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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 …
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Other
British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (BMSAES) Issue 27
Issue 27 comprises two articles focusing on the collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts at the British Museum. The first one publishes for the first time a group of mummy bandages inscribed with the Liturgy of Opening the Mouth for Breathing. This text is only known from a few other sources,...Vandenbeusch, Marie
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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 …
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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
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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
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Book
Recent Discoveries of Tetrarchic Hoards from Roman Britain and their Wider Context
This volume was prompted by the recent discovery in Britain of two large coin hoards dating from the first decade of the fourth century AD – Wold Newton and Rauceby. Coins of this early Tetrarchic period are relatively uncommon finds in Britain and elsewhere, due mainly to the brevity of...Ghey, Eleanor
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Research report
The Amorepacific Project for the Conservation of Korean Pictorial Art
This report provides details of the conservation treatments completed during the Amorepacific project for the conservation of Korean pictorial art, 2018–2023. Additionally it includes articles about Korean art history, materials and scientific outcomes related to the project.Burden, Louisa ; Kosek, Joanna
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Journal article
Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the southern North Sea Basin: evidence from the sandscaping sediments emplaced on the beach between Bacton and Walcott, Norfolk, UK
During the summer of 2019, the Bacton to Walcott Coastal Management Scheme involved the emplacement on to the foreshore of 1.8 million cubic metres of sand and gravel dredged from the submerged sediments of the Palaeo-Yare in the southern North Sea 11 km off Great Yarmouth. During the following 2-year...Davis, Rob ; Ashton, Nick ; Bynoe, Rachel ; Craven, John ; Ferguson, Rob …
Norfolk, Middle Palaeolithic , lithics, and artefacts
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Journal article
Metals and pigments at Amara West: cross-craft perspectives on practices and provisioning in New Kingdom Nubia
This paper presents the results of elemental and lead isotopic analysis of copper alloys, copper-based pigments and an extremely rare tin-based alloy from the town of Amara West (Sudan), the centre for pharaonic control of occupied Upper Nubia between 1300 and 1070 BCE. It is the first assemblage of its...Rademakers, Frederik W. ; Auenmüller, Johannes ; Spencer, Neal ; Fulcher, Kate ; Lehmann, Manuela …
Egyptian blue, copper alloys, Archaeometallurgy, Nubian archaeology, New Kingdom, and Amara West
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Book
Chandragupta Maurya: The Creation of a National Hero in India
We take it for granted that some historical figures become heroes, and others do not. Chandragupta Maurya evolved from obscure ruler to contemporary national icon. The key moment in the making of this Indian hero was a meeting by the banks of the River Indus between Chandragupta and Seleucus, founder...Jansari, Sushma
history, Chandragupta Maurya, and India
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Journal article
Will my boomerang come back? New insights into Aboriginal material culture of early Sydney and affiliated coastal zone from British collections
Aboriginal material culture of the Sydney region has been analysed extensively by Australian archaeologists, notably Vincent Megaw and Val Attenbrow, yet many new insights can be obtained through the examination of hitherto unidentified and unexamined museum objects and dispersed archival documentation in Britain and Ireland. Close engagement with these sources...Sculthorpe, Gaye ; Simpson, Daniel
collecting, museums, boomerang, Sydney, provenance, Britain, and repatriation
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Journal article
Evaluating transformations in small metal finds following the Black Death
This paper seeks to evaluate transformations in portable material culture following the Black Death in England (1348–1349), specifically through an analysis of small metal finds data recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). It will discuss the use of Geographic Information Systems and other computational methods in archaeological research, and...Oksanen, Eljas ; Lewis, Michael
Black Death, material culture, and Portable Antiquities Scheme
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Journal article
Earliest systematic coal exploitation for fuel extended to ~3600 B.P.
