Archaeomaterials Research Network (AMRN)

AMRN brings together IoA staff and early stage researchers interested in the composition, technology and cultural interpretation of inorganic archaeological artefacts from their materials.

Composite image of archaeological materials using various microscopic techniques

The purpose of the network is to organise focused group activities that cross-cut the wide chronological and geographic coverage of UCL archaeomaterials research.

The network’s interest includes ceramics, metals, glass, slag, plaster and lithics. In keeping with the Institute’s strong profile in scientific materials analysis, the network is particularly interested in archaeometric approaches such as optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and geochemical analysis. However, traditional macroscopic approaches are also incorporated, as well as experimental and ethnographic perspectives.

Technology is central to the study of inorganic archaeological materials, which represent synthetic artefacts manipulated by human hands. The interaction of craftspeople with naturally-occurring raw materials and their transformation into functional objects is a rich source of information on the skills, traditions, identities and beliefs of past societies.

Another key theme is the movement of artefacts via processes such as trade, exchange and migration. Compositional data can be used to source or provenance archaeological materials and thus reconstruct these and other types of cultural interaction.

Given the importance of inorganic artefacts within the fields of archaeology, conservation and heritage, the network has a deliberately wide remit and a relevance to many Institute of Archaeology staff. Network members include current postdocs, PhD researchers and students on the Institute’s MSc in Archaeological Science: Technology and Materials. It also fosters collaborations with other relevant institutions.

The AMRN makes use of the Institute’s well equipped Wolfson Archaeological Science Laboratories, as well as its excellent in-house artefact collections.

Events include guest and in-house lectures, workshops focused on specific artefacts types and approaches, as well as fieldwork and experimental reconstruction.

If you are interested in joining the AMRN or have an idea for a network event, then please contact Patrick Quinn or one of the other co-ordinators.

Some Recent Publications by the AMRN

Network events

  • 26 November 2024: Technological Change and Innovation at Ausewell Wood, Dartmoor: An Early Industrial Metallurgical ‘Laboratory’ - Carlotta Farci (UCL)
  • 11 July 2024: The Ceramic Pyrotechnology of Iraqi Kurdistan - Silvia Amicone (Universität Tübingen)
  • 26 October 2023: The Archaeological and Scientific Study of Islamic Glass Bangles: Some Key Findings for Technological Discontinuance - Charlotte Nash (University of Kent & The British Museum)
  • 10 May 2023: Archaeological Applications of Automated SEM-EDS - Duncan Pirrie (University of South Wales)
  • 1 February 2023: New insights into the Early Iron Ages of the SE Alpine area. Recent results from interdisciplinary research of landscapes, sites and finds - Matija Črešnar (University of Ljubljana)
  • 12 October 2022:  Caucasus Goldworking as a Case Study for Technological Discontinuance - Nathaniel Erb-Satullo (Cranfield Forensic Institute) 

Image

Image left to right. Thin section micrograph of 18th century pottery sherd from the UK, exhibiting clay mixing as well as two slip layers and a glaze. Back-scattered scanning electron microscope image of Roman slag from Standen in the Weald, exhibiting fayalite crystals formed in a spinifex texture within a glassy matrix. Cross-polarised reflected light micrograph photomicrograph of 7,000 year old copper slag from Belovode in eastern Serbia showing copper oxides in yellow, green and dark red phases mixing with dark siliceous matrix. Medieval stained glass window of Canterbury Cathedral, UK, being analysed non-destructively with X-ray fluorescence.

Network Co-ordinators

Network Members

  • Corisande Fenwick
  • Ian Freestone
  • Bill Sillar
  • Russell Bailey
  • Victoria Lucas
  • Maja Mise
  • Laura Arcidiacono
  • Sara Carrion Anaya
  • Archontoula Barouda
  • Justine Bayley
  • Andrea Martinez Carrasco
  • Chen Chen
  • Bruno Lagarde Garcia-Delgado
  • Kelsi Kaviani
  • Raluca Lazarescu
  • Antanas Melinis
  • Veronica Occari
  • Eleanor Preston
  • Liam Richards
  • Tong Tong

External

  • Silvia Amicone (Uni Tubingen)
  • Andrew Meek (British Museum)
  • Thilo Rehren (Cyprus Institute)