Archaeology, History and Science: Integrating Approaches to Ancient MaterialsMarcos Martinón-Torres, Thilo Rehren Using a combination of historical, archaeological, and scientific data is not an uncommon research practice. Rarely found, however, is a more overt critical consideration of how these sources of information relate to each other, or explicit attempts at developing successful strategies for interdisciplinary work. The authors in this volume provide such critical perspectives, examining materials from a wide range of cultures and time periods to demonstrate the added value of combining in their research seemingly incompatible or even contradictory sources. Case studies include explorations of the symbolism of flint knives in ancient Egypt, the meaning of cuneiform glass texts, medieval metallurgical traditions, and urban archaeology at industrial sites. This volume is noteworthy, as it offers novel contributions to specific topics, as well as fundamental reflections on the problems and potentials of the interdisciplinary study of the human past. |
Contents
Illustrations | 7 |
Preface | 13 |
1 Why Should Archaeologists Take History and Science Seriously? | 15 |
The Ideology of Flint Knives in Ancient Egypt | 37 |
A Question of Meaning | 61 |
4 Pliny on Roman Glassmaking | 77 |
5 Ptolemaic and Roman Memphis as a Production Centre | 101 |
6 Theophilus and the Use of Beech Ash as a Glassmaking Alkali | 117 |
Archaeology and Contemporary Texts Compared | 131 |
8 Lustre Recipes for HispanoMoresque Ceramic Decoration in Muel Aragón Spain or How Much a Little Copper Weighs | 151 |
European Brassmaking between Craft and Science | 167 |
The Fairbank Surveyors Papers and Work on Brownfi eld Sites in Sheffield | 189 |
About the Authors | 209 |
213 | |
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Agricola alkali alloy analyses Ancient Egypt ancient glass archaeological evidence Archaeometry artefacts Bayley beech ash Belus brass brassmaking Brill century C.E. ceramic colour colourless glass composition context copper crucibles cupel Deir el-Medina early Egypt Egyptian Archaeology English Heritage example excavations faience Fairbank map Figure fire flint flint knives Freestone frit furnaces glass production Glass Technology glassmaking gold Hawthorne and Smith historical Hoover and Hoover interpretation kiln Kingdom knife lapis litharge lustre pottery manufacture Martinón-Torres material culture medieval melting Memphis metal Metallurgy metaphor Muel Museum of Egyptian Oppenheim Oxford oxide Pérez-Arantegui period Petrie Museum plant ash Pliny Pliny’s postmedieval practice primary glass Pyramid Texts raw materials recipes Rehren ritual Riverside Exchange Roman glass Sheffield Archives Sheffield City Council Shortland silver Smedley Society soda stone suggests tablets technical techniques terracotta texts Theophilus tilt hammers University College London University Press vessels Volturno workshops zinc