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Journal article
Searching for silphium: an updated review
From luxury spice to medical cure-all, silphium was a product coveted throughout the ancient world and occupied an essential place in the export economy of ancient Cyrene. The mysterious extinction of the silphium plant in the 1st century CE leaves us with little evidence as to the exact nature of...Briggs, Lisa ; Jakobsson, Jens
archaeobotany, Cyrene, silphium, and shipwrecks
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Journal article
There’s more to a vessel than meets the eye: organic residue analysis of ‘wine’ containers from shipwrecks and settlements of ancient Cyprus (4th–1st century )
Despite growing evidence to the contrary, wine remains the assumed content of many types of ancient pottery. Vessels from the Kyrenia and Mazotos shipwrecks, and Yeronisos island presumed to have contained wine were subjected to three different extraction protocols to test the assumption that these vessels were used to import...Briggs, Lisa ; Demesticha, Stella ; Katzev, Susan ; Wylde Swiny, Helena ; Craig, Oliver E. …
pottery, shipwrecks, and organic residue
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Journal article
Clues to the presence of an Assyrian administration in the Mahidasht Plain, Kermanshah, Iran
Large sculpted circular door sockets are a characteristic feature of Neo-Assyrian monumental architecture and have been found in palaces, temples, and admin- istrative centers both at core imperial sites such as Khorsabad and Nimrud and at provincial capitals such as Till-Barsib, Arslan-Tash, and Ziyaret Tepe. In the case of Iran,...Alibaigi, Sajjad ; MacGinnis, John
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Journal article
Roman coins from the Masson and Mackenzie collections in the British Museum
The British East India Company’s Museum in Leadenhall Street housed an eclectic range of objects that were predominantly collected by those associated with the Company. Charles Masson and Colin Mackenzie were two such individuals. Their collections were acquired by the EIC, and after the closure of the museum in 1878...Jansari, Sushma
British Museum, India, and coins
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Journal article
Hominins likely occupied northern Europe before one million years ago
Our understanding of when hominins first reached northern Europe is dependent on a fragmented archaeological and fossil record known from as early as marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 or 25 (c. 840 or 950 thousand years ago [Ka]). This contrasts sharply with southern Europe, where hominin occupation is evidenced from...Key, Alastair ; Ashton, Nick
early human dispersal , hominin demography, and Lower Palaeolithic
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Journal article
Flake tools in the European Lower Paleolithic: a case study from MIS 9 Britain
Studies of flake tools in the British Lower Paleolithic are rare owing to lower quantities of flake tools than handaxes and the perception that flake tool technology became more important in the succeeding Middle Paleolithic. In Britain, and Europe more broadly, MIS 9 (328–301 ka) has been characterized as a...Rawlinson, Aaron ; Dale, Luke ; Ashton, Nick ; Bridgland, David ; White, Mark
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Journal article
Rhodes and Kos: East Dorian pottery production of the Archaic period
To date, the pottery production of Rhodes, Kos and other ‘East Dorian’ islands and coastal areas remains little understood. This article presents and discusses new neutron activation analysis (NAA) of eighth–sixth-century vessels found on Rhodes and in related areas, placing them in the wider context of past and present archaeometric...Villing, Alexandra ; Mommsen, Hans
NAA, Rhodes, and East Greek pottery
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Book chapter
Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg? Some thoughts on bird sacrifices in Ancient Greece
Sokrates’ famous last words, ‘Krito, I owe a cock to Asklepios; will you remember to pay the debt?’, as reported in Plato’s Phaidon (117e–18a), have long occupied scholars trying to understand the reason for the ‘debt’, but the choice of sacrificial animal has equally surprised. Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs...Villing, Alexandra
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Journal article
Acheulean variability in Western Europe: the case of Menez-Dregan I (Plouhinec, Finistère, France)
The establishment of the Acheulean in Europe occurred after MIS 17, but it was after the harsh glaciation of MIS 12 and during the long interglacial of MIS 11 that human occupation of Western Europe became more sustained, with an increased number of sites. Menez-Dregan I (Brittany, France) is one...Ravon, Anne-Lyse ; García-Medrano, Paula ; Moncel, Marie-Hélène ; Ashton, Nick
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Journal article
Pandemic, protests and building back: 20 months at the British Museum
This article is a personal reflection that examines the impact of the pandemic on the British Museum’s (BM) onsite interpretation and audiences; however, it is informed by robust visitor insight and evaluation as well as by direct experience. Quotes from the public are incorporated throughout. Covid-19 led to the BM’s...Frost, Stuart
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Journal article
A terrestrial record of climate variation during MIS 11 through multiproxy palaeotemperature reconstructions from Hoxne, UK
