A M Pollard
Biographic Data
| ID | 51297 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A M Pollard |
| GIVEN NAMES | A M |
| FAMILY NAME | Pollard |
| SIGNATURE | POLLARD A M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3757-4668 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 124 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1090 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 124 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1977 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 17 |
After Highly Radiogenic Lead
The incorporation of lead into copper‐based alloys constitutes a significant technological innovation in early dynastic China. The circulation of distinct lead types provides crucial insights into the nature of inter‐regional communication networks during this period. Through lead isotopic analysis, we propose a major type of lead utilized during the Shang–Zhou transition periods, which has been recovered both from Yinxu in ingot form and from a …
Medicine for the Material World
It is clear that many of the inorganic materials of antiquity have been used both as medicines for human ills and also as agents in technological processes. This paper speculates that there might have been a stronger link between these two functions in the past, based on the concept of “active agents”—materials that are efficacious at curing human ills are also effective in curing “ills” in the material world, such as soft metal or discolored gla…
High tin or high lead
The Jundushan cemetery, located on the northern boundary of the present‐day Beijing, sits at a crucial nexus between the Yan and Taihang mountains linking northern and central China. This strategic location provides an interesting case for examining interactions between pastoralism and agriculture around the early half of the first millennium BCE. Under this light, this paper aims to illustrate the local metallurgical development, exemplified by …
Investigation of the recycling of Han Chinese bronze mirrors into Japanese imitation mirrors
We revisit the chemical data on imitation Japanese bronze mirrors of the Kofun period (c. 300–538 CE), which Hisao Mabuchi (馬淵久夫) has used to suggest that these mirrors were made from broken imported Han‐style mirrors diluted with additional copper. Using a different approach, we confirm that the composition of these mirrors is consistent with Mabuchi's suggestion. In addition, we can use data from our model to take this analysis further, by comb…
High-precision chronology and scientific analysis of Panchi mirrors reveal the state policy impact in early Imperial China
Cultural inheritance and technological evolution
In response to Bentley and O'Brien's (2024) article, I wish to focus on a specific aspect of cultural inheritance—that of technological innovation in later prehistory. In essence, I agree that “inherited social practices and knowledge” (2024: 1407) are indeed the backbone of technological transmission. Many examples can be cited where technological expertise (potting, metalworking, etc.) is passed down within a family or through apprenticeship sc…
Provenance Studies in Archaeology – More Reflective of ‘Quality Control’ Within a Resourcescape Than Geochemistry
Despite the obvious methodological similarities between archaeology and geology, we argue here that the fundamental assumption in scientific provenance studies of inorganic artefacts provides an insufficient basis for the methodology. That assumption is that there is a geochemical link between the source of the raw material and the finished object. Although this is undoubtedly necessary, it is not sufficient. We argue that, particularly for highl…
Seeing is believing
This research investigates the correlation between colour perception and the circulation of silver in China during the Ming (1368–1644 CE) and Qing (1644–1911 CE) dynasties. The primary aim is to deepen our understanding of how silver alloys were perceived and experienced in this historical context while also situating our study within the broader context of the global silver trade. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, silver possessed immense his…
Reconstructing the trade history
A rapidly increasing number of bronze mirrors dated to the Chinese Han dynasty (202 BC - AD 220), known for their unique decorative patterns and highly developed alloying techniques, have been widely discovered in both China and beyond, providing fresh materials and scientific data to revisit their geological provenance, production and circulation network along the ancient Silk Road. In this paper, 47 bronze mirrors unearthed in the southeastern …
‘The sword that was broken …’
Although the recycling of materials such as copper and glass is widely known and generally well understood within archaeological contexts, far less is known about the recycling of iron. Iron recycling is more complex than that of other metals for two reasons. First, normal manufacturing processes, which include forging several components to make a composite object, offer the opportunity to include recycled iron. Second, the material itself is mor…
