pleistocene Britain and their implications for regional-scale cultural variation and the deep history of Acheulean hominin groups
A better understood chronological framework for the Middle Pleistocene of Britain has enabled archaeologists to detect a number of temporally-restricted assemblage-types, based not on ‘culture historical’ schemes of typological progression but on independent dating methods and secure stratigraphic frameworks, especially river-terrace sequences. This includes a consistent pattern in the timing...White, Mark ; Ashton, Nick ; Bridgland, David
ovate handaxes, social networks, Middle Pleistocene, hominin settlement, and Acheulean
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Journal article
From site to museum: a critical assessment of collection history on the formation and interpretation of the British Early Palaeolithic record
The British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic record makes an important contribution to understanding the early occupation of northern Europe, in particular, through the detailed, systematic and multidisciplinary excavations of key sites. However, it is the historic collections, amassed by a large number of collectors over a 100-year period from the...Harris, Claire R.E. ; Ashton, Nick ; Lewis, Simon G.
Collecting, UK, Museum, Early Palaeolithic, and Handaxes
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Journal article
Investigating Asian colourants in Chinese textiles from Dunhuang (7th-10th century AD) by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry – towards the creation of a mass spectra database
A broad palette of natural dyes is often mentioned with reference to dyed textiles from ancient China. However, few scientific works address the problem of correctly identifying these dyes, often referring simply to unidentified sources. The aim of this work was the creation of a database of mass spectra of...Tmaburini, Diego
HPLC-MS, Tandem mass spectra, Asian dyes, Chinese textiles, Dunhuang Silk Road
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Journal article
The curation and display of Lindow Man
Lindow Man is one of the best-preserved Iron Age bog bodies from Europe. Since his discovery in August 1984, he has been on almost permanent display to the public and the subject of close scientific scrutiny. This article focuses on the life of Lindow Man since his discovery, charting how...Joy, Jody ; Farley, Julia
display, ethics, preservation, wetlands, museum, curation, human remains, and Bog body
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Journal article
Insights from nondestructive geochemical analyses of Hacienda Grande (Puerto Rico) and Salt River (Virgin Islands) Saladoid and Ostionoid ceramics
After decades of archaeological excavations, legacy collections present us with vast reservoirs of untapped research potential. By studying Ceramic Age (ca. 500 bc–ad 600) Caribbean pottery from Hacienda Grande (Puerto Rico) and Salt River (St. Croix), this exploratory study devised a method for the use of nondestructive geochemical analyses (portable...Van Thienen, Vince ; Martínez Milantchí, María Mercedes
legacy collection, ceramic practice, Caribbean archaeology, cultural interaction, and geochemistry
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Book
Abydos: The Sacred Land of the Western Horizon. Proceedings of the Annual Egyptological Colloquium at the British Museum ‘Abydos: the sacred land at the western horizon
This volume is the first of two complementary volumes that explore Abydos through the lenses of the latest archaeological, archival and collections research, building upon a colloquium and workshop held at the British Museum in 2015. A second volume (Abydos in the First Millennium AD, BMPES 9) presents a focussed...Regulski, Ilona
Archaeology, Egypt, and Abydos
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Book
Statues in Context: Production, Meaning and (Re)Uses
Moving beyond typological and stylistic discourses on Egyptian statuary, the papers gathered here seek to explore the architectural, cultic and production contexts of statuary, to shed light on religious or cultural practices, and the political or economic agenda behind the display or hiding of these sculptures. How and why were...Masson-Berghoff, Aurélia
archaeology, Egyptology, statues, Egyptian sculptures, and Egyptian bronzes
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Book
Inspired by the East: How the Islamic world Influenced Western Art
A broad view of the West's complex relationship with the Middle East and North Africa, told through a selection of exquisite art objects. This publication accompanies the exhibition 'Inspired by the East: how the Islamic world influenced Western art' organized by the British Museum and the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.Greenwood, William ; de Guise, Lucien
