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School of Archaeology

University of Oxford

  2. Professor Mark Pollard

Professor Mark Pollard

professor mark pollard
Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science
+44 (0)1865 285228
mark.pollard@arch.ox.ac.uk

Research Interests

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. 

Research Profile

Research Activities

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

FLAME (FLow of Ancient Metal across Eurasia): European Research Council Advance Grant 1300505. 2.47MEuro, 1/10/2015-30/9/2020.

Completed Research Projects

  • 'The Past People of Oxfordshire', funded by Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) in partnership with Oxford Archaeology and Oxford City Council.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Transition to Ironworking in Ancient Cholcis 
  • National Geographic Global Exploration Fund GEFNE30-11 (Pollard) for 2012.
  • 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.

Links

FLAME (The FLow of Ancient Metals across Eurasia)

RESET — Response of Humans to Abrupt Environmental Transitions

Below the Salt

Publications

  • China's major Late Neolithic centres and the rise of Erlitou

    Zhang, C, Pollard, AM, Rawson, J, Huan, L, Liu, R, Tang, X
    2019
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    Journal article
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    Antiquity
    © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019. Recent archaeological survey and excavation in China have demonstrated that large sites of the late fourth and third millennia BC were situated not on the Central Plains - where the later dynastic centres were located - but along the Yangtze and lower Yellow River Basins. Their decline in the late third and second millennia BC coincided with the growth of sites to the north of the Central Plains. Evidence for settlement size and a new chronology constructed from radiocarbon dates emphasise discontinuities in the geographic distribution of settlements, combined with continuity in cultural practices of ritual feasts and the use of symbolic jades.

  • From Alloy Composition to Alloying Practice: Chinese Bronzes

    Pollard, AM, Liu, R, Rawson, J, Tang, X
    2019
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    Journal article
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    Archaeometry
    © 2018 University of Oxford We propose a new methodology based on standard statistical processes for displaying and rigorously comparing the alloy composition of archaeological bronze alloys. Although traditional approaches using visual comparisons of histograms of alloying elements in an assemblage of archaeological objects are adequate for observing differences between these distributions, we argue that differences in sample size cannot be adequately accounted for without using a statistical approach. We demonstrate this methodology by comparing the alloy composition of bronzes from the sequence of Bronze Age cultures in Central China—Erlitou, Erligang (Zhengzhou, or early Shang), Anyang (late Shang) and Western Zhou. We suggest that this approach allows the identification and rigorous comparison of ‘regional alloying practices’, which in turn enables us to link the alloy composition of the objects with the intentions and skills of foundry workers.

  • Molecular archaeoparasitology identifies cultural changes in the Medieval Hanseatic trading centre of Lübeck.

    Flammer, PG, Dellicour, S, Preston, SG, Rieger, D, Warren, S, Tan, CKW, Nicholson, R, Přichystalová, R, Bleicher, N, Wahl, J, Faria, NR, Pybus, OG
    ,
    et al
    2018
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    Journal article
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    Proc Biol Sci
    Throughout history, humans have been afflicted by parasitic worms, and eggs are readily detected in archaeological deposits. This study integrated parasitological and ancient DNA methods with a large sample set dating between Neolithic and Early Modern periods to explore the utility of molecular archaeoparasitology as a new approach to study the past. Molecular analyses provided unequivocal species-level parasite identification and revealed location-specific epidemiological signatures. Faecal-oral transmitted nematodes (Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura) were ubiquitous across time and space. By contrast, high numbers of food-associated cestodes (Diphyllobothrium latum and Taenia saginata) were restricted to medieval Lübeck. The presence of these cestodes and changes in their prevalence at approximately 1300 CE indicate substantial alterations in diet or parasite availability. Trichuris trichiura ITS-1 sequences grouped into two clades; one ubiquitous and one restricted to medieval Lübeck and Bristol. The high sequence diversity of T.tITS-1 detected in Lübeck is consistent with its importance as a Hanseatic trading centre. Collectively, these results introduce molecular archaeoparasitology as an artefact-independent source of historical evidence.
    ancient DNA, archaeology, diet, genetics, parasitology, trade, Animals, Archaeology, Cities, Cultural Evolution, DNA, Ancient, Feces, Genetic Variation, Germany, Helminths, History, 15th Century, History, 16th Century, History, 17th Century, History, Ancient, History, Medieval, Humans, Parasite Egg Count, Parasitology, Trichuriasis, Trichuris

  • Beyond ritual bronzes: identifying multiple sources of highly radiogenic lead across Chinese history.

    Liu, R, Rawson, J, Pollard, AM
    2018
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    Journal article
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    Sci Rep
    One of the greatest enigmas in the study of Bronze Age China is the source of highly radiogenic lead discovered in the copper-based objects of the Shang period (ca. 1500-1046 BC). Although being relatively rare in nature, such lead contributed over half of the lead consumed across a vast area from the Yellow River to the Yangtze. Identifying its source and supply network would significantly contribute to our understanding of how China achieved the largest metal production across Eurasia. The past thirty years of research have seen various proposals for the origin of this lead, including south-western China, the middle Yangtze River valley, the Qinling and Zhongtiao mountains, and even Africa. This paper attempts to illustrate the tempero-spatial pattern of this highly radiogenic lead using the largest possible databank. Furthermore, by going beyond the bronze data and investigating lead isotopes in non-metal objects, we confirm that multiple sources of highly radiogenic lead must have been used across Chinese history. In turn, this implies the feasibility of a multi-source model for the lead in the Shang bronzes.

  • A new approach to the chronology of caves 268/272/275 in the dunhuang mogao grottoes: Combining radiocarbon dates and archaeological information within a Bayesian statistical framework

    Guo, Q, Staff, RA, Lu, C, Liu, C, Dee, M, Chen, Y, Pollard, AM, Rawson, J, Su, B, Liu, R
    2018
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    Journal article
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    Radiocarbon
    © 2018 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona. The construction chronology of three of the earliest Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes (Caves 268, 272, and 275) has been the subject of ongoing debate for over half a century. This chronology is a crucial topic in terms of further understanding of the establishment of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, early Buddhism in the Gansu corridor, and its relationship with Buddhism developed in the Central Plains. Building upon archaeological, art historical and radiocarbon (14C) dating studies, we integrate new 14C data with these previously published findings utilizing Bayesian statistical modeling to improve the chronological resolution of this issue. Thus, we determine that all three of these caves were constructed around AD 410-440, suggesting coeval rather than sequential construction.
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Teaching

Postgraduate teaching

Lectururer for MSc in Archaeological Science

 

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