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 vessels and weapons for the elites during Yinxu Phase II gives way to a more binary pattern (with weapons being preferentially alloyed with lead) for the lo…
Predicting bronze casting recipes in ancient China
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 bronzes in pre-Dynastic China, but the nature of the discussion is essentially mathematical. Although the chemical co…
Investigating the organic residues from the corrosion of a caccabus from Pompeii
A caccabus (a wide-mouthed copper alloy vessel used for cooking) was amongst the objects lent by the Parco Archeologico di Pompeii and exhibited at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (UK) in 2019. Kept in storage since excavation in the 1950′s, the object’s preparation for display presented an opportunity to investigate organic residues that may be trapped in its corrosion - a material currently commonly removed by conservators during the cleaning pr…
The definition and origin of celadon— A re-discussion on the name of proto-celadon
Academic circles hold that celadon stemmed from proto-celadon and reached maturity in the late Eastern Han dynasty (2nd C CE). However, the name proto-celadon was a compromise resulting from academic argument and without any scientific basis and there are obvious logical errors in the original definition of celadon. After analyzing and discussing, the new definition of celadon is established, which is, the body raw material should be kaolin, ther…
Chemical Studies of Ming and Qing (1368–1911 CE) coinage and the later history of brass in China
New scientific analyses reveal mixing of copper sources in the early Iron Age metal production at Ili, western China
The crucial role that Xinjiang played in cultural communication across the Eurasian steppe in prehistory is evidenced by the large number of copper‐based objects that represent the early metallurgical technologies found across this region. Our research adds new chemical and isotopic analyses of 44 copper‐based objects dated to the early Iron Age of Ili in Xinjiang, western China. As noted in a number of publications, tin bronze and arsenic copper…
The archaeological and scientific analysis of blue‐decorated ceramics in the Tang and Song dynasties
This paper reviews studies of Tang and Song blue‐and‐white porcelains, both archaeologically and scientifically, based on published data, and compares blue‐and‐white with sancai , which represents the earliest use of cobalt pigment in Chinese ceramics. Thirty‐nine Tang blue‐and‐white wares and seven Song wares have been excavated from city sites, kilns, a tomb, a shipwreck, and pagodas. These findings identify Tang blue‐and‐white as export ware r…
Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis of Chinese lead-barium glass
Squeezing mind out of metal
Since one of the aims of modern archaeometallurgy is to understand the processes carried out by ancient metalworkers, then ideally, we need to go beyond the traditional sources of evidence for such processes - physical investigation and chemical analysis of the objects themselves, and associated manufacturing debris. In order to understand theintentionalitybehind the decisions taken by these metalworkers (the 'why', in addition to the 'how'), the…
From Alexander the Great to the Buddha
The six recipes of Zhou
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 precise interpretation of these two components has eluded explanation. Drawing on analyses of pre-Qin coinage, the authors offer a new interpretat…
Understanding Roman Gold Coinage Inside Out
Bronze Alloying Practice in ancient China - Evidence from Pre-Qin Coin Analyses
Global circulation of silver between Ming–Qing China and the Americas
The circulation of silver between the Americas, Europe and China has provided a critical impetus for modern globalization since the 16th century. Even though substantial documentary information about this process has been collected and processed, there is still an ongoing debate about its underlying mechanism and the nature of the economic model. This article argues that the scientific analyses of the silver bullion and coins of Ming–Qing China a…
Evaluation of Quantitative XRF Analysis Applied to Determine Cobalt Sources in Chinese Blue‐and‐White Porcelain
A method using the ratios between MnO, Fe 2 O 3 and CoO to differentiate the cobalt sources for Chinese blue‐and‐white porcelain was developed in Oxford in the 1950s using X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis directly on the glaze. In this paper, six blue‐and‐white porcelain sherds from the Luomaqiao kiln were analysed by XRF on the glaze and by scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive spectrometry (SEM‐EDS) in cross‐section. The ratios b…
