Browsing by Author "Kemp, Victoria"

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    Ancient Biographies: Trace element analysis to investigate provenance and transportation mechanism of Late Bronze Age glass
    (Equinox Publishing, 2019-05-16) Kemp, Victoria; McDonald, A.; Shortland, Andrew J.
    LA-ICPMS analysis was carried out on a scaraboid blue glass bead (Hunterian Museum Glasgow, D.1921.39) excavated from Tomb 27 in Gurob, in the Southern Fayum region of Egypt. Gurob is known to have been the site of a ‘harem palace’ established in the reign of Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BC). The tomb was located at the northernmost point of the New Kingdom cemetery and was undisturbed, containing the remains of seven females and two children, and was dated by the excavators to between the reigns of Amenophis I (1525-1504 BC) and Tuthmosis III. The glass scarab was coloured by copper and trace element values of La, Cr, Ti and Zr exhibited compositional consistency with glasses from Mesopotamia, rather than from Egypt. Therefore, the glass scarab represents a rare example of Mesopotamian glass to be discovered in Egypt, in addition to being some of the earliest glass found. The finds support iconographic references in the Hall of the Annals at Karnak to the import of early glass into Egypt. The implication is that these beads represent luxury items transported into Egypt by high-ranking foreign women perhaps in connection with the Gurob harem palace.
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    The dating and provenance of glass artefacts excavated from the ancient city of Tall Zirā‛a, Jordan
    (Wiley, 2020-06-29) Kemp, Victoria; Schmidt, Katharina; Brownscombe, Will; Soennecken, Katja; Vieweger, Dieter; Häser, Jutta; Shortland, Andrew J.
    The first deliberate manufacture of glass occurs in the sixteenth century BC, although the origin of the material is still a focus of debate; Egypt or Mesopotamia being the most likely innovator. The conventional approach is that glass technology first developed in Mesopotamia (Barag, 1970, p131-4; Moorey, 1994, p192; Shortland et al., 2017) and that the subsequent transfer to Egypt could be ascribed to tribute associated with the successful military campaigns in the Levant by the Egyptian king, Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BC). Although there is textual and iconographic evidence for the production, supply and transport of glass between Egypt, its vassal Levantine states and Mesopotamia, it is very rare to find Egyptian glass in Mesopotamia or vice versa (Walton et al. 2009). The exceptions to date are two green glass rods found in Amarna, Egypt, which have trace element compositions consistent with Mesopotamian glass, and a collection of blue glass beads and a scarab recovered from a tomb in Gurob, Egypt, which also showed compositional consistency with glasses of known Mesopotamian origin (Varberg et al., 2016; Kemp, McDonald, A and Shortland, 2017; Kemp et al., 2019
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    The dating and provenance of glass fragments from the site of Serabit el-Khâdim, Sinai
    (Elsevier, 2023-03-21) Kemp, Victoria; Delbey, Thomas; Shortland, Andrew J.
    Serabit el-Khâdim, located on the western coast of the Sinai Peninsula, is the site of an ancient turquoise mine established in the early 12th Dynasty (c. 1985 BCE) and active between the 18th and 20th Dynasties (c. 1550–1136 BCE). The temple dedicated to Hathor at Serabit detail the number of offerings made, thereby recording the level of activity at Serabit during each reign. The last offerings were made by Rameses VI (1143–1136 BCE) corresponding with the collapse of the Late Bronze Age before the site was abandoned. 976 glass fragments were given to the Ashmolean Museum by Flinders Petrie following his 1905–6 excavations. 41 fragments from the collection were selected for LA-ICP-MS analysis with the aim of provenancing and dating an unknown collection of glass using composition and available stylistic features to further narrow the date of manufacture and therefore indicate the possible workshop of origin. The analysis showed that all 41 fragments are of Egyptian provenance and of standard Late Bronze Age high magnesia plant ash glass, except one fragment which is a unique example of natron blue glass applied as decoration to a white plant ash vessel body. Subtle compositional differences show that 18th Dynasty plant ash glass, plant ash Ramesside glass and natron Ramesside glass are all present, therefore corresponding with the known Egyptian activity at Serabit.
