Team and Associates
Team Profiles
Associates & Partners
DPhil Students
Current Students
Former Students
Centre Team
Prof. Chris Gosden
Chair of European Archaeology
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Landscape and Identity, Intelligence, Eurasian connections, Papua New Guinea
Current Projects:
European Celtic Art In Context
The ECAIC project characterizes and contextualizes Celtic art across Europe, and looks seriously at the nature of connections between Celtic Art and the wider Eurasian world.
English Landscapes and Identities
The EngLaId (‘English Landscape and Identities’) project analyses change and continuity in the English landscape from the middle Bronze Age (c. 1500 BC) to the Domesday survey (c. 1086 AD).
Dr Anke Hein
Peter Moores Associate Professor in Chinese Archaeology
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
South-west China, Human-environment relations
Dr Peter Hommel
Postdoctoral Researcher
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Russia, Central Asia, Early ceramics, Hunter-gatherer landscapes
Prof. Mark Pollard
Edward Hall Professor Archaeological Science
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Materials science in archaeology, Chinese metallurgy, Iran
Current Projects:
FLAME (Flow of Ancient Metals across Eurasia)
Understanding patterns in Eurasian metallurgy. Legacy data new spatial interpretations.
Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
jessica.rawson@merton.ox.ac.uk
Research Interests:
China, Inner Asia, Interaction spheres
Current Projects:
China and Inner Asia: Interactions that changed China (1000–200 BC)
This 5-year Leverhulme Trust funded project (2011-2016), explores how the incorporation of such foreign materials, technologies and ideas into the repertoire of the early dynastic elites both marked and stimulated major social changes across ancient China.
Dr Rick Schulting
Associate Professor in Scientific and Prehistoric Archaeology
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Western Europe, Japan, Human osteology
Dr Mitsuko Ito
Research Associate
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Ancient Japan, archaeology of children and childhood, museum studies
Associates and Partners
Prof. Sir Barry Cunliffe
Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Eurasian archaeology, connectivity and isolation, the longue durée of social interaction
Chris Doherty
Research Associate
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art
Research Interests:
Ceramic analysis, Chinese porcelain production, Anatolian Neolithic
Prof. Donna Kurtz
Professor of Classical Art
The Cultural Heritage Programme, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Cultural heritage law and visual material culture
Dr Dirk Meyer
Associate Professor of Chinese Philosophy
Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
early Chinese texts, philosophy, history
Dr Bryan Miller
Postdoctoral Fellow
Rothmere American Institute, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Mongolia, Xiongnu Empire
Prof. Christopher Ramsey
Professor of Archaeological Science
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Radiocarbon chronology, Bayesian modelling and calibration.
Dr Shelagh Vainker
Associate Professor of Chinese Art, Curator of Chinese Art
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
shelagh.vainker@ashmus.ox.ac.uk
Research Interests:
Northern Song Ceramics, Modern Chinese Painting
Dr Paul Wordsworth
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
paul.wordsworth@orinst.ox.ac.uk
Research Interests:
Early Islamic Archaeology and History of the Caucasus and Central Asia, Landscape Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems
Prof. Jianli Chen
Professor of Archaeometallurgy
Peking University, Beijing
Research Interests:
Eurasian Archaeometallurgy, Northern Zone archaeology, Ancient Metal Technology.
Dr Mallica Kumbera Landrus
Andrew W Mellon Teaching Curator, Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum, Oriental Institute and Said Business School
mallica.kumberalandrus@ashmus.ox.ac.uk
Research Interests:
Material and visual culture in South Asia
Current Projects:
Ashmolean Museum UEP: Promoting diversity through object-based learnin
Through the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ashmolean Museum, the UEP supports Oxford’s commitment in ensuring an inclusive space and curriculum. While the remit specifically focuses on teaching across disciplines with and around objects in the collections, the very nature of object-based learning makes possible the pedagogical development to shape perspectives on diversity. Through object-based classes students are able to explore and communicate cultural values, power, privilege, exclusion, space, gender, sexual orientation, the perception of self identity and that of the world.
Dr Yury Esin
Senior Research Fellow
Khakassian Research Institute for Language, Literature and History
Research Interests:
Rock Art, Okunev imagery, Archaeology of the Minusinsk Basin, History of Wheeled Vehicules.
Prof. Hirofumi Kato
Professor of Ainu and Indigenous Studies
Center for Ainu & Indigenous Studies, Hokkaido University
Research Interests:
Indigenous archaeology, Eurasian Palaeolithic archaeology, Museum studies.