The Surface Alteration Features of Flint Artefacts as a Record of Environmental Processes
Form and flow
Investigation of the ‘canopy effect’ in the isotope ecology of temperate woodlands
Technical note
It has become a widespread practice to convert δ 18 O p values measured in human and animal dental enamel to a corresponding value of δ 18 O w and compare these data with mapped δ 18 O w groundwater or meteoric water values to locate the region where the owner of the tooth lived during the formation of the enamel. Because this is a regression procedure, the errors associated with the predicted δ 18 O w values will depend critically on the correla…
More questions than answers
Nasty, Brutish, but Not Necessarily Short
It is generally assumed that life expectancy in antiquity was considerably shorter than it is now. In the limited number of cases where skeletal or dental age-at-death estimates have been made on adults for whom there are other reliable indications of age, there appears to be a clear systematic trend towards overestimating the age of young adults, and underestimating that of older individuals. We show that this might be a result of the use of reg…
A multi-technique characterization and provenance study of the pigments used in San rock art, South Africa
Panlongcheng, Zhengzhou and the Movement of Metal in Early Bronze Age China
The role of Panlongcheng—a walled settlement on the Yangtze River with obvious links to the Erligang capital at Zhengzhou, ~ 500 km to the north—in early Bronze Age China has been the subject of much debate. Panlongcheng is a typical Erligang site (~ 1500–1300 BC), with evidence for people of elite status, unlike any other site apart from Zhengzhou itself. The tombs and bronzes at Panlongcheng, as well as other materials, closely resemble those a…
A new interpretative approach to the chemistry of copper-alloy objects
The metal composition of bronze alloys has been routinely examined as a means of inferring the source of the ore. But bronze is recycled, and the quantity of some components, such as arsenic, is depleted every time the alloy is melted down. Since the Early Bronze Age of the British Isles was largely supplied from a single mine on Ross Island, Co. Kerry, tracking arsenic content shows the number of re-melts and this gives the object a biography an…
Revisiting lead isotope data in Shang and Western Zhou bronzes
Characterising copper-based metals in Britain in the first millennium AD
A New Method For Combining Lead Isotope and Lead Abundance Data to Characterize Archaeological Copper Alloys
We present a new methodology for interpreting lead isotope data from archaeological copper alloy objects. It is not based on the conventional isotope ratio biplots, which were originally devised to allow the calculation of the geological age of the lead mineralization, but is derived from isotope mixing models, more often used for presenting strontium isotope data. We illustrate the method by reworking published data on S ardinian N uragic oxhide…
Physical Barriers, Cultural Connections
This paper considers the early copper and copper-alloy metallurgy of the entire Alpine region. It introduces a new approach to the interpretation of chemical composition data sets, which has been applied to a comprehensive regional database for the first time. The Alpine Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age each have distinctive patterns of metal use, which can be interpreted through changes in mining, social choice, and major landscape features suc…
Isotopic and technological variation in prehistoric Southeast Asian primary copper production
A Bicycle Made for Two? The Integration of Scientific Techniques into Archaeological Interpretation
Much of the literature on the integration of science and archaeology has tended to focus on mistakes, tensions, and problems. Many scholars have also been obsessed with definitions and delineating the boundaries between varieties of archaeologist. In this article we aim to move away from this by discussing the pragmatic ways that progress has been achieved in applying scientific solutions to interpreting the past. Progress has not been dependent …
New Pathways of Sociopolitical Complexity in Southern Africa
Evaluating Lead Isotope Data
Lead Isotope Analyses Revealed the Key Role of Chang'an in the Mirror Production and Distribution Network During the Han Dynasty
Chang'an (now Xi'an) was the capital of the Western Han Dynasty and the starting point of the Silk Road. In the light of the importance of Chang'an as the centre of politics, economy and cultural interaction, the overarching question proposed in this paper is focused on its role in the mirror production and distribution network during Han period. On the basis of chemical and lead isotopic analyses of 34 Han mirrors, this paper discusses the poten…