Coal has long fueled human civilizations. The history of systematic coal fuel exploitation has been traced back to the late third millennium before present (post-2500 B.P.). Although sporadic combustion of coal for fuel was reported in some prehistoric archaeological sites, evidence for the systematic exploitation of coal for fuel before...Qiu, Menghan ; Liu, Ruiliang ; Li, Xingyuan ; Du, Linyao ; Ruan, Qiurong …
China, metallurgy, and coal
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Journal article
Changes in the production materials of Burmese textiles in the nineteenth century - dyes, mordants and fibres of Karen garments from the British Museum’s collection
The materials of six Karen textiles from the British Museum’s collection were investigated with the main aim of studying the production changes over the course of the nineteenth century and how these changes related to local and colonial trade networks. The textiles span chronologically from the 1830s to the early...Tamburini, Diego ; Dyer, Joanne ; Cartwright, Caroline ; Green, Alexandra
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Book
Late Hokusai: Society, Thought, Technique, Legacy
This publication has been developed from ideas first presented at the international symposium Late Hokusai: Thought, Technique, Society, held at the British Museum in May 2017. The symposium was organised to enable specialists in a range of disciplines relating to early modern Japan to view and consider the critically acclaimed...Clark, Timothy
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Book
Sailing the Monsoon Winds in Miniature: Understanding Indian Ocean Boat Models
Models of non-European watercrafts are commonly found in museum collections in the UK and throughout the world. These objects are understudied, rarely used in museum displays and at risk of disposal. In addition, there are several gaps in current understanding of traditional watercraft from the Indian Ocean, the region spanning...Dixon, Charlotte
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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
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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
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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
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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,... -
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
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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
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Book
Dyes in History and Archaeology 41
This book is a reprint of the Special Issue Dyes in History and Archaeology 41 that was published in HeritageDyer, Joanne
colourants, organic pigments, and dyes
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Book chapter
Objects, knowledge, and museums: reflections on the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme
This chapter addresses some of the politics of knowledge that revolve around ethnographic collections in public museums today. In an increasingly politicised environment, museums with ethnographic collections are often now expected to undertake various kinds of moral work on behalf of wider society. Work such as reparation and restitution for...Bolton, Lissant
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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
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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
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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
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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... -
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
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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 …
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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
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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
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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
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Journal article
Neutron tomography of sealed copper alloy animal coffins from ancient Egypt
Animal mummification was commonplace in ancient Egypt, with the remains of many animals placed inside statues or votive boxes with representations of animals or hybrid human–animal creatures. Votive boxes were made from a variety of materials and often sealed; some boxes are still preserved in this state in museum collections....O’Flynn, Daniel ; Fedrigo, Anna ; Perucchetti, Laura ; Masson-Berghoff, Aurélia
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Book
Greek and Roman Medicine at the British Museum: The Instruments and Accoutrements of Ancient Medicine
Greek and Roman Medicine at the British Museum is an authoritative and up-to-date study of Greek and Roman medicine and surgery. This book is the first full, and fully illustrated, publication of the Museum’s important collection. Strategies for the preservation of health and for the prevention and treatment of illness...Jackson, Ralph
History of medicine, Classical world, and History of collecting
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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
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Book chapter
The colophons of Ashurbanipal, King of the World
Colophons mark the constituents of what may have been the first attempt to assemble all significant written scholarly knowledge in one place. The 7th century BC cuneiform collection of Ashurbanipal of Assyria lets us understand intellectual life in the ancient Middle East. More than twenty different, apparently standardised, colophon texts...Taylor, Jon ; Jiménez, Enrique ; Schnitzlein, Babette ; Cohen, Sophie
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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
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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
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Other
British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (BMSAES) Issue 26
The transfer of wall paintings from their original locations has been practised since antiquity. Many art collections contain wall paintings which were historically detached and rebacked. Such transfer is now rarely undertaken, and only under very specific circumstances. This extensive article is specifically concerned with the transfer of ancient Egyptian...British Museum
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Book
Down to Earth Archaeology
Professor William Y. Adams presents sixteen papers on Nubia, written at various times during his lengthy and productive academic career. Most of those selected had been previously published only in a limited way; encompassing a wide range of topics, Adams wanted to enable them to reach a wider readership than...Adams, William Y. ; Anderson, Julie R.
