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Journal article
The use of wood-based products in showcases: an insight into current practices
It has long been established that wood emits volatile organic compounds that can be harmful to museum collections. An online survey was conducted to assess whether museums still used wood and composite wood inside showcases and, should this be the case, what strategies they employed to reduce the risk posed...Bertolotti, Giulia ; Korenberg, Capucine
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Journal article
Refinements introduced in the Oddy Test methodology
The ‘Oddy test’ is an accelerated corrosion test introduced in the 1970s at the British Museum to identify materials likely to emit volatile substances that could harm museum artefacts. It is carried out in many museums all around the world, but not always using the same methodology, which makes it...Korenberg, Capucine ; Keable, Melanie ; Phippard, Julie ; Doyle, Adrian
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Journal article
Re-membering Osiris: Late Period casting moulds and Osirian ritual
In 1969, a unique set of Late Period bronze casting moulds was discovered at the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis illustrating the chaîne opératoire of the lost-wax technique. Usually only mould fragments, if anything at all, remain in the archaeological record, but this assemblage presents complete examples representative of different phases of...Verly, Georges ; Auenmüller, Johannes ; Delvaux, Luc ; W. Rademakers, Frederik
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Journal article
Counting when, who and how: visualizing the British Museum’s history of acquisition through collection data, 1753–2019
This paper critically examines the possibilities of using the British Museum’s collection database as a research tool to examine acquisition history. It publishes initial findings from the author’s research into the history of the collection through a quantitative analysis of collection data. Rather than focusing on individual collectors, collections or...MacDonald, Isobel
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Journal article
The bad side of recycling: the use of ancient coins as a source of material for modern forgeries
A group of six coins from Ithaca in the British Museum collection has been analysed using a bench Bruker Artax X-ray fluorescence spectrometer on a polished surface. The coins can be stylistically divided into two variants. The analysis highlighted that the two variants are chemically different, with one suspected of...Perucchetti, Laura ; Dowler, Amelia
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Journal article
Metal-detecting rallies: characterizing the phenomenon, understanding the challenges, and identifying strategies for heritage protection
Hobby metal detectorists search for archaeological finds as individuals and within groups, the latter being the focus of this article. Such groups come together as “clubs” and “meetings,” but also as part of large, often commercially run events typically known as “rallies.” All these activities are attractive to detectorists because...Wessman, Anna ; Deckers, Pieterjan ; Lewis, Michael ; Thomas, Suzie ; Nolet, Katelijne
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Journal article
Coin hoards from England, Scotland and Wales 2021
Early Medieval, archaeology, hoards, Post-Medieval, numismatics, coins, Medieval, Iron Age, and RomanGhey, Eleanor ; Andrews, Murray
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Journal article
Coherent changes in wood charcoals, site occupation and lithic technology across the MIS 4/3 transition at Klein Kliphuis rock shelter, South Africa
We explore the correspondence between changing palaeoenvironments, patterns of site use, and lithic technology at the rock shelter site Klein Kliphuis (South Africa) across the interval 65–55 000 years before present. This period coincides with the termination of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4, and the disappearance of an iconic late...Mackay, Alex ; Cartwright, Caroline R.
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Journal article
‘A Very Curious Series of Paintings’: Marco Ricci’s Paintings on Leather
The 2017 Royal Collection Trust exhibition ‘Canaletto and the Art of Venice’ necessitated the examination and conservation treatment of eight paintings by the artist Marco Ricci (1676–1730). Marco’s artworks were unusually catalogued as ‘tempera on kidskin leather’, however it became apparent that internationally widespread confusion and inconsistency existed in the...Turner, Emma
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Journal article
The six recipes of Zhou: a new perspective on Jin (金) and Xi (锡)
Knowledge of alloying practices is key to understanding the mass production of ancient Chinese bronzes. The Eastern Zhou text, the Rites of Zhou, contains six formulae, or recipes, for casting different forms of bronze based on the combination of two components: Jin and Xi. For more than 100 years, the...Pollard, A.M. ; Liu, Ruiliang
six recipes, ancient Chinese texts, alloying practices, Bronze Age, China, and metallurgy
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Journal article
Protecting Three-Dimensional Museum Collections During Transport: Engineering and Evaluation of Transport Crates Featuring Wire-Rope Isolators for Improved Vibration Mitigation
Shock and vibration generated during transport can lead to overload failure and fatigue fracture in museum objects. Damage can be prevented using transport packing providing both adequate shock absorption and vibration isolation. This research demonstrated that standardized packing with enhanced vibration mitigation is achievable for three-dimensional objects in a busy...Kotonski, Verena ; Kracht, Kerstin ; York, Evan ; Barton, Caroline
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Journal article
Mapping archaeometallurgical data of the Iberian Copper Age: different ways to look at a big picture
Traditionally, archaeometallurgical projects have visualised information through distribution maps of the find spots for different metal compositions or types of objects. However, this is limiting, and more innovative styles of communication are required to engage with more dynamic technological questions such as what underpins the use and circulation of metal....Perucchetti, L. ; Montero-Ruiz, I. ; Bray, P.