Decisive Evidence for Multidirectional Evolution of Sociopolitical Complexity in Southern Africa
Bronze Age metal circulation in China
The “Tin Problem” in the Prehistoric Near East
A great number of ancient bronzes have been recovered in the Near East, but the source of the tin used for their production remains elusive. This paper proposes new insights into the “tin problem” by using a “big data” approach. Chemical analyses of over 5000 Bronze Age and Iron Age copper alloys from Iran and neighbouring regions have been assembled. By interrogating this dataset within a suitable framework we can now show that different systems…
Sprouting Like Cockle Amongst the Wheat’
The recent discovery in St John's College of a mass burial of mostly young adult males with severe perimortem blade trauma has prompted the suggestion that these may be related to the St Brice's Day Massacre in Oxford on 13th November AD 1002. Three radiocarbon determinations suggest that a date in the tenth century is more likely. We have nevertheless undertaken an isotopic study of the bone collagen (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) and dental enamel (δ 13 C…
When science alone is not enough
The southern African recent past is replete with examples of elite settlements, some of which were occupied sequentially, and by different rulers. Shona, Venda and Tswana traditions identify the many dry stone walled capitals with former kings who ruled during different reigns. This historical reality is often not factored when considering the issues of political centres and urbanism in the Iron Age. The resolution of radiocarbon dating produces …
Oxhide Ingots, Recycling and the Mediterranean Metals Trade
Recent research on the Late Bronze Age metals trade in the Mediterranean has focused on the long distance transport of the so-called 'oxhide' ingots, artefacts which are widely distributed on sites dated between the 16th and 12th centuries BC. The distribution and provenance of these ingots have important implications for our understanding of trade links and political organisation, but appear to be an area where conclusions based on scientific da…
The Analytical Investigation of Early Bronze Age Jet and Jet‐like Material From the Devizes Museum
X‐ray Fluorescence Analysis of Ancient Glass
Al Mina and Euboea
These differing conclusions, regarding early Euboean trade at Al Mina, from leading Students of the School may seem to contain the seeds of another internecine, Lelantine War. So, since the author has a homely interest in the Plain, and counts the two contestants among his friends, he thought he might intervene, though with no pretence to the same expert knowledge of the period in question and with a strong vested interest in Euboean enterprise. …
Analysis of Hellenistic and Roman Fine Pottery From Benghazi
The Analytical Investigation of Early Bronze Age Jet and Jet‐like Material From the Devizes Museum
Some Analyses of Middle Assyrian Faience and Related Materials From Tell Al‐rimah in Iraq
ArchaeometryVolume 24, Issue 1 p. 45-50 SOME ANALYSES OF MIDDLE ASSYRIAN FAIENCE AND RELATED MATERIALS FROM TELL AL-RIMAH IN IRAQ A. M. POLLARD, A. M. POLLARD Research Laboratory for Archaeology, 6 Keble Road, Oxford, EnglandSearch for more papers by this authorP. R. S. MOOREY, P. R. S. MOOREY Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, EnglandSearch for more papers by this author A. M. POLLARD, A. M. POLLARD Research Laboratory for Arch…
Euboean Exports to Al Mina, Cyprus, and Crete
The control groups used in the earlier analysis ( BSA 75 (1980) 151–61) have been enlarged. The range of suspected imports was extended with samples from Cyprus and Crete. It is concluded, as a result, that the majority of exports did originate in Euboea, though it is not possible to distinguish between kilns at Lefkandi, Chalkis, and Eretria. No conclusions were possible in the case of six sherds from Knossos. The results demonstrate early Euboe…
High‐magnesium Glazed Sherds From Bronze Age Tells on Failaka, Kuwait
The chemical analysis of oriental ceramic body compositions
An Improved Method for Age at Death Determination From the Measurement of D‐aspartic Acid in Dental Collagen
A review of the applications of immunochemistry to archaeological bone
The early development of metallurgy in the British Isles
Studies of prehistoric extractive and fabrication techniques suggest that the traditional view, that the earliest copper metallurgy in the British Isles was based on the exploitation of primary minerals deriving from the southwest of Ireland, is fallacious. Elaborate mineral selection and process control is not needed to produce copper of the composition reported for the Early Bronze Age, and so ore deposits in Britain were probably being exploit…
Microbially-Induced Promotion of Amino Acid Racemization in Bone
The Scientific Identification of Archaeological Jet‐like Artefacts
