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Prof Mark Pollard
Director of the Research Laboratory
Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art
Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3QY
Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3QY
phone: 01865 285228
fax: 01865 285220
email: mark.pollard@rlaha.ox.ac.uk
My research over the past 35 years has encompassed the application of the physical sciences, particularly chemistry, within archaeology, and has included a wide range of topics. It might be summarized under three main headings – the study of archaeological materials, the investigation of biogeochemical processes, and numerical applications in archaeology and palaeoclimatic reconstruction. Each of these has been supported by external research grants, postgraduate studentships, and publications. I have had almost continuous external funding (mostly UK Research Council) since March 1986. The focus of my research has shifted over the period from a relatively straightforward analysis of archaeological materials to more complex questions of process, integration of various sources of information, and the development of numerical methodologies. There is a continuing need to further develop the theoretical underpinning of materials study in archaeology, including methods for the better integration of scientific provenance studies with existing archaeological understanding.
I am a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Member of the Oriental Ceramic Society.
Current Research Projects
Transition to Ironworking in Ancient Cholcis
National Geographic Global Exploration Fund GEFNE30-11 (Pollard) for 2012.
Mass migration and apartheid in Anglo-Saxon Britain?: an ancient DNA re-evaluation
Leverhulme Trust RPG-388 (Pollard/Hamerow/Bradley) 2 years from 1/1/12.
Chemical structure and human behaviour: a new model for prehistoric metallurgy
Leverhulme Trust F/08 622/D (Pollard, Gosden, Northover and Bray) 2 years from 1/01/11.
Ancient Cholcis and the Origins of Iron: Field investigations of the earliest iron working in western Georgia
British Academy SG100285 (Albert Reckitt Archaeology Fund) (Pollard, Gilmour and Johnson) £7,500 from August 2010.
Below the Salt: A study of the human remains and associated material from the salt mine at Chehrabad, Zanjan, Iran
AHRC AH/HO10998/1 (Pollard and Brothwell, University of York) 1/4/2010 for 2 years.
Evaluating Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence Strategies in Late-Glacial Central Italy
Leverhulme Trust F/00 235/1 (Donahue (University of Bradford), Lee-Thorp, Blockley (RHUL), Pollard and Pellegrini) 3 years from June 2009.
Completed projects
BookNET: a network for the technological study of the book and manuscript as artefact
AHRC AH/G015309/1 (Pollard, Ovendon, Howell and Neate) Science and Heritage Cluster, 9 months from Jan 2009.
Publications
Journal Articles & Conference Proceedings
- 2012
- , (2012), A multi-technique characterization and provenance study of the pigments used in San rock art, South Africa. , Journal of Archaeological Science , 39,287-294
- , (2012), A new interpretative approach to the chemistry of copper-alloy objects: source, recycling and technology, Antiquity, 86,853-867
- , (2012), When science alone is not enough: radiocarbon timescales, history, ethnographic and elite settlements in southern Africa, Journal of Social Archaeology, 12,356-379
- , (2012), Science, archaeology and the Romans, or 'What has scientific archaeology ever done for the Romans?', Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series, S91,177-188
- , (2012), Can the principles of soil organic matter turnover models be applied to archaeological organic material?, Quaternary International, 275,104-111
- , (2012), "Sprouting like Cockle Amongst the Wheat": the St. Brice's Day Massacre and the isotopic analysis of human bones from St, John's College, Oxford., Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 31,83-102
- , (2012), The men of Nelson's navy: A comparative stable isotope dietary study of late 18th century and early 19th century servicemen from Royal Naval Hospital burial grounds at Plymouth and Gosport, England, American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 148,1-10
- 2011
- , (2011), An improved pretreatment protocol for radiocarbon dating black pigments in San rock art, Radiocarbon, 53 (3),419-428
- , (2011), An investigation of the extent and causes of salt migration in the papyrus and related collections in the Bodleian Library, Restaurator , 32,135–159
- , (2011), Isotopes and impact: a cautionary tale, Antiquity, 85 ,631-638
- , (2011), ‘These boots were made for walking’: the isotopic analysis of a C4 Roman inhumation from Gravesend, Kent, UK, American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 146,446-456
- , (2011), Some observations on the conversion of dental enamel to determine human mobility., American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 145 ,499-504
- , (2011), Southeast Asia’s first isotopically-defined prehistoric copper production system: when did extractive metallurgy begin in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley of central Thailand?, Archaeometry, 53,146-163