Iberian peninsula, Copper age, Data visualisation, Archaeometallurgy, and GIS
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Journal article
What is a dagger? A metallurgical interpretation of three metal daggers from western Switzerland dated from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age
The role of daggers in prehistoric European society has been long debated. Within this discussion, we may add some hints to understand the human choices behind daggers’ production, in a study in combination with the University of Oxford and the University of Geneva, that combines their shape, the metal used...Perucchetti, Laura ; Northover, J. Peter ; David-Elbiali, Mireille
Late Neolithic, Elemental composition, Daggers, Early Bronze Age, and Microstructure
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Journal article
FLAME‐D database: an integrated system for the study of archaeometallurgy
This paper discusses the reorganisation of archaeometallurgical legacy data for future research. When archaeometallurgical research aims to answer questions that involve significant movements of raw material or metal objects, it needs to rely on large sets of data. These data are available but scattered across hundreds of publications, where they...Perucchetti, L. ; Bray, P. ; Felicetti, A. ; Sainsbury, V. ; Howarth, P. …
Bronze Age, archaeometallurgy , and database
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Journal article
A metallographic study of objects and fragments from the site of Igbo Isaiah, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria
This work presents a new analytical and metallographic examination of fragmentary objects and components from Igbo-Ukwu, eastern Nigeria dating to approximately the ninth to twelfth centuries AD. These objects are thought to be part of the early accidental discoveries within the compound of Isaiah Anozie, collected in 1939 by the...Wang, Quanyu ; Craddock, Paul ; Hudson, Julie
bronze, metallography, Igbo-Ukwu, metalworking, copper, and Nigeria
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Journal article
Expanding space and time at Igbo-Ukwu: insights from recent fieldwork
We present the results of fieldwork conducted at Igbo-Ukwu in 2019 and 2021 aimed at expanding the temporal and spatial record of the ancient settlement. Local participation and public engagement are central to the project, which has yielded a new dataset that enhances our understanding of the archaeological and landscape...Daraojimba, Kingsley Chinedu ; Babalola, Abidemi Babatunde ; Brittain, Marcus ; Adeyemo, Elizabeth ; Champion, Louis …
stratigraphic excavation, ceramic, Igbo-Ukwu, and southeast Nigeria
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Journal article
An Iron Age coin hoard from Nursling, Hampshire
The article outlines the contents of an Iron Age coin hoard found in 2018 and discusses the significance of the coinage and the broader archaeological context of the find.Ghey, Eleanor ; Talbot, John
numismatics and Iron Age
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Journal article
Coin hoards from England, Scotland and Wales, 2022
Annual round up of coin hoards studied for the Treasure Act 1996Andrews, Murray ; Ghey, Eleanor
Iron Age, numismatics, and Roman
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Journal article
Beaded rims on silver plate vessels in Late Roman Britain and beyond
Beaded rims are a characteristic feature of late Roman silver plate vessels, many of which have been found in British treasures including Mildenhall and Traprain Law. This paper discusses how these beaded rims provide insights into the production of silver plate, adding to what little is known of silver plate...Hobbs, Richard ; Perucchetti, Laura
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Journal article
Displays of money and medals at the British Museum, 1759 to 2022
The aim of this paper is to give a survey of displays of money and medals at the British Museum from 1759 to 2022. It takes as its starting point Joanna Bowring’s Chronology of Temporary Exhibitions at the British Museum (2012), which is, to date, the only published list of...Wang, Helen