A terrestrial (lacustrine and fluvial) palaeoclimate record from Hoxne (Suffolk, UK) shows two temperate phases separated by a cold episode, correlated with MIS 11 subdivisions corresponding to isotopic events 11.3 (Hoxnian interglacial period), 11.24 (Stratum C cold interval), and 11.23 (warm interval with evidence of human presence). A robust, reproducible...Horne, David J. ; Ashton, Nick ; Benardout, Ginny ; Brooks, Stephen J. ; Coope, G. Russell …
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Journal article
Acheulean diversity in Britain (MIS 15-MIS11): from the standardization to the regionalization of technology
The appearance of the Acheulean and the production of new bifacial tools marked a revolution in human behavior. The use of longer and complex operative chains, with centripetal and recurrent knapping, adapted to different raw materials, created long useful edges, converging in a functional distal end. How and why these...García-Medrano, Paula ; Shipton, Ceri ; White, Mark ; Ashton, Nick
Middle Pleistocene, handaxes, acheulean, Britain, and technology
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Book chapter
Mediterranean encounters: Greeks, Carians and Egyptians in the first millennium BC
The first millennium BC was a crucial period in the history of contact between Egypt and Greece. Three case studies examine the processes and people behind and the impact of this contact. They will take us from sixth century BC cosmopolitan Memphis, with its international population including Greeks and Carians,...Villing, Alexandra
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Book chapter
Southward Ho! A journey from Ionia to Egypt
The presence of Ionians in areas to the south and south-east of the homeland as attested by inscriptions and pottery is reviewed. From the Dodecanese to the Nile Delta pottery from Ionia is found at many sites, mostly after ca. 640 BC, but evidence of Ionians themselves through inscribed texts...Johnston, Alan ; Villing, Alexandra
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Journal article
High-status burials in the Napatan Period: cultural interactions between Egypt and Nubia
During the Napatan period, the elite within Kushite society adopted Egyptian funerary practices modifying and adapting them to suit their own needs. Notable changes similarly occurred in Egypt elite burials between the 8th and 7th centuries BC during the period of Kushite rule. The history and dynamics of the cultural...Taylor, John H.
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Journal article
Salvage excavations in the Berber-Abidiya Region, 1999: a post-Meroitic single descendary, two-entrance tomb in el-Fereikha
Rescue excavations undertaken in el-Fereikha Sudan revealed a post-Meroitic tomb (4th-5th c AD) with a large oval burial chamber with two entrances reached by a single descendary. Few tombs of this type have been documented and their use seems restricted to the region between Meroe and Berber-Abidiya. Little organic material...Anderson, Julie ; Bashir, Mahmoud Suliman ; Ahmed, Salah Mohammed
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Book chapter
Shared histories: New work in British Museum and British Library collections
Since their formal separation following the British Library Act of 1972, the British Museum and British Library have largely taken separate paths. Several recent collaborations have aimed to study papyrological material across both institutions, addressing one or more of three strands of enquiry, 1. knowledge gained through systematic documentation of...O'Connell, Elisabeth
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Book chapter
Sloane's antiquities: providing a "body of history" through beads, bottles, brasses and busts
Sir Hans Sloane, Secretary and then President of the Royal Society, presented the Society of Antiquaries with the bronze lamp which became the symbol of their society but he was never a Fellow. Sloane’s collection included more than 2,000 antiquities, described in his own manuscript catalogue of his collections, the...Sloan, Kim
Society of Antiquaries, antiquities, Hans Sloane, and collecting history
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Book
Mary Gillick: Sculptor and Medalist
A fascinating study on the life and work of Mary Gillick (1881-1965) in honour of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Published by Spink in association with the British Museum, this book celebrates Gillick, best known for her portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that appeared on UK coins...Attwood, Philip
medals, Queen Elizabeth II, coinage, and sculpture
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Book
India: A History in Objects
India: A History in Objects is a beautiful exploration of India's past, which highlights objects from the British Museum collection. Arranged chronologically, and abundantly illustrated with expertly selected objects, this superb new overview connects today’s India with its past. Early chapters uncover prehistoric objects from 1.5 million years ago, examine...Blurton, Richard
material culture, history, and India
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Book
Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic
Divine women – in many guises – have featured in every world faith, from deep history until the present day, inspiring people and cultures across the world. In a cross-cultural and global approach, this book discusses Eve alongside Inanna, Radha and Aphrodite in the context of sex and desire, while...Crerar, Belinda
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Book chapter
'The idiot king': popular politics and defaced coins in Britain
The defacement of UK coins with political slogans and satirical messages from c.18th - 20th centuryHockenhull, Tom
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Book
I Object: Ian Hislop's Search for Dissent