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Book chapter
Egyptian and Cypriot stone statuettes in context at Late Period Naukratis
Naukratis held a privileged position as a controlled port of trade and base for traders from its founding at the end of the seventh century BC until the establishment of Alexandria. This study will focus on the Cypriot and Egyptian stone statuettes that dominate the figurine assemblage during this important...Thomas, Ross
Greek religion, Egyptian religion, Statuettes, ARCHAEOLOGY: Naukratis, Greek temples, Domestic religion, Figurines, and Terracottas
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Book chapter
The Roman pottery from Kab Marfu’a
This article looks at a pottery assemblage from the emerald processing site of Kab Marfu'a in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Dating primarily between the second and fourth centuries AD, it is functionally unusual, comprising a high percentage of imported amphorae and vessels for storage and pouring.Tomber, Roberta
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Book chapter
Origins of metals for countless bronzes
The proliferation of votive and ritual bronzes during the Late Period would have required a steady supply of metals, in the shape of either bronze scrap or raw materials — not only copper, but also lead, which often formed a high percentage of their alloys. While the use of recycled...Masson-Berghoff, Aurélia ; Pernicka, Ersnt
Egypt, metal, trade, supply of metal, workshop, chemical analyses, provenance, recycling metal, lead isotopes, and Egyptian bronzes
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Book chapter
Museum, magic, memory: a curatorial aesthetic imaginary
The space of the museum offers a unique opportunity to concretise the possibilities of new aesthetic imaginaries, from the curation of large-scale exhibitions to the intimate gaze invited by an object plucked from anonymity in storage and placed in a vitrine. In this essay, I explore an exhibition I curated...Adams, Julie
Museums, New Caledonia, collecting, and curation
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Book chapter
Identifying ancient Egyptian coffin woods from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge using scanning electron microscopy
This chapter presents the results of a major programme of wood identifications of a large number of Egyptian coffins in the Fitzwilliam Museum collection. It exemplifies the range, use and limitations of local woody resources, as well as the selective import of prestige timbers, fundamental to the development of a...Cartwright, Caroline R.
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Book chapter
Money and representation: text, image and message
An examination of the roles of text and image in the three major traditions of world coinage in the period 1400-1700.Cook, Barrie
text, coinage, Coin, authority, and numismatics, image
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Book chapter
Munch and the theatre in Paris
An examination of Edvard Munch's involvement with the avant-garde Théâtre de l'Oeuvre in Paris in the staging of the plays of his fellow Norwegian Henrik Ibsen in the 1890s and how his engagement with the theatre informed his prints and paintings as dramas of the soul and inner emotion.Bartrum, Giulia ; Kuhlemann Falck, Ute ; Carey, Frances ; Coppel, Stephen ; Emmerson, Charles
Edvard Munch, lithography, Henrik Ibsen, Théâtre de l'Oeuvre, and theatre programmes
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Exhibition catalogue
Troy: Myth and Reality
Published to accompany a major exhibition at the British Museum, this beautifully illustrated book searches for the reality behind both the legends and the site of the ancient city itself. It introduces the storytellers who set down the original narrative, and recounts the fateful course of events – from the...Villing, Alexandra ; Fitton, J. Lesley ; Donnellan, Victoria ; Shapland, Andrew
Greek myth, Reception of antiquity, Classics, Troy, Trojan War, Homer, and Classical reception studies
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Book
Sicily: Heritage of the World
The island of Sicily is at the heart of the Mediterranean and from ancient times to the present day it has been a hub of migration and settlement. Following on from the British Museum’s critically acclaimed 2016 exhibition Sicily: culture and conquest, this volume considers the history and material culture...Booms, Dirk ; Higgs, Peter John
Sicily, Norman history, ancient history, medieval history, and archaeology
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Book
Roman Imperial Coinage II.3: From AD 117 to AD 138 Hadrian