Jet has been widely used in the past for jewellery but was just one of a range of black lithic materials employed. When worked into small objects these materials can be visually indistinguishable, yet discrimination is important because of the restricted occurrence of jet. X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) is a rapid non‐destructive discriminatory technique, but not all samples are clearly classified, and inhomogeneity may pose problems. A reassessment of…
Evaluating Lead Isotope Data
The Chemical Analysis of Oriental Ceramic Body Compositions
Forensic archaeology in Britain
Forensic archaeology is a relatively recent development in the UK but has already shown its worth on a number of scenes of crime; it has a particular role to play in the location and recovery of buried remains, notably in homicide investigations. This paper explores the overlap between archaeology and criminal investigation and considers areas of mutual interest, experience and potential
Oxhide Ingots, Recycling and the Mediterranean Metals Trade
Recent research on the Late Bronze Age metals trade in the Mediterranean has focused on the long distance transport of the so-called 'oxhide' ingots, artefacts which are widely distributed on sites dated between the 16th and 12th centuries BC. The distribution and provenance of these ingots have important implications for our understanding of trade links and political organisation, but appear to be an area where conclusions based on scientific da…
Lead Isotope Analysis and Oxhide Ingots
We thank the editors of JMA for allowing us to make a few closing remarks on the exchange of opinons (Budd et al., Gale and Stos-Gale, Hall, Sayre et al., Muhly, Pernicka) regarding the interpretation of lead isotope data. There are probably few archaeologists with the time or the inclination to follow every twist and turn of the scientific argument in this or in the earlier discussions in Archaeometry 34 (1992) and 35 (1993). Much of the debate …
A Comparison of Three Dental Techniques for Estimating Age at Death in Humans
The Possible Fractionation of Lead Isotopes in Ancient Metallurgical Processes
The possibility of lead isotope fractionation in ancient lead production is examined. Kinetic theory relating to isotopic fractionation in non‐equilibrium evaporation is considered and the feasibility of the alteration of lead isotope abundance ratios in ore roasting and smelting is assessed. Previous experimental work is shown to have been inconclusive and conclusions are drawn on the need for further research to quantify the possible extent of …
The occurrence and implications of post-mortem 'pink teeth' in forensic and archaeological cases
On sectioning six of eight externally well-preserved teeth taken from four skeletons from Medieval Chichester they displayed a superficial similarity to teeth described in the forensic literature as 'pink teeth'. This article reviews the occurrence of 'pink teeth' in forensic specimens and describes the teeth from Chichester using a variety of analytical techniques. We conclude that, despite the similarities, the pink coloration in the archaeolog…
Why teach Heisenberg to archaeologists
The archaeological department at the University of Bradford is the only one in Britain to be called a Department of Archaeological Sciences. Its Professor-whose own background was in physics and then chemistry before archaeology-explores the relationship of archaeology to the sciences in a contribution adapted from his talk given at Harvard University on Science and archaeology
Rethinking the quest for provenance
One of the larger - and more expensive - present programmes of study in archaeological science explores the provenance of prehistoric bronzes from the Mediterranean. What are the bases of research? What will the findings tell us about the real place of metal as it moved in the ancient world
Trade and Discovery
(1997). Trade and Discovery: The Scientific Study of Artefacts from Post-Medieval Europe and Beyond. Edited by D. R. Hook and D. R. M. Gaimster. Archaeological Journal: Vol. 154, No. 1, pp. 326-327
Kimmeridge Jet—a Potential New Source for British Jet
Archaeological artefacts identified as jet are often assumed to have originated from the principal British source, which is at Whitby in Yorkshire. Geological samples of jet have also been found within the Kimmeridge Blackstone in Dorset—a seam of oil shale which has been worked since prehistoric times to produce artefacts similar to those made from jet. This paper discusses the geology and geochemistry of jet samples from both Whitby and Kimmeri…
Archaeology (91 works) · History (74 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (73 works) · Geography (52 works) · Geology (47 works) · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis (44 works) · Materials Science (38 works) · Chemistry (37 works) · History (35 works) · Metallurgy (32 works)