A visual history of dissent, told through objects that challenge authority, published to accompany the exhibition at the British Museum co-curated by the satirist Ian Hislop. Challenging authority is an essential ingredient in the development of human civilisation. Across millennia, it has acted as a driving force behind social and...Hislop, Ian ; Hockenhull, Tom
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Book
Symbols of Power: Ten Coins That Changed the World
Money has always been a subject of interest, today more so than ever. For centuries it has performed a key role around the globe – most obviously in trade and the economy, but also in the development of national identities, religions and the spread of empire. Introduced as measurements of...Hockenhull, Tom
numismatics and currency
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Journal article
Copper at ancient Kerma: A diachronic investigation of alloys and raw materials
This paper describes the first comprehensive study of metal artefacts found at ancient Kerma, Sudan. Covering a period of several millennia, it investigates the development of copper alloy recipes as well as metal provenance through the trace element and lead isotope ratio analysis of forty-eight sampled objects. These include grave...Rademakers, Frederik W. ; Verly, Georges ; Degryse, Patrick ; Vanhaecke, Frank ; Marchi, Séverine …
provenance, Nubian archaeology, archaeometallurgy, copper alloys, and Kerma
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Journal article
Dye identification in mounting textiles of traditional Korean paintings from the Late Joseon Dynasty
In the framework of the ‘Amorepacific Project for the conservation of Korean pictorial art’ (2018–2023) at the British Museum, three traditional Korean paintings have been investigated with the aim of supporting their conservation and obtaining information about the dyes used in the mounting textiles and other mounting elements. The paintings...Tamburini, Diego ; Kim-Marandet, Meejung ; Kim, Sang-ah
textiles, dye analysis, and Korean art
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Journal article
Multiscale characterization of shellfish purple and other organic colorants in 20th-century traditional enredos from Oaxaca, Mexico
Enredos are iconic textiles that have been produced for centuries by Mexican communities to celebrate pregnancy, weddings, etc. They have been traditionally dyed with three natural dyes, namely indigo, cochineal, and shellfish purple. In this study two modern enredos produced in the 1980s, now in the collection of the National... -
Journal article
A multi-analytical study of the palette of impressionist and post-impressionist Puerto Rican artists
This paper presents the pigment characterization in six impressionist and post-impressionist paintings by three leading Puerto Rican artists: Francisco Oller (1833–1917), José Cuchí y Arnau (1857–1925), and Ramón Frade (1875–1954). The paintings, belonging to the Corporación de las Artes Musicales and Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (San Juan, Puerto... -
Journal article
Studying Saraha: technical and multi-analytical investigation of the painting materials and techniques in an 18th century Tibetan thangka
Scientific analyses of the traditional materials and methods in thangka production are uncommon, as thangkas are sacred objects, the sampling of which is discouraged, in order to preserve their integrity. This study builds on this important ethical challenge and presents a three-stage methodology that systematically delves deeper into each layer... -
Journal article
Displays of money and medals at the British Museum, 1759 to 2022
The aim of this paper is to give a survey of displays of money and medals at the British Museum from 1759 to 2022. It takes as its starting point Joanna Bowring’s Chronology of Temporary Exhibitions at the British Museum (2012), which is, to date, the only published list of...Wang, Helen
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Book
The Last White Canoe of the Lau of Malaita, Solomon Islands
Building a beautiful ornamented 'white canoe' was a way for the Lau people of Malaita in Solomon Islands to honour the ghosts of their ancestors in the days before they became Christians. This book tells the story of the last of these canoes, built in 1968 by one of the...Maranda, Pierre ; Tuita Dede , James ; Burt, Ben
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Book chapter
Forms of largitio and 'denominations' of silver plate in Late Antiquity: the evidence of flanged bowls
This chapter examines the links between Roman silver plate and silver coinage in the late Roman period broadly from the time of the Tetrarchy until the end of the fourth century. It argues that in order to fully to understand the importance of the role of silver in the late...Hobbs, Richard
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Journal article
Beaded rims on silver plate vessels in Late Roman Britain and beyond
Beaded rims are a characteristic feature of late Roman silver plate vessels, many of which have been found in British treasures including Mildenhall and Traprain Law. This paper discusses how these beaded rims provide insights into the production of silver plate, adding to what little is known of silver plate...Hobbs, Richard ; Perucchetti, Laura
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Journal article
Coin hoards from England, Scotland and Wales, 2022
Annual round up of coin hoards studied for the Treasure Act 1996Andrews, Murray ; Ghey, Eleanor
Iron Age, numismatics, and Roman
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Journal article
An Iron Age coin hoard from Nursling, Hampshire
The article outlines the contents of an Iron Age coin hoard found in 2018 and discusses the significance of the coinage and the broader archaeological context of the find.Ghey, Eleanor ; Talbot, John