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    Forensic DNA extraction methods for human hard tissue: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of technologies and sample type
    (Elsevier, 2022-12-08) Finaughty, Chandra; Heathfield, Laura Jane; Kemp, Victoria; Márquez-Grant, Nicholas
    DNA identification of human remains has a valuable role in the field of forensic science and wider. Although DNA is vital in identification of unknown human remains, post-mortem environmental factors can lead to poor molecular preservation. In this respect, focus has been placed on DNA extraction methodologies for hard tissue samples, as these are the longest surviving. Despite decades of research being conducted on DNA extraction methods for bone and teeth, little consensus has been reached as to the best performing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a thorough systematic literature review to identify potential DNA extraction technique(s) which perform optimally for forensic DNA profiling from hard tissue samples. PRISMA guidelines were used, by which a search strategy was developed. This included identifying databases and discipline specific journals, keywords, and exclusion and inclusion criteria. In total, 175 articles were identified that detailed over 50 different DNA extraction methodologies. Results of the meta-analysis conducted on 41 articles – meeting further inclusion criteria - showed that statistically significant higher DNA profiling success was associated with solid-phase magnetic bead/resin methods. In addition, incorporating a demineralisation pre-step resulted in significantly higher profiling successes. For hard tissue type, bone outperformed teeth, and even though dense cortical femur samples were more frequently used across the studies, profiling success was comparable, and in some cases, higher in cancellous bone samples. Notably, incomplete data sharing resulted in many studies being excluded, thus an emphasis for minimum reporting standards is made. In conclusion, this study identifies strategies that may improve success rates of forensic DNA profiling from hard tissue samples. Finally, continued improvements to current methods can ensure faster times to resolution and restoring the identity of those who died in obscurity.
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    Identifying and evaluating atypical traits in Ancient Egyptian glass vessels using raw data analysis and expert assessment
    (Equinox, 2021-05-23) Kemp, Victoria; Rohan, Rhiannon; Shortland, Andrew J.
    The descriptive data pertaining to the remaining, largely intact, glass vessels produced in ancient Egypt between the reigns of Thutmosis IV (1401-1391 BC) and Pinudjem II (959-945 BC) contained in ‘Die Glasgefäße im Alten Ägypten’ [The Glass Vessels in Ancient Egypt], was extracted and standardised to create a dataset that could be analysed to determine the most typical and atypical features of vessels attributed to the New Kingdom in the corpus. Seven descriptive categories were assessed based on the percentage of incidence to determine if a vessel could be defined as statistically ‘atypical’. An expert’s evaluation was employed as a second assessment method. The two methods identified 76 vessels from a total number of 320 vessels and agreed on 16 vessels considered as atypical, all of which had little or no provenance information. The resulting 76 vessels identified as ‘atypical’ by the combined methods were subsequently compared with the respective provenance information and current location to determine patterns of collection and distribution throughout the world. The data showed that the Americas held the largest number of vessels that had little or no provenance data, including those held in private collections. The combined atypical tests identified that the Americas hold the largest proportion of atypical vessels. It is not the intention of this research to undermine the authenticity of vessels but to determine if data methods can be used to identify atypical traits in archaeological collections and to encourage the application of archaeometric testing to provide supporting information on statistically rare objects.
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    The investigation and provenance of glass vessel fragments attributed to the tomb of Amenhotep II, KV35, Valley of the Kings
    (Wiley, 2021-05-06) Kemp, Victoria; Brownscombe, W.; Shortland, Andrew J.
    Four polychrome glass fragments, excavated from tomb KV35 in the Valley of the Kings, attributed to Amenhotep II, were analysed to further investigate the composition and provenance of early Late Bronze Age glasses. An additional fragment, EA64163, cited by the British Museum as being stylistically analogous to the fragments from KV35, although with a findspot simply recorded as "Thebes", was also analysed. LA-ICP-MS analysis was used to analyse multiple colours on the fragments to determine the major element composition, the colouring strategies and establish provenance using trace element analysis. The resulting data obtained was compared with four polychrome fragments of standard LBA Egyptian composition, excavated from the palace of Amenhotep III at Malkata, previously analysed by SEM-WDS. Analysis showed that the glasses excavated from KV35 are standard LBA glass of Egyptian composition and were most likely produced in Egypt in the 18th Dynasty. The fragment EA64163 is a low magnesia, low potash glass, comparable with Iron Age composition, therefore should be reconsidered as a later glass. The analysis of glasses, excavated from a reliable, early Egyptian context supports the proposition that glass technology for multiple colours was established in Egypt at least as early as 1400 BCE.
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    LA-ICP-MS analysis of late bronze age blue glass beads from Gurob, Egypt
    (Wiley, 2019-10-25) Kemp, Victoria; McDonald, A.; Brock, Fiona; Shortland, Andrew J.
    LA-ICP-MS analysis was undertaken on 37 blue glass beads excavated from a tomb in Gurob, in the Southern Fayum region of Egypt. The tomb was undisturbed, contained the remains of seven females and two children, and dated between the reigns of Amenhotep I (1525-1504 BC) and Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BC). The glass beads are coloured by copper and the trace element concentrations are compositionally consistent with glasses from Mesopotamia, rather than from Egypt. Therefore, these glass beads represent a rare example of Mesopotamian glass to be discovered in Egypt, in addition to being some of the earliest glass found. Gurob is known to have been the site of a ‘harem palace’ established in the reign of Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BC), the implication being that these beads represent luxury items transported into Egypt by high-ranking foreign women, possibly in connection with the harem palace.