- , (2011), Isotopic and technological variation in prehistoric Southeast Asian primary copper production, Journal of Archaeological Science, xx,1-14
- 2010
- , (2010), The Chehr Abad "Salt men" and the isotopic ecology of humans in ancient Iran, American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 143,343-354
- , (2010), The Chehr Abad ‘Salt Men’ and the isotopic ecology of humans in Ancient Iran, American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 143,343–354
- , (2010), Evaluating histological methods for assessing hair fibre degradation, Archaeometry, 52 (3) ,467-481
- 2009
- , (2009), Comparative study of cobalt blue pigment on Chinese blue-and-white porcelain and Islamic glazed pottery, 13th – 17th Centuries, in McCarthy, B., Chase, E.S. Cort, L.A., Douglas, J.G. and Jett, P. (eds), Scientific Research on Historic Asian Ceramics, pp 24-32 : Proceedings of Fourth Forbes Symposium at the Freer Gallery of Art
- 2008
- , (2008), Prediction of rates of decay of archaeological organic material using soil carbon cycle modelling, in Kars, H. and van Heeringen R.M. (eds.) Preserving Archaeological Remains in situ, pp 55-63 : Proceedings of 3rd Conference, 7-9 December 2006, Amsterdam, Geoarchaeological and Bioarchaeological Studies 10,
- , (2008), Estimates of uncertainty in the prediction of past climatic variables, Applied Geochemistry, 23,2961–2965
- , (2008), Reply to the comment on "Some numerical considerations in the geochemical analysis of distal microtephra", by Nicholas J.G. Pearce, Charles A. Bendall & John A. Westgate, Applied Geochemistry, 23,1365-1366
- , (2008), Below the salt: a preliminary study of the dating and biology of five salt-preserved bodies from Zanjan Province, Iran, Iran , XLVI ,135-150
- , (2008), Bulk stable light isotopic ratios in recent and archaeological resins: towards detecting the transport of resins in antiquity?, Archaeometry, 50,350-371
- , (2008), Geochemical characterisation of Quaternary tephras from the Campanian Region, Italy, Quaternary International, 178,288-305
- 2007
- , (2007), Evidence for the presence of the Vedde Ash in Central Europe, Quaternary Science Reviews, 26,3030-3036
- , (2007), Age modelling of late Quaternary marine sequences in the Adriatic: towards improved precision and accuracy using volcanic event stratigraphy, Continental Shelf Research, 27,560-582
- , (2007), A bicycle made for two? Integration of scientific techniques into archaeological interpretation, Annual Review of Anthropology, 36,245-259
- , (2007), The chemical composition of blue pigment on blue-and-white porcelain of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties (AD 1271-1644), Archaeometry, 49,101-115
- , (2007), Selective biodegradation in hair shafts derived from archaeological, forensic and experimental contexts, British Journal of Dermatology, 157,450-457
- , (2007), Modelling the buried human body environment in upland climes using three contrasting field sites, Forensic Science International, 169,6-18
- 2006
- , (2006), The chronology of abrupt climate change and Late Upper Palaeolithic human adaptation in Europe, Journal of Quaternary Science., 21(5),575-584
- , (2006), Refining mutual climatic range (MCR) quantitative estimates of palaeotemperature using ubiquity analysis, Quaternary Science Reviews, 25,1865-1876
- , (2006), Some Numerical Considerations in the Geochemical Analysis of Distal Microtephra, Applied Geochemistry, 21,1692-1714
- , (2006), Assessing the influence of agrochemicals on the rate of copper corrosion in the vadose zone of arable land - Part 3: geochemical modelling, Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 7,241-260
- , (2006), Assessing the influence of agrochemicals on the nature of copper corrosion in the vadose zone of arable land - Part 2: laboratory simulations, Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 7,225-239
- 2005
- , (2005), A new & less destructive laboratory procedure for the physical separation of distal glass tephra shards from sediments, Quaternary Science Reviews, 24,1952-1960
- , (2005), The underpinnings and consequences of the materiality approach - a comment on Jones (2004), Archaeometry, 47,175-178
- , (2005), A geochemical investigation of the origin of Rouletted and other related South Asian fine wares, Antiquity, 79,909-920
- , (2005), What is this thing we call archaeology?, British Archaeology, July/August 2005,55
- 2004
- , (2004), Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon chronologies: examples from the European Lateglacial, Journal of Quaternary Science, 19,159-175
- , (2004), Assessing the influence of agrochemicals on the rate of copper corrosion in the vadose zone of able land - Part 1: field experiments, Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 6,363-376
- , (2004), Evaluating Preservation In Situ: current research investigating diagenetic pathways in selected archaeological materials, using soil solution chemistry and geochemical modelling approaches, in Kars, H. and Burke, E. (eds.) Proceedings of 33rd International Symposium on Archaeometry, 22-26 April 2002, Amsterdam, Geoarchaeological and Bioarchaeological Studies 3, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, ,559-563
- 2003
- , (2003), Establishing Late-glacial & Holocene marine reservoir radiocarbon offsets in the northern North Atlantic: the potential for improving the chronology of Arctic archaeology., Physics in Canada, 59,263-268