numismatics and Iron Age
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Journal article
Expanding space and time at Igbo-Ukwu: insights from recent fieldwork
We present the results of fieldwork conducted at Igbo-Ukwu in 2019 and 2021 aimed at expanding the temporal and spatial record of the ancient settlement. Local participation and public engagement are central to the project, which has yielded a new dataset that enhances our understanding of the archaeological and landscape...Daraojimba, Kingsley Chinedu ; Babalola, Abidemi Babatunde ; Brittain, Marcus ; Adeyemo, Elizabeth ; Champion, Louis …
stratigraphic excavation, ceramic, Igbo-Ukwu, and southeast Nigeria
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Journal article
A metallographic study of objects and fragments from the site of Igbo Isaiah, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria
This work presents a new analytical and metallographic examination of fragmentary objects and components from Igbo-Ukwu, eastern Nigeria dating to approximately the ninth to twelfth centuries AD. These objects are thought to be part of the early accidental discoveries within the compound of Isaiah Anozie, collected in 1939 by the...Wang, Quanyu ; Craddock, Paul ; Hudson, Julie
bronze, metallography, Igbo-Ukwu, metalworking, copper, and Nigeria
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Book
Translation and State: The Mahābhārata at the Mughal Court
In 1587, Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak – a favourite at the Mughal court and author of the Akbarnāmah – completed his Preface to the Persian translation of the Mahābhārata. This book is the first detailed study of Abū al-Faz̤l's Preface. It offers insights into manuscript practices at the Mughal court,...Willis, Michael
Sanskrit, Mahābhārata, translation, and Persian
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Book
Weapons in Late Shang (c.1250-1050 BCE) China Beyond Typology and Ritual
Weapons in Late Shang (c.1250-1050 BCE) China: Beyond Typology and Ritual explores the large quantities of bronze and jade weapons, such as dagger-axes, spears and arrows, found at the World Heritage site of Yinxu, the late Shang capital located near today’s Anyang city in central China. Qin Cao’s innovative research...Qin, Cao
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Book chapter
Characterising transformation in religious material culture AD 1000-1700: through the study of archaeological finds discovered by the public in England and Wales
This paper puts forward an archaeological approach to examining changes in material culture, through time and across boundaries, here focusing on what might be termed (though maybe not very precisely) ‘religious objects’. Pilgrim ‘souvenirs’ are clearly important in this regard, not least because they travelled between places, and were owned...Lewis, Michael
medieval, religion, and material culture
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Journal article
FLAME‐D database: an integrated system for the study of archaeometallurgy
This paper discusses the reorganisation of archaeometallurgical legacy data for future research. When archaeometallurgical research aims to answer questions that involve significant movements of raw material or metal objects, it needs to rely on large sets of data. These data are available but scattered across hundreds of publications, where they...Perucchetti, L. ; Bray, P. ; Felicetti, A. ; Sainsbury, V. ; Howarth, P. …
Bronze Age, archaeometallurgy , and database
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Journal article
What is a dagger? A metallurgical interpretation of three metal daggers from western Switzerland dated from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age
The role of daggers in prehistoric European society has been long debated. Within this discussion, we may add some hints to understand the human choices behind daggers’ production, in a study in combination with the University of Oxford and the University of Geneva, that combines their shape, the metal used...Perucchetti, Laura ; Northover, J. Peter ; David-Elbiali, Mireille
Late Neolithic, Elemental composition, Daggers, Early Bronze Age, and Microstructure
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Journal article
Mapping archaeometallurgical data of the Iberian Copper Age: different ways to look at a big picture
Traditionally, archaeometallurgical projects have visualised information through distribution maps of the find spots for different metal compositions or types of objects. However, this is limiting, and more innovative styles of communication are required to engage with more dynamic technological questions such as what underpins the use and circulation of metal....Perucchetti, L. ; Montero-Ruiz, I. ; Bray, P.
Iberian peninsula, Copper age, Data visualisation, Archaeometallurgy, and GIS
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Book chapter
The fabric of banknotes – textiles in and on paper money
At various times in history and across the world, textiles have been used in payments and exchange, for example, in Tang Dynasty China when coins and textiles were the main forms of money, and in social and cultural conventions, such as dowries. Banknotes originate in the ‘flying money’ (feiqian) of...Wang, Helen
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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
Hieroglyphs: unlocking ancient Egypt
Today the history of ancient Egypt is known around the world, recognizable in precious museum collections and countless retellings from popular culture. Yet for hundreds of years, from the late Roman Empire to the 19th century, the wonders of this ancient civilisation were frozen in time, locked in artefacts that...Regulski, Ilona