Anna Hodgkinson | Freie Universität Berlin (original) (raw)

Papers by Anna Hodgkinson

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2024

A selection of Late Bronze Age glass objects from the site of Amarna (Egypt) was analysed for the... more A selection of Late Bronze Age glass objects from the site of Amarna (Egypt) was analysed for their overall chemical composition, colourants and transition metals associated with the sources of cobalt ore. The objects were analysed by means of Particle Induced X-Ray and Gamma-ray Emission and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry at the IBC, HZDR, Dresden and the New AGLAE facility, C2RMF, Paris. The data was subsequently compared with further measurements obtained by portable X-Ray Fluorescence (and by Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled-Plasma Mass-Spectrometry) in order to sound the potential of these non-destructive methods to obtain new insights into the production process of glass from Amarna and its provenancing.

Oxford University Press eBooks, Dec 7, 2017

Both O45.1 at Amarna and IA1 at Gurob, discussed in Chapter 6, can be said to have been purpose-b... more Both O45.1 at Amarna and IA1 at Gurob, discussed in Chapter 6, can be said to have been purpose-built and to some extent specialized, with the presence of kilns indicating a somewhat focused set of activities. By contrast, the smaller houses, or groups of the same in New Kingdom settlements have been observed to be generally less industrially focused or specialized on all levels. The present chapter therefore discusses a number of case-studies demonstrating artefact diversity in a range of houses, showcasing their variety both in appearance and in functionality. These case-studies include a range of houses in the Main City at Amarna and a comparison of the artefactual evidence they contained of relevant industrial activities in addition to Site J at Malqata. Excavations at Site J in the 1970s have revealed a series of small ovens, the purpose and locations of which will be discussed together with associated objects. This and the artefactual data from the houses at Amarna will provide an insight into the organization of industrial activities on a household-level. In the course of the spatial analysis undertaken for the Main City North (MCN) at Amarna (see Section 2.4), it has become apparent that thirty-four buildings, dispersed throughout this suburb, contained evidence not only of one industrial activity discussed in this book, but of several. The houses, each of which contains evidence of more than one industry, cover a range of varying sizes. While most of these thirty-four houses had a smaller ground area (less than 900m²), some larger ones also contained evidence of multiple industries. Eight of the thirty-four had an area of less than 100m², while a total of sixteen covered between 100 and 900m², the remaining ten houses being larger than 900m² including their courtyards. While most of the larger houses measured between 900 and 3,000m², three houses are even larger than this, with the largest property, R44.2, which measured over 10,000m², belonging to a ‘Steward of Akhenaten’. Table 7.1 demonstrates the combinations of industries queried with the GIS that were in operation in a number of buildings.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020

A series of archaeological experiments were carried out at the site of Tell el-Amarna, the short-... more A series of archaeological experiments were carried out at the site of Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived capital city of king Akhenaten (who reigned c. 1348-1331BCE), in Middle Egypt between 2017 and 2019. These experiments, which were based on the iconographic evidence presented in two-dimensional metal-working scenes chiefly from Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2181BCE) and Middle Kingdom (c. 2050-1710BCE) tombs, had the purpose of demonstrating that it is possible to carry out small-scale glass working, in particular the manufacture of beads, at household level using small and simple fire pits, which were ventilated with blowpipes. While glass rods and other items indicative of glass working have been found in the smaller houses at Amarna, firing structures are often absent from the archaeological record from the early excavations (1911-1936). If these firing structures-if they existed-were insubstantial and superficial features (rather than being larger ovens) they could easily have been missed by the early excavations. The feasibility of producing small items, such as beads, from glass, using a rudimentary fire pit, which leaves only a faint trace in the archaeological record, would eliminate the necessity of a superior industrial setup for this activity, such as a sophisticated workshop with complex firing structures. The results of the experiments presented in this paper suggest that it was possible to produce glass beads using a small fire pit using technologies borrowed or adapted from metallurgical processes. This makes it possible that the working of glass into beads took place throughout the city of Amarna, rather than only in a set of specialized workshops. 1.1. The socioeconomic context of glass-making and-working at Amarna As one of the first sites to produce glass from raw materials, Amarna yielded a large amount of archaeological evidence of glass working and has served as a case study for the study and analysis of Late Bronze Age vitreous materials technology since Petrie worked at the site in 1891-1892 (Petrie, 1894). Andrew Shortland and colleagues have

STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 2019

Cobalt was commonly used as a colourant in the Egyptian glass industries of the 18th dynasty, dar... more Cobalt was commonly used as a colourant in the Egyptian glass industries of the 18th dynasty, dark blue glass being a regular find at palatial and settlement sites, including Amarna and Malqata. The main source of cobalt ore used during this period has been identified in the Egyptian western desert, around the oases of Kharga and Dakhla. In order to better understand the chaîne opératoire of Late Bronze Age glass production and-working, in particular with regard to cobalt ore, at Amarna, chemical analysis by portable X-Ray fluorescence was carried out in the field. This was done on contextualised archaeological material excavated at the site of Amarna, which cannot be exported from Egypt for analysis. The results of this study demonstrate how cobalt ore was used in the various known workshop sites at Amarna, resulting in a deeper understanding of raw materials use and exchange across this settlement.

Journal of glass studies

ABSTRACT

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020

A series of archaeological experiments were carried out at the site of Tell