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Krause
Professor and Member of Faculty
Goethe University, Frankfurt
Research Interests:
Eurasian and European Prehistory, Steppe archaeology
Prof. Jianjun Mei
Director
Needham Institute, Cambridge
Research Interests:
Chinese Metallurgy, Connectivity and technological transmission
Dr Wendy Morrison
Senior Associate Tutor for Archaeology
Department of Continuing Education, University of Oxford
Research Interests:
Digital spatial data analysis, Harrappan archaeology, connectivity and social structure in Prehistory, zoomorphic iconography and ancient worldview.
Projects affiliated with the Centre:
Testing the Metal
A collaborative investigation of Harrappan metallurgy with the National Museum Institute (Delhi), Deccan College (Pune), and NIAS (Bangalore).
GOAL—Great Ouse Ancient Landscapes
Landscape survey and excavation of a multiperiod rural settlement.
Prof Michael Petraglia
Research Fellow
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena
Research Interests:
Arabian peninsula, Indian subcontinent, Eastern North America
Dr Amy Richardson
GA Wainwright Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Oriental Institute, Oxford
amy.richardson@orinst.ox.ac.uk
Research Interests:
Neolithic archaeology of Western Asia; material use and technology; materiality; exchange networks
Projects:
Transforming societies: networks of materiality in the Neolithic Eastern Fertile Crescent
This project takes a multi-pronged approach to understanding how things came to matter in the Neolithic and how networks of material exchange helped societies thrive. Drawing on scientific, materials-based approaches and current theoretical perspectives, this research explores how the interactions between people and materials shaped the social worlds of the Neolithic, through case studies in the Eastern Fertile Crescent.
‘City Seal’ impressions from Early Dynastic Ur: new insights from clay characterisation
In collaboration with Prof Roger Matthews, this project examines the tantalising City Seal documents from ancient Mesopotamia. Conducting systematic pXRF analysis of proto-cuneiform clay tablets and sealings, this project seeks to shed light on the bureaucratic practices of early urban societies.
The Central Zagros Archaeological Project
The Central Zagros is a key zone in one of the major episodes of transformation in human history and in which the wild plants and animals that were later domesticated occur naturally. CZAP is directed by Prof Roger Matthews and Dr Wendy Matthews, based at the University of Reading, investigating early sedentism and agriculture through excavation of Neolithic sites in Iraq and Iran.
Dr Peter Stewart
Director of the Classical Art Research Centre; Associate Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology
Classical Art Research Centre, Oxford
peter.stewart@classics.ox.ac.uk
Research Interests:
Gandharan art and its connections with the classical world; Greek and Roman art; Roman provincial sculpture.
Current Projects:
Gandhara Connections: Cross-Cultural Links in Central Asian Art
Through a three-year programme of events and the development of online resources, the project aims to stimulate and support research on the Buddhist art of ancient Gandhara and its connections with Graeco-Roman traditions.
Prof. Sharada Srinivasan
Professor of Archaeology
National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore
Research Interests:
Indian archaeology, archaeometallurgy, archaeomaterials and art history
Major ongoing studies on bronze statuary, ferrous metallurgy and Wootz steel from southern India, and megalithic and Harappan copper alloys. Prof. Srinivasan is also working on craft ethnometallurgy supported by IGNCA.
Dr Nataliya Shishlina
Head of the Bronze and Iron Age Department
State Historical Museum, Moscow
Research Interests:
Nomadic lifestyles, Museum studies, Maikop culture, Northern Caucasus, Isotopes and radiocarbon chronology
Dr Viktor Trifonov
Senior research fellow
Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS, St Petersburg
Research Interests:
Northern Caucasus
Prof. Tsagaan Turbat
Department of Bronze and Early Iron Age
Institute of Archaeology MAS, Ulan Bator
Research Interests:
Xiongnu Archaeology, Western Mongolian Prehistory
Dr Alicia Ventresca-Miller
Research Fellow
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, JenaResearch Interests:
Kazakh archaeology, Bronze Age Eurasia, Isotopic analysis
Visiting Researchers
Dr In-hwa Choi (Visiting status 2018–20)
Cultural Heritage Management and the Grand Canal, China
Pusan National University, Busan, Korea
Research Interests:
Cultural Heritage Management, Archaeology of Korea and Japan, Spatial Analysis, 3D Applications
Lu Chang (Visiting status: 2018–19)
Neolithic Archeology in Central-south Inner Mongolia
Renmin University, PR China
Research Interests:
Neolithic, Mortuary Archaeology, Mongolia, Northern China, Central Asia
Dr Wei Wang (Visiting status: 2018–19)
Cultural Heritage Management and the Grand Canal, China
Tianjin Polytechnic University, PR China
Research Interests:
Cultural Heritage Management, Ming and Qing China, Imperial Buildings
Dr Qiaowei Wei (Visiting status: 2018)
Shang and Zhou Ceramics in Northern Shandong
Shanghai University, Department of History
Research Interests:
Ceramic Technology, Bronze Age China, Shandong, Practice Theory
Current Students
Ying Chen
Enrolled:
Ornament in Chinese Tomb Paintings from the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries
Supervisor(s):Prof. Amy Bogaard
Alice Yu Cheng
Enrolled:
Western Zhou Identity
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Ying-Ching Chou
Enrolled: 2015–
The Imperial Packaging as Revealing Categorization and Status in Chines Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Research Interests:
Chinese history of arts and crafts
Xuying Du
Enrolled:
Supervisor(s): Prof. Chris Gosden
Yingtung Fung
Enrolled:
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Peining Li
Enrolled: 2016–
Trade in ceramics between China and Southeast Asia during Song dynasty
Supervisor(s): Prof. Julia Lee-Thorp
Research Interests:
Maritime trade between China and Southeast Asia
Li-chia Liu
Enrolled:
Brick tombs in the Sichuan Basin during the Eastern Han period (AD25-220): Regional Identity and Culture Fusion
Supervisor(s):Prof. Ina Jacobs and Dr Wendy Morrison
Kyoko Nomoto
Enrolled:
Silk on the Silk Roads from 3rd to 8th centuries CE
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Xiaojia Tang
Enrolled:
The Northeastern Frontier of Pre-Imperial China (13th to 3rd century BCE): Cultural Differentiation and Interregional Interaction
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Shengyu Wang
Enrolled:
Roman or Ghandaran? Architectural and Ornamental Influence from the West Reflected in Tombs in Shanxi Province, China, from the 6th to the 10th centuries CE
Supervisor(s):Prof. Helena Hammerow
Wen Wen
Enrolled:
Ancient Trades between China and the Islamic World: An Archaeological Study of Chinese Ceramics Found in the Islamic World and Their Relationship with Early Islamic Glazed Ceramics From the Eighth to the Thirteenth centuries CE
Supervisor(s): Dr Luke Treadwell and Dr Seth Priestman
J. Alyssa White
Enrolled: 2016–
Yayoi Period Traumatic Lesions: The role of aggression during the adoption of agriculture in Japan
Supervisor(s): Dr Rick Schulting and Dr Mark Hudson
Research Interests:
Skeletal evidence of trauma and stress, Japanese archaeology, transition to agriculture, human growth and development, stable isotopic analysis of diet
Waikwan Wong
Enrolled:
Sources, Meanings and Identity: the cemetery at Majiayuan in Gansu Province, China
Supervisor(s):Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson & Dr Anke Hein
Evgenia Dammer
Enrolled: 2017–
Technological choices and labour value of painted pottery from northwestern China
Supervisor(s): Dr Anke Hein, Dr Michela Spataro (British Museum) & Dr Chris Doherty
Research Interests:Ceramic Technology, Petrography, Burial Archaeology
Shengpeng Jiang
Enrolled: 2016–Dietary patterns and local ecology in the Hexi Corridor as seen through stable isotope analysis, 2000-1500BC, supervisor
Supervisor(s): Dr Anke Hein & Dr Peter Ditchfield
Research Interests:
Danielle Hum
Enrolled: 2017–The “taming” of the “unpacified south” during the Han expansion: Changing land use and subsistence patterns based on animal representations in burial practices, Lingnan
Supervisor(s): Dr Anke Hein
Research Interests:Human-Animal Relations, Guangzhou, Han Period, Subsistence Practices
Limin Huan
Enrolled: 2016–Early metallurgy in prehistoric China
Supervisor(s): Prof. Mark Pollard
Research Interests:Metallurgy, Archaeological Sciences, Spatial Analysis
Izumi Braddick
Enrolled: 2016–
To Fight or Not To Fight? Assessing the Prevalence of Violence among the Hunter-Gatherer Jomon of Japan
Supervisor(s): Prof. Rick Schulting & Prof. Mark Hudson
Research Interests:
Japanese archaeology, skeletal evidence of trauma, violence in hunter-gatherer societies, ritual practices, subsistence systems, trade and exchange networks
Ken Ishikawa
Enrolled: 2015–Geographical and chronological contextualisation of Buddhist rock-cut caves in Gujarat during the Western Kṣatrapa period (mid first–early fifth century AD)
Supervisor(s): Dr Anke Hein & Dr Julia Shaw (UCL)