archaeology and Nubia
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Book chapter
Money on the Silk Road – twenty years on
One of 28 papers in a Festschrift in honour of Georgina Herrmann, this paper outlines projects and publications relating to, and arising from, "Money on the Silk. The Evidence from Eastern Central Asia to c. AD 800, including a catalogue of the coins collected by Sir Aurel SteinWang, Helen
Silk Roads, Money, and Aurel Stein
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Journal article
Igbo-Ukwu textiles: AMS dating and fiber analysis
Thurstan Shaw’s excavations at Igbo-Ukwu revealed many artifacts and technologies that remain astonishing, unique, and incompletely understood, both within Africa and more broadly, even after 50 years. Among these are the textiles recovered primarily from Igbo Isaiah, where fragments were preserved by contact with the bronze artifacts gathered in what...McIntosh, Susan Keech ; Cartwright, Caroline R.
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Journal article
The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers
Human history has been shaped by global dispersals of technologies, although understanding of what enabled these processes is limited. Here, we explore the behavioural mechanisms that led to the emergence of pottery among hunter-gatherer communities in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Through radiocarbon dating, we propose this dispersal occurred at a...Dolbunova, Ekaterina ; Lucquin, Alexandre ; McLaughlin, T. Rowan ; Bondetti, Manon ; Courel, Blandine …
pottery, dispersal, hunter-gatherer communities, and chemical analysis
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Journal article
Polysaccharide Paint Binding Media at Two Pharaonic Settlements in Nubia
Paints and plasters from two pharaonic settlement sites in Nubia (northern Sudan) were analysed to investigate the presence and origin of organic binding materials. The town of Sai was founded around the time of the pharaonic conquest of Kush (Upper Nubia) around 1500 BC, with Amara West created as a...Fulcher, Kate ; Spencer, Neal ; Budka, Julia ; Stacey, Rebecca J.
archaeology, urbanism, Nubia, Egypt, technology, colonialism, pigment, botany, and gums
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Journal article
Investigating the potential of the Nd:YAG and Er:YAG lasers for the cleaning of feathers: a pilot study
A dual-wavelength Q-switched Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm and 532 nm and an Er:YAG laser were tested on a range of feathers containing melanin, carotenoids and psittacofulvins. Dyed, white and iridescent feathers, as well as down feathers, were also included in the study. First, the damage threshold fluence was...Bertasa, Moira ; Korenberg, Capucine
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Book
Pahu: Historical Collections, Artistic Continuance
This book results from an ongoing collaboration between the Benioff Oceania Programme at the British Museum and Dennis Kanaʻe Keawe, a Hawaiian artist and artisan specialised in pahu (drum) making and based in Hilo (Hawaiʻi). Shaped and nutured through the artist’s unique lens, this volume combines a renewed understanding of... -
Book
Munch and his World: Graphic Arts and the Avant-garde in Paris and Berlin
Munch and his World: Graphic Arts and the Avant-garde in Paris and Berlin is a visually stunning publication which offers new insights into the life and world of the artist Edvard Munch. The art of Edvard Munch is striking for the originality and universality of its themes, which cross moments...Bartrum, Giulia
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Journal article
Early evidence for cancer in Sudan: an advanced example of bone metastases from ancient Nubia (circa 2500–2050 BCE)
WHO reports that cancer is currently a leading cause of death worldwide. An increasing body of bioarchaeological research offers new insights into the past prevalence, epidemiology, and evolution of cancer. An archaeological example from the Northern Dongola Reach in Upper Nubia, Sudan, is presented in this Perspectives piece.Whiting, Rebecca ; Phillips, Emma L. W. ; O'Flynn, Daniel ; Antoine, Daniel
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Book
The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice
The Hay archive of Coptic manuscripts consists of seven fragmentary sheets of leather bearing spells for divination, protection, healing, personal advancement, cursing and the satisfaction of sexual desire. Purchased from the heir of the Scottish Egyptologist and draftsman, Robert Hay (1799–1863), the manuscripts arrived at the British Museum in 1869....O'Connell, Elisabeth
