Inaa of Archaeological Samples at the University of Manchester

Bibliographic Data

ID8354135
AuthorsG W A NEWTON (University of Manchester), Janine Bourriau (AMS (Austria)), Elizabeth French (AMS (Austria)), E B FRENCH, A J N W Prag (AMS (Austria))
Year2007
Volume49
Issue2
Pages289-299
Publication date2007-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeometry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-813X • E-ISSN: 1475-4754
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1475-4754.2007.00302.x
OpenAlexW2007053125
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited11

INAA at Manchester began almost by chance, and amid scepticism, with a request for help from the university's Department of Archaeology in the early 1970s. Over the years, the method of selecting pottery to be sampled was refined from the simple assumption that sherds found at a site were typical of those made there, to a greater focus on kiln sites and wasters. An important element in Manchester's approach was that this was a teaching department: in the quarter‐century during which the laboratory practised INAA over 6000 samples were analysed in a wide range of projects by postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. students and even final‐year undergraduates. Although there were sometimes problems of comprehension on both sides, close collaboration with archaeologists encouraged methodological comparisons, and often INAA was seen as an additional weapon in the archaeologists’ arsenal as much as a developing scientific technique. The university's place as the inventor of the computer encouraged the development of statistical programs, which in turn facilitated ready collaboration and exchange of information with other laboratories, such as those at Bonn and Berkeley

Archaeology · Library science · Pottery · Quarter (Canadian coin) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Computer Science · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis · Engineering · History · Image Processing and 3D Reconstruction

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