Research Interests: Buddhism, South Asia, Religious Practice, Spatial Analysis
Zihan Li
Enrolled: 2018–Ru and Guan ware: a contextual technological analysis
Supervisor(s): Dr Anke Hein & Dr Chris Doherty
Research Interests: Buddhism, South Asia, Religious Practice, Spatial Analysis
Jennifer Keute
Enrolled: 2018–Residue analysis on early ceramics from Northeast China
Supervisor(s): Dr Anke Hein & Dr Thibaut Deviése
Research Interests: Residue Analysis, Subsistence Practices, Food in Prehistory, Archaeological Sciences, Chemistry
Xuyang Gao
Enrolled: 2018–The Origins and Evolution of Chinese Zisha Teapot Manufacture
Supervisor(s): Dr Anke Hein & Dr Chris Doherty
Research Interests: Ceramic Technology, Tea Culture, Archaeological Sciences, Ethnoarchaeology
Former Students
Bobby C. Orillaneda
Enrolled: 2012–
Maritime Trade Patterns in Fifteenth Century Southeast Asia: Evidence from Shipwrecks
Supervisor(s): Dr Damian Robinson
Research Interests:
Maritime and Underwater Archaeology, Ancient Maritime Trade Contacts, Shipwrecks, Asian Ceramics and Underwater Cultural heritage
Veronica Walker-Vadillo
Enrolled: 2011–
Angkor's Fluvial Landscapes
Supervisor(s): Dr Damian Robinson and Dr Linda Hulin
Research Interests:
Maritime archaeology; Southeast Asia; South China Sea; Fluvial networks; Angkor empire; Maritime trade networks; Nautical technology
Qin Cao
National Museum of Scotland
Enrolled: 2012–2016
Roles of Weapons: Significance, Identity and Value in Anyang late Shang (c. 1200-1050 B.C.) Society China
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson and Dr Wendy Morrison
Research Interests:
Early China; Weapons; Chinese numismatics; Metallurgy; Funerary archaeology
Beichen Chen
Enrolled:
Cultural interactions during the Zhou Dynasty, a study of the networks of the Suizao corridor
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Ruiliang 'Ray' Liu
Enrolled:
Networks of metal flow in the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties
Supervisor(s): Prof. Mark Pollard and Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Rebecca O'Sullivan
Enrolled: 2013–
Rock-art of the Altai Mountains (Eurasia): regional connections and landscape relations
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson and Dr. Courtney Nimura
Research Interests:
Animality; Landscape; GIS; Eurasia; Xinjiang
Veronica Walker-Vadillo
Enrolled: 2011–
Angkor's Fluvial Landscapes
Supervisor(s): Dr Damian Robinson and Dr Linda Hulin
Research Interests:
Maritime archaeology; Southeast Asia; South China Sea; Fluvial networks; Angkor empire; Maritime trade networks; Nautical technology
Dr Tom Hoogervorst
Royal Netherlands Institute for Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies
Enrolled: 2008–2011
Southeast Asia in the ancient Indian Ocean world
Supervisor(s): Dr Nicole Boivin
Research Interests:
Indian Ocean, historical linguistics, Indonesia
Prof. Sun Woo Kim
Institute of Korean Archaeology and Ancient History at Kyung Hee University
Enrolled: 2007–2012
Life and Death in the Korean Bronze Age (ca. 1500 – 400 BC)
Supervisor(s): Prof. Chris Gosden and Dr Rick Schulting
An analysis of settlements and monuments in the mid- Korean peninsula
Research Interests:
Landscape archaeology, Bronze Age, East Asian Archaeology, Megalithic monuments, Settlement pattern
Dr Celine Lai
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Enrolled: 2004–2009
Resemblance and Resistance: Contacts Between the Shang and the South
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Research Interests:
Chinese Archaeology, Archaeological Theory, Museum Studies
Dr Chen Li
Tongji University, Shanghai
Enrolled: 2009–2014
Han Dynasty Stone Carved Tombs in Central and Eastern China
Supervisor(s): Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson
Research Interests:
Art and archaeology of the Han Dynasty; structure and contents of Chinese tombs; interactions between Central China and Inner Asia
Dr Patrick Roberts
Max Planck Institute
Enrolled: 2013–2016
Fruits of the Forest: Human stable isotope ecology and rainforest adaptations in Late Pleistocene and Holocene Sri Lanka
Supervisor(s): Prof. Michael Petraglia and Prof. Julia Lee-Thorp
This project focused on using stable isotope analysis of human and faunal fossil remains to elucidate Late Pleistocene human rainforest adaptations in Sri Lanka, and the relationship of this data to wider debates regarding the viability of rainforest habitats for long-termforaging by our species.
Research Interests:
Application of stable isotope methods within multidisciplinary research programmes that are focused on human palaeoclimates, palaeoenvironments, palaeodiets and palaeomobility.