Egyptology, papyrology, Coptic studies, and religious studies
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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... -
Journal article
Rediscovering Nestawedjat: Embalming residue analyses reunite the mummified remains of an ancient Egyptian woman with her coffins
Long held museum collections can sometimes lack a clear provenance or context. Here, an ancient Egyptian mummified individual in the British Museum collection was reconnected with a set of three coffins in an interdisciplinary study using bioarchaeological, scientific and Egyptological analyses. Previously assigned as male, based on earlier X-rays due...Vandenbeusch, Marie ; Stacey, Rebecca ; Antoine, Daniel
Ancient Egypt; mummification; embalming; FTIRGC–MS; 25th Dynasty; British Museum; CT scanning
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Journal article
Cultural mosaics, social structure, and identity: The Acheulean threshold in Europe
The period between 600 and 400 ka is a critical phase for human evolution in Europe. The south and northwest saw a dramatic increase in sites, the spread of handaxe technology alongside bone and wooden tool manufacture, efficient hunting techniques, and the use of fire. Lithic assemblages show considerable variation,...Ashton, Nick ; Davis, Rob
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Journal article
Coastal curios? An analysis of ex situ beach finds for mapping new Palaeolithic sites at Happisburgh, UK
Recent archaeological discoveries from exposures of the Cromer Forest-bed Formation at Happisburgh, UK, have radically changed interpretations of the nature and timing of early hominin occupation of northern latitudes, but this in situ archaeology is only one part of the picture. Surface finds of Pleistocene mammalian remains have been found...Bynoe, Rachel ; Ashton, Nick ; Grimmer, Tim ; Hoare, Peter ; Leonard, Joanne …
Happisburgh; human footprints; Lower Paleolithic; Early Pleistocene; Britain; Europe
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Journal article
Molecular analysis of black coatings and anointing fluids from ancient Egyptian coffins, mummy cases, and funerary objects
Black organic coatings and ritual deposits on ancient Egyptian coffins and cartonnage cases are important and understudied sources of evidence about the rituals of funerary practice. Sometimes, the coatings were applied extensively over the surface of the coffin, resembling paint; in other cases, they were poured over the mummy case...Fulcher, Kate ; Serpico, Margaret ; Taylor, John H. ; Stacey, Rebecca
archaeology; ancient Egypt; coffins; mass spectrometry; chromatography
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Journal article
Weathering climate change in archaeology: conceptual challenges and an East African case study
Research on the social dimensions of climate change is increasingly focused on people's experiences, values and relations to the environment as a means to understand how people interpret and adapt to changes. However, a particular challenge has been making seemingly temporally and geographically distant climate change more immediate and local...Petek-Sargeant, Nik ; Lane, Paul J.
Weather, Climate change, Kenya, Environmental humanities, East Africa, and Ilchamus
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Book
Precious Treasures from the Diamond Throne: Finds from the Site of the Buddha’s Enlightenment
The Mahābodhi temple at Bodhgayā in eastern India has long been recognised as the place where the Buddha sat in meditation and attained enlightenment. The site, soon identified as the ‘Diamond Throne’ or vajrāsana, became a destination for pilgrims and a focus of religious attention for more than two thousand...Willis, Michael
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Book
Charles Masson: Collections from Begram and Kabul Bazaar, Afghanistan, 1833–1838
From 1833–8, Charles Masson (1800–1853) was employed by the British East India Company to explore the ancient sites in south-east Afghanistan. In return for funding his exploration of the ancient sites of Afghanistan, the British East India Company received all of Masson’s finds. These were sent to the India Museum...Errington, Elizabeth
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Book
Pots, Prints and Politics: Ceramics with an Agenda, from the 14th to the 20th Century
From the introduction of woodblock printing in China to the development of copper-plate engraving in Europe, the print medium has been used around the world to circulate knowledge. Ceramic artists across time and cultures have adapted these graphic sources as painted or transfer-printed images applied onto glazed or unglazed surfaces...Ferguson, Patricia F.