The standard reference work for Roman Imperial coinage of Hadrian now occupies a fully revised and greatly expanded standalone volume to cover the last epoch of what many consider the apogee of Roman coinage – begun with Nero’s reform of AD 64 when great effort was taken over their iconographic...Abdy, Richard
numismatics and Hadrian
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Book chapter
Sex and Sensitivities: Exhibiting and Interpreting Shunga at the British Museum
Sexually explicit paintings, prints, and illustrated books known as shunga (“spring pictures”) were produced in Japan in considerable quantities between 1600 and 1900. For most of the twentieth century, although shunga was actively collected and represented in major museum collections, it was rarely exhibited publicly, particularly the more explicit works....Frost, Stuart
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Book chapter
Of Kushite kings and sacred landscapes in the Middle Nile valley
An overview of Kushite kings and sacred landscapes in the Middle Nile Valley in a collection of invited and peer-reviewed essays by friends and colleagues of Julian Edgeworth Reade.Anderson, Julie
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Journal issue
Sudan & Nubia Volume 24
Sudan & Nubia journal, volume 24, edited by Julie Anderson (with 58 authors). PDF available for free download from http://www.sudarchrs.org.uk/resources/publications/journal-sudan-nubia/#toggle-id-24Anderson, Julie
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Journal article
Investigating the Potential of the Er:YAG Laser for the Removal of Cemented Dust from Limestone and Painted Plaster
A successful application of Er:YAG laser for the cleaning of a restored Assyrian relief sculpture from the British Museum collection is presented. Displayed in the gallery, the sculpture has darkened over time due to the natural deposition of dirt, in particular on restored parts. Since traditional cleaning methods have demonstrated...Melita, Lucia Noor ; Węgłowska, Katarzyna ; Tamburini, Diego ; Korenberg, Capucine
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Journal article
There's a lot I have to tell everyone!': Medals by Marie Uchytilová-Kučová
‘How could an unknown girl from a tiny country tell something to the world and be heard?’ This was the question that preoccupied Marie Uchytilová (1924-89), twenty-one years old and living in war-torn Czechoslovakia in 1945. The answer came through art, ‘which can speak all the languages of the world’,...Hockenhull, Tom
Czechoslovakia, medals, and socialism
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Journal article
Pigments, incense, and bitumen from the New Kingdom town and cemetery on Sai Island in Nubia
An analysis of paints found in ceramic sherd palettes from the 18th Dynasty (1548-1302 BCE) Pharaonic town on Sai Island in Upper Nubia using polarised light microscopy and infrared spectroscopy revealed pigments from the standard Egyptian repertoire: red and yellow ochres, Egyptian blue, calcite, gypsum, anhydrite, and the bright white...Fulcher, Kate ; Budka, Julia
Egyptian blue, Canopic jars, Incense, Ancient Nubia, Pigments, Pistacia resin, and Bitumen
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Journal article
The wood charcoals from Sheri Khan Tarakai: a case study in environmental archaeology and palaeoecology
The wood charcoals from the early village site of Sheri Khan Tarakai (c. 3800 – 2900 cal. BC) in the west of Bannu District (Pakistan) are the principal focus of this paper. Twenty six taxa of woody plants (trees and shrubs) were identified and their spatial, contextual and temporal distributions... -
Journal article
Using analytical pyrolysis and scanning electron microscopy to evaluate charcoal formation of four wood taxa from the caatinga of north-east Brazil
People in north-east Brazil mostly rely on fuelwood and charcoal for domestic energy consumption. Traditionally, four local wood taxa (Mimosa tenuiflora, Mimosa ophthalmocentra, Croton sonderianus and Cenostigma pyramidale) from the caatinga have been selected for this purpose. As the final quality of charcoal is directly related to the charring conditions,... -
Journal article
Trends in Myanmar wall paintings from the eleventh to the twentieth centuries
Wall paintings in Myanmar have a long history. Extant remains date as far back as the eleventh century, and murals continue to be produced today. This paper is based on the survey of more than 150 temples in the central zone of Myanmar, exploring the imagery to consider its role...Green, Alexandra
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Journal article
Archaeology at ras Muari: Sonari, a Bronze Age fisher-gatherers settlement at the Hab River mouth (Karachi, Pakistan).
This paper describes the results of the surveys carried out along Ras Muari (Cape Monze, Karachi, Sindh) by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Lower Sindh and Las Bela in 2013 and 2014. The surveyed area coincides with part of the mythical land of the Ichthyophagoi, mentioned by the classical chroniclers.... -
Journal article
Harold-as-Aeneas? The influence of the Aeneid on a rescue scene in the Bayeux Tapestry
This article examines a particular scene in the Bayeux Tapestry where Earl Harold of Wessex rescues Normans from the River Couesnon (Brittany/Normandy) in reference to a similar scene in the Aeneid. It considers the qualities of the 'heroes' in both scenes - Harold and Aeneas - and considers the a...Rollason, Nikki K. ; Michael, Lewis
art, Aeneas, Harold of Wessex (Harold II), Aeneid, and Bayeux Tapestry
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Journal article
The palm tree ryal of Mary Queen of Scots revisited
An investigation of the unusual design of this coin, a tortoise climbing up a palm tree.Cook, Barrie ; Archibald, Marion
palm tree, coinage, tortoise, ryal, and Mary Queen of Scots
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Journal article
Ethnobotany of Hawaiian figure sculpture
Anecdotal theories about traditional uses of Polynesian woods in relation to social and religious practices were tested using comparative wood identification. The woods used to make 135 figure carvings from the Hawaiian archipelago were identified and compared with 23 figure carvings from elsewhere in Polynesia (especially Tahiti and the Marquesas)....Rudall, Paula J. ; Cartwright, Caroline
ethnobotany, Polynesia, and wood anatomy
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Journal article
Bitumen from the Dead Sea in Early Iron Age Nubia
Bitumen has been identified for the first time in Egyptian occupied Nubia, from within the town of Amara West, occupied from around 1300 to 1050 BC. The bitumen can be sourced to the Dead Sea using biomarkers, evidencing a trade in this material from the eastern Mediterranean to Nubia in...Fulcher, Kate ; Stacey, Rebecca ; Spencer, Neal
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Journal article
Objectifying processes: The use of geometric morphometrics and multivariate analyses on Acheulean tools
Nowadays, the fruitful discussion regarding the morphological variability of handaxes during the Middle Pleistocene has reached a decisive moment with the use of more accurate statistical methods, such as geometric morphometrics (GM) and multivariate analyses (MA). This paper presents a preliminary methodological approach for checking the utility of these new...García-Medrano, Paula ; Maldonado-Garrido, Elías ; Ashton, Nick ; Ollé, Andreu
Boxgrove, Middle Pleistocene, handaxes, multivariate analyses, geometric morphometrics, Swanscombe, and Acheulean
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Journal article
Khirbet Ghozlan
The site of Khirbet Um al-Ghozlan sits on a steep knoll overlooking the Wadi Rayyan in north Jordan. Because it is only 0.4 ha in size, most surveys would classify the site as a hamlet or village. In this respect, Khirbet Ghozlan sits comfortably within our traditional understanding of the...Fraser, James ; Cartwright, Caroline
olive oil, olives, Jordan valley, Early Bronze Age IV, Olea europaea, and Khirbet Um al-Ghozlan
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Journal article
A scientific study of Eastern Zhou bronze weapons with tin-rich surface decoration
In this paper we examined three bronze weapons with tin-rich surface decoration from the Eastern Zhou period: a sword (1966,0222.1) with a trellis pattern, a spearhead (1947,0712.426) with a hexagonal star pattern in the British Museum collections, and a sword (GT698) with a trellis pattern from a private collection. These...Wang, Quanyu ; Chen, Yi ; O'Flynn, Daniel
bronze weapon, tin-rich decoration, trellis pattern, and Eastern Zhou
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Journal article
The Beau Street Hoard - what happened next?
Interpreting over 17,000 Roman coins Since the discovery of the Beau Street Hoard in Bath in 2007, years of research have illuminated the contents of this huge collection of late 3rd-century Roman coins, revealing new clues to why it might have been buried.Ghey, Eleanor
archaeology, numismatics, and Roman
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Journal article
A conversation with Roger Keyes
Impressions asked Timothy Clark, newly retired Head of the Japanese Section, Asia Department at the British Museum, to ask Roger Keyes about his work and his recollections. They sat down together in the Asia Study Room at the British Museum on March 26, 2019.Clark, Timothy ; Keyes, Roger
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Journal article
The art of hunting: coordinating subsistence laws with Alaska native harvesting practices
This paper explores the socioeconomic relationships between Alaska Native harvesting practices, the laws that regulate those practices, and Alaska Native art. In the 21st century, indigenous residents of northwestern Alaska incorporate harvesting activities into their travels between small rural communities, regional centers, and larger Alaskan cities. These harvests efficiently coordinate...Lincoln, Amber
art, markets, Arctic, Inuit, and anthropology
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Journal article
Manufacturing techniques of Eastern Zhou bronze ding vessels with short legs: a case study of bronze ding (1949,0711.1) in the British Museum collection
This paper presents a detailed technical study of a Chinese bronze ding vessel with a bulging body, three short legs and a lid in the British Museum collection (1949,0711.1). It is a representative product made by the pattern-block method of the Houma foundry, the largest foundry site of the Eastern...Wang, Quanyu ; Su, Rongyu ; O'Flynn, Daniel ; Chen, Yi
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Journal article
A coin of Augustus struck at Butrint
This article discusses a coin of Augustus struck at Butrint, found on excvations at Butrint, which possibly shows either Aeneas or Ascanius (Julius). It is appended to an article about related sculpture found at ButrintMoorhead, Sam
Coin, Aeneas, Augustus, Ascanius, Roman Provincial, Roman, and Butrint
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Journal article
Forgeries of Hellenistic bronze coins of Ithaca
This article examines the stylistic and metal composition differences between two variants of the bronze Odysseus/Cock type from Ithaca. It posits that Variant 2 is a forgery, which must have been produced after the Hellenistic period but before the end of the 19th century. It also identifies a historic substitution...Dowler, Amelia ; Perucchetti, Laura
British Museum, copper, metal composition, Hellenistic, X-ray fluorescence, copper alloy, numismatics, tin, coins, bronze, forgery, zinc, and Ithaca
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Journal article
The Great Wave: how to identify reproductions
Korenberg, Capucine
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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
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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Book
Repurposing Ritual. Pap. Berlin P. 10480-82: A Case Study from Middle Kingdom Asyut
Repurposing Ritual is the editio princeps of a group of papyrus fragments from ancient Asyut in Middle Egypt currently kept in the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in Berlin. The papyri are significant for the study of ancient Egyptian religious and funerary culture because they contain in a neat hieratic handwriting...Regulski, Ilona
Egyptology, text transmission, mortuary ritual, and written culture
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Book
Iron Age and Roman Coin Hoards in Britain
More coin hoards have been recorded from Roman Britain than from any other province of the Empire. This comprehensive and lavishly illustrated volume provides a survey of over 3260 hoards of Iron Age and Roman coins found in England and Wales with a detailed analysis and discussion. Theories of hoarding...Bland, Roger ; Chadwick, Adrian ; Ghey, Eleanor ; Haselgrove, Colin ; Mattingly, David J.
archaeology, hoards, artefacts, numismatics, Roman, Iron Age, and landscape
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Book
Model of a Summer Camp
The Model of a Summer Camp is a fascinating object with a range of stories to tell. Originating in the Sakha (Yakutia) region of far northeastern Russia, it depicts a yhyakh celebration – a festival of huge cultural importance to the region. This concise book takes a detailed look at...Argounova-Low, Tatiana ; Brown, Alison K. ; Jansari, Sushma
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Book
Arctic: culture and climate
Often imaged as one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, the Arctic has in fact been inhabited for nearly 30,000 years. The various communities that call the region home have found ingenious ways to harness and celebrate the environment, and to co-exist with its wildlife. Today, man-made climate change...Lincoln, Amber ; Cooper, Jago ; Laurens Loovers, Jan Peter
Arctic and climate change
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Book
Living with Art: The Alexander Walker Collection
In 2004 the British Museum received a bequest of 211 modern and contemporary prints and drawings from the London-based film critic Alexander Walker (1930–2003). Undoubtedly one of the most important bequests in recent years, the acquisition of these works has transformed and significantly expanded the Museum’s collection of modern and...Daunt, Catherine
British Museum, collection, art, contemporary, modern, collector, private collection, London, critic, collecting, film, prints, artists, drawings, and art market
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Book
Piranesi Drawings: Visions of Antiquity
The British Museum's collection of 51 drawings by the Venetian 18th-century artist is published and analysed for the first time with new findings about their dating, function and provenanceVowles, Sarah
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Book
Reflections: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa
The contemporary art of the Middle East and North Africa is rich and vibrant. Whether living in their countries of birth or in diaspora, the featured artists are part of the globalised world of art. Here we see artists responding to and making work about their present, histories, traditions and...Porter, Venetia ; Tripp, Charles ; Morris, Natasha
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Book
Rivalling Rome: Parthian Coins and Culture
One hundred years after the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander of Macedon, we see the emergence of a new Iranian dynasty that, by 140 BC, has extended its rule to Western Iran and Mesopotamia. The Arsacid Parthians, famous for their riding and archery skills, became Rome’s most dangerous...Sarkhosh Curtis, Vesta ; Magub, Alexandra
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Book
Edmund de Waal: Library of Exile
Edmund de Waal: library of exile has been published to accompany the British Museum and Edmund de Waal’s art installation of the same name. A preface by Booker Prize-nominated author Elif Shakef considers the importance of literature and its capacity to transcend language and borders. The introduction from British Museum...de Waal, Edmund
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Book
Tantra: enlightenment to revolution
Published to accompany the British Museum exhibition Tantra: enlightenment to revolution explores the radical philosophy that transformed the religious, cultural and political landscape of India and beyond. Originating in early medieval India, Tantra has been linked to successive waves of revolutionary thought; from its 6th century transformation of Hinduism and...Ramos, Imma
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Book
Arctic: culture and climate
For more than 25,000 years, Arctic peoples have made warm and hospitable homes in diverse and innovative ways out of ecosystems of ice. For the first time in their long history, however, Arctic communities are facing the real possibility that the foundations of their way of life—sea ice and permafrost—will...Lincoln, Amber ; Cooper, Jago ; Jan Peter, Laurens Loovers
archaeology, museum collections, Indigenous Arctic People, Arctic, climate change, and anthropology
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Book
The social context of technology: non-ferrous metalworking in later prehistoric Britain and Ireland
The Social Context of Technology explores non-ferrous metalworking in Britain and Ireland during the Bronze and Iron Ages (c. 2500 BC to 1st century AD). Bronze-working dominates the evidence, though the crafting of other non-ferrous metals – including gold, silver, tin and lead – is also considered. Metalwork has long...Adams, Sophia ; Brück, Joanna ; Webley, Leo
Prehistoric Britain and Ireland, Metalworking, and Technology
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Book
Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt: Emerging Research from the APPEAR Project
This research has revitalized scholarly and scientific research into Roman Period Egyptian mummy portraits and provided a critical tool for understanding their production and influence on the history of art.Svoboda, Marie ; Cartwright, Caroline
science, Roman Period, pigments, multispectral imaging, wood, mummy portraits, painted panels, and Egypt
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Book
Thunderbird. A Temple Hymn from Ancient Sumer
Thunderbird brings to life a temple hymn from ancient Mesopotamia that celebrates the power and splendour of the divine House of Ningirsu, built by the Sumerian ruler Gudea. Dating back 4,000 years, the hymn describes the earliest recorded dream in history – a divine commission sent to Gudea as an...Rey, Sebastien ; Rebet, Christine
Temple Hymn, Ancient Myth, Girsu, Gudea, and Sumer
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Book
The Italian coins in the British Museum volume 1: South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia
A catalogue of the British Museum's collection of coins of South Italy, Sicily and Sardinia between 610 and 1860, with introductions on the history of the coinage and the provenance of the collection.Cook, Barrie ; Locatelli, Stefano ; Sarcinelli, Giuseppe ; Travaini, Lucia
British Museum, coinage, Italy, monetary history, and Sicily
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Book chapter
The Early Islamic Trans-Saharan market towns of West Africa
In the early Islamic period, trade across the Sahara escalated to new levels as West African resources, including most significantly gold, were imported on camel caravans to the markets of North Africa and the wider Islamic world trade system, these goods being exchanged for products from North Africa such as...Nixon, Sam
early Islamic, trade, gold trade, West Africa, Sahel, Trans-Saharan, and urbanism
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Book chapter
Conversations with the past: the influence of Rembrandt, Ingres and Picasso on Hockney's graphic portraits
An ‘In Focus’ essay exploring the relationship between Hockney's graphic portraits, and works by Rembrandt, Ingres, and Picasso.Seligman, Isabel ; Howgate, Sarah