- , (2003), Establishing Late-glacial and Holocene marine reservoir radiocarbon offsets in the northern North Atlantic: the potential for improving the chronology of Arctic archaeology, Physics in Canada, 59,263-268
- , (2003), Chemical alteration of tephra in the depositional environment: theoretical stability modelling, Journal of Quaternary Science, 18,385-394
- , (2003), Chemical alteration of tephra in the depositional environment: theoretical stability modelling, Journal of Quaternary Science, 18,385-394
- , (2003), An evaluation of nitrogen porosimetry as a technique for predicting taphonomic durability in animal bone, Journal of Archaeological Science, 30,391-403
- 2002
- , (2002), Fourier Transform-Raman spectroscopic study of natural resins of archaeological interest, Biopolymers,Biospectroscopy, 67,129-141
- , (2002), The surface alteration features of flint artefacts as a record of environmental processes, Journal of Archaeological Science, 29,1277-1287
- , (2002), Nonparametric calibration for age estimation, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society C, Applied Statistics, 51(2),183-196
- , (2002), Here today, gone tomorrow? Integrated experimention and geochemical modeling in studies of archaeological diagenetic change, Accounts of Chemical Research, 35,644-651
- 2001
- , (2001), Temporal variability in the strength of proxy-climate correlations, Geophysical Research Letters, 28(8),1559-1562
- , (2001), A study of amber and copal samples using FT-Raman spectroscopy, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 57(6),1325-1338
- , (2001), Chemometric methods applied to the differentiation of FT-Raman spectra of ivories, Analytica Chimica Acta, 427,223-232
- , (2001), Chemical characterization of Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic pottery from the Tehran Plain, Iran, Iran, XXXIX,1-17
Published Books
- 2011
- , (2011), The Technological Study of Books and Manuscripts as Artefacts, BAR S2209. Archaeopress: Oxford
- 2008
- , (2008), Archaeological Chemistry (revised ed.), Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge
- 2007
- , (2007), Analytical Chemistry in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press
- 2001
- , (2001), Handbook of Archaeological Sciences., John Wiley and Sons: Chichester
Contributions to Edited Books
- 2011
- , (2011), Principles and methods of analysis in archaeological and manuscript studies: in “Neate S., Ovenden, R., Howell, D. and Pollard, A.M. (eds.) The Technological Study of Books and Manuscripts as Artefacts”, pp 17-23, BAR S2209, Archaeopress: Oxford,.
- , (2011), Scientific approaches to dating historical documents: in “Neate S., Ovenden, R., Howell, D. and Pollard, A.M. (eds.) The Technological Study of Books and Manuscripts as Artefacts”, pp 91-100, BAR S2209, Archaeopress: Oxford.
- , (2011), Provenancing parchment, leather and paper using stable isotope studies: in “Neate S., Ovenden, R., Howell, D. and Pollard, A.M. (eds.) The Technological Study of Books and Manuscripts as Artefacts.”, pp 85-90, BAR S2209, Archaeopress: Oxford.
- 2009
- , (2009), Measuring the Passage of Time: achievements and challenges in archaeological dating: in “Oxford Handbook of Archaeology, B. Cunliffe, C. Gosden and R. Joyce (eds)”, pp 145-168, OUP.
- , (2009), What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been: lead isotopes in archaeology. : in “From Mine to Microscope – Advances in the Study of Ancient Technology; Shortland A J., Freestone, I. C., and. Rehren, T., (eds.)”, pp 181-189, Oxbow Books, Oxford.
- 2008
- , (2008), The brass object from Taumako: in “Leach, B.F. and Davidson, J.M. (eds.), The Archaeology of Taumako”, pp 483-485, New Zealand Journal of Archaeology Special Publication.
- 2007
- , (2007), Information about Grauballe Man from his hair: in “Asingh, P. and Lynnerup, N. (eds.) Grauballe Man: an Iron Age bog body revisited”, pp , Jutland Archaeological Society, Moesgaard, Denmark.
- 2005
- , (2005), What value a unicorn's horn? A study of archaeological uniqueness and value: in “Scarre, C. i& Scarre, G. (eds.) The Ethics of Archaeology: Philosophical Perspectives on the Practice of Archaeology”, pp 260-272, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
- 2004
- , (2004), Putting infinity up on trial: a consideration of the role of scientific thinking in future archaeologies: in “Bintliff, J. (ed.) A Companion to Archaeology.”, pp 380-396, Blackwells,Oxford.
- 2001
- , (2001), Archaeological science: a current perspective: in “Brothwell, D.R. and Pollard, A.M. (eds.) Handbook of Archaeological Sciences.”, pp xvii-xx, John Wiley and Sons: Chichester.
- , (2001), Archaeological science in the biomolecular century: in “Brothwell, D.R. and Pollard, A.M. (eds.) Handbook of Archaeological Sciences.”, pp 295-299, John Wiley and Sons: Chichester.
- , (2001), Global biogeochemical cycles and isotope systematics - how the world works: in “Brothwell, D.R. and Pollard, A.M. (eds.) Handbook of Archaeological Sciences.”, pp , John Wiley and Sons: Chichester.
- , (2001), The provenance hypothesis: in “Brothwell, D.R. and Pollard, A.M. (eds.) Handbook of Archaeological Sciences.”, pp 507-517, John Wiley and Sons: Chichester.