European art, Asian art, and Ceramics
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Book
Imagining the Divine: Art in Religions of Late Antiquity Across Eurasia
This groundbreaking volume brings together scholars of the art and archaeology of late antiquity (c. 200−1000), across cultures and regions reaching from India to Iberia, to discuss how objects can inform our understanding of religions. During this period major transformations are visible in the production of religious art and in...Elsner, Jaś ; Wood, Rachel
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Book
Objects as Insights: R.H. Codrington’s Ethnographic Collections from Melanesia
R.H. Codrington (1830–1922) graduated from Oxford University in 1856 and was ordained in 1857. He volunteered to work in Nelson, New Zealand, from 1860–4 and was appointed as headmaster of the Melanesian Mission training school on Norfolk Island in 1867. He spent the next twenty years in this post and...Stanley, Nick
material culture, Melanesia, Codrington, collecting history, anthropology, and Pacific studies
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Journal article
New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba
The remains of 61 individuals buried in the cemetery of Jebel Sahaba (site 117) offer unique and substantial evidence to the emergence of violence in the Nile Valley at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Excavated and assessed in the 1960s, some of the original findings and interpretations are disputed....Crevecoeur, Isabelle ; Dias-Meirinho, Marie-Hélène ; Zazzo, Antoine ; Antoine, Daniel ; Bon, François
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Journal article
Ancient anomalies: Twinned and supernumerary incisors in a medieval Nubian
During the analysis of a skeletal assemblage from a medieval cemetery in Nubia (c. AD 500–1550), a young adult female with abnormally developed maxillary incisors was discovered. The possible causes of the two dental anomalies found in this individual and their archaeological context are discussed. The remains are from a...Phillips, Emma L.W. ; Irish, Joel D. ; Antoine, Daniel
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Book
Ceramic Exchange and the Indian Ocean Economy (AD 400–1275) Volume I: Analysis
From AD 500–1000, the Indian Ocean emerged as a global commercial centre, and by around 750–800 a sophisticated trade network had been established involving the movement of goods from Japan and China in the east, to southern Africa and Spain in the west. However, the Indian Ocean’s commercial system has...Priestman, Seth M.N.
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Book
Ceramic Exchange and Indian Ocean Economy (AD 400–1275). Volume II: Indian Ocean Pottery Classification
From AD 500–1000, the Indian Ocean emerged as a global commercial centre, and by around 750–800 a sophisticated trade network had been established involving the movement of goods from Japan and China in the east, to southern Africa and Spain in the west. However, the Indian Ocean’s commercial system has...Priestman, Seth M.N.
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Book
A Royal Renaissance Treasure and its Afterlives: The Royal Clock Salt
At centre stage in this volume is the Royal Clock Salt, an exceptional national treasure from the courtly culture of the Renaissance. Most probably made in Paris around 1530 by Pierre Mangot, the royal goldsmith to Francis I, the Clock Salt is somewhere between a jewel and a table ornament....Schroder, Timothy ; Thornton, Dora
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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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Book
A Riverine Site Near York: A Possible Viking Camp?
The location known as ‘A Riverine Site Near York (ARSNY)’ represents a category of Viking site known from the historical record but one that until recently had remained largely undetected archaeologically: the Viking camp. The published investigations at Repton, Derbyshire, although undoubtedly important, created a false paradigm for the scale...Williams, Gareth
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Book
Ceremonial Living in the Third Millennium BC: Excavations at Ringlemere Site M1, Kent, 2002–2006
The discovery in 2001 of an exquisite Early Bronze Age gold cup at Ringlemere Farm in Kent prompted an extensive survey and excavation of the site from 2002–2006. Excavation revealed a site with a long history of use, the most striking evidence being for intensive activity in the third millennium...Needham, Stuart ; Parfitt, Keith
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Journal article
Variable Ovicaprid Diet and Faecal Spherulite Production at Amara West, Sudan
This paper presents the results of integrated geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical analyses of desiccated and charred ovicaprid dung pellets from the New Kingdom pharaonic settlement of Amara West (Sudan). These analyses reveal diagnostic phytolithic evidence for considerable variations in plant diet amongst the site’s ovicaprid population. These data shed light on...Dalton, Matthew ; Ryan, Philippa
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Journal article
Enlightenment architectures: the reconstruction of Sir Hans Sloane’s cabinets of ‘Miscellanies’
Focusing on Sir Hans Sloane’s catalogue of ‘Miscellanies’, now in the British Museum, this paper asks firstly how Sloane described objects and secondly whether the original contents of the cabinets can be reconstructed from his catalogue. Drawing on a sustained, digitally augmented analysis – the first of its kind –...Sloan, Kim ; Nyhan, Julianne
British Museum, digitization, collections, cabinets, Sir Hans Sloane, catalogues, and digital humanities
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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 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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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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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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Journal article
Periodontal disease and ‘oral health’ in the past: new insights from ancient Sudan on a very modern problem
As one of today’s major oral health issues, periodontal disease affects populations worldwide. Here, methods used to record its past prevalence are reviewed, including the problems associated with the use of measurements to record bone loss. Clinical and bioarchaeological research offers strong support for the Kerr method that records interdental...Whiting, Rebecca ; Antoine, Daniel ; Hillson, Simon
bioarchaeology, interdental septum, Periodontal disease , Sudan, and Kerr method
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Journal article
Inflammatory periosteal reaction on ribs associated with lower respiratory tract disease: A method for recording prevalence from sites with differing preservation
Objectives: Inflammatory periosteal reaction (IPR) on the visceral surfaces of the ribs has been used in bioarchaeology as an indicator of lower respiratory tract disease. This article presents a detailed method for recording IPR on the ribs, even those in severely fragmented states, with the objectives of increasing the consistency...Davies-Barrett, Anna M. ; Antoine, Daniel ; Roberts, Charlotte A.
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Other
A Tale of Shutb
A Tale of Shutb is a fictional story including accurate historical facts within the narration of the events. It is an initiative to present the recent discoveries of the British Museum’s expedition to Shutb to the local audience in a brief and interesting way. This story was written in Arabic...Keshk, Fatma
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Journal article
'Museological Approaches to the Management of Digital Research and Engagement: The African Rock Art Image Project
The African Rock Art Image Project at the British Museum has documented and disseminated c. 24,000 digital images of rock art from throughout the continent, donated by the Trust for African Rock Art (TARA). The images were registered into the British Museum’s permanent collection and treated as objects in their...Anderson, Helen ; Galvin, Lisa ; de Torres, Jorge
rock art, Africa, archaeology, and Museum studies
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Journal article
The use of erbium lasers for the conservation of cultural heritage. A review
The characteristics of erbium lasers (Er:YAG) make them a promising tool for the conservation of cultural heritage, and yet they still remain less widespread than other lasers in this field. This review aims to summarise, compare and evaluate the results of case studies and experiments published so far about Er:YAG...Pereira-Pardo, Lucía ; Korenberg, Capucine
Erbium laser cleaning; paintings; stone varnishes; overpainting crusts
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Journal article
(Re)sources: Origins of metals in Late Period Egypt
Metal trade and access to raw materials during the Late Bronze Age—roughly covering the New Kingdom in Egypt—have received substantial attention from past and present scholarship. Despite copper and lead remaining essential commodities afterwards, our knowledge about their supply during the Iron Age and later periods, in contrast, remains limited,...Masson-Berghoff, Aurélia ; Pernicka, Ernst ; Hook, Duncan ; Meek, Andrew
faience, Late Period, lead isotopes, metal, and Egypt
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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
The Performance of International Diplomacy at Kigali Memorial Centre, Rwanda
Every year in Rwanda, a week of national mourning commemorates the Genocide of Tutsi, a brutal episode that began on April the 7th 1994 and resulted in the murder of up to one million people in 100 days. The genocide was returned to the global stage in 2014 when world...Giblin, John
memorialisation, Rwanda, genocide, international diplomacy, performance, and heritage
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Book
Charles Masson and the Buddhist Sites of Afghanistan: Explorations, Excavations, Collections 1832−1835
From 1833–8, Charles Masson (1800–1853) was employed by the British East India Company to explore the ancient sites in south-east Afghanistan. During this period, he surveyed over a hundred sites around Kabul, Jalalabad and Wardak, making numerous drawings of the sites, together with maps, compass readings, sections of the stupas...Errington, Elizabeth
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Book
Excavations at the British Museum: An Archaeological and Social History of Bloomsbury
In 1999 and 2007 respectively, the central courtyard and the northwest corner of the British Museum estate were redeveloped in order to create two iconic additions to the institution: the Great Court and the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre. The execution of these projects provided the opportunity to investigate the...Haslam, Rebecca ; Ridgeway, Victoria
London, British Museum, and archaeology
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Book
The Charles Masson Archive: British Library, British Museum and Other Documents Relating to the 1832–1838 Masson Collection from Afghanistan
Since its inception in 1993, the Masson Project has worked towards reconstructing the archaeological history of south-eastern Afghanistan through an early 19th-century collection of its antiquities now in the British Museum, in conjunction with comprehensive related manuscript records in the British Library. This is the collection and archive created by...Errington, Elizabeth
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Book
A Celtic Feast: The Iron Age Cauldrons from Chiseldon, Wiltshire
This volume presents for the first time the results of the excavation and scientific analysis between 2005 and 2013 of seventeen Iron Age cauldrons discovered in a large pit on farmland in the parish of Chiseldon, Wiltshire, and consequently acquired by the British Museum. The assemblage is unprecedented in many...Joy, Jody ; Baldwin, Alexandra
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Book
A Rothschild Renaissance A New Look at the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum
In 1898, Baron Ferdinand Rothschild bequeathed to the British Museum the contents from the New Smoking Room at his home at Waddesdon Manor, a collection of nearly 300 objects to be known as the Waddesdon Bequest. The Bequest contains some of the most beautiful examples of medieval and Renaissance craftsmanship,...Shirley, Pippa ; Thornton, Dora
history of collecting, Art history, Renaissance art, and Decorative arts
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Book
Pudding Pan: A Roman Shipwreck and its Cargo in Context
For more than 300 years commercial fishermen working in the outer Thames estuary have recovered Roman pottery in their oyster dredgers and fishing nets from the seabed in the vicinity of Pudding Pan. However, despite numerous attempts to locate the source of the material, this elusive site has remained undiscovered...Walsh, Michael
Roman Britain, Roman material culture, and Roman maritime trade
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Book
Bejewelled: Men and Jewellery in Tudor and Jacobean England
Jewellery is often viewed as a feminine preoccupation, but in Tudor and Jacobean England men wore just as much (if not more) jewellery as their female counterparts. Jewels themselves were valued not merely for their intrinsic monetary worth, but also for their ability to reflect status and lineage, as well...Awais-Dean, Natasha
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Journal article
How is museum lighting selected? An insight into current practice in UK museums
The results of a series of interviews with museum professionals on the subject of museum lighting specification and selection are reported, with the aim that this report should provide an insight into current practice. Specific attention is given to the usage of industry parameters (lux, CIE-Ra, CCT), and to investigating...Garside, Daniel ; Curran, Katherine ; Korenberg, Capucine ; MacDonald, Lindsay ; Teunissen, Kees …
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Journal article
Report of the Archaeological Survey of Chamak and its Surroundings, District Amaravati, Maharashtra
This report presents the results of a short programme of fieldwork targeted towards the investigation of the archaeological and geographical setting of the Chamak copperplate charter. This inscription, unearthed in the modern village of Chamak in 1868, records the grant of land to a group of Brahmins living in the...Hawkes, Jason D ; Abbas, Riza ; Willis, Michael
Vidarbha, survey, Vakatakas, archaeology, and inscription
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Journal article
Discerning differences: Ion beam analysis of ancient faience from Naukratis and Rhodes
Faience technology was known in Egypt since the Predynastic Period and practiced for a period also in Bronze Age Greece, but, having been lost, was reintroduced to the Greek world only in the fi rst half of the fi rst millennium BC. The Greek island of Rhodes and the Greek-Egyptian...Meek, Andrew ; Bouquillon, Anne ; Lehuédé, Patrice ; Masson, Aurélia ; Villing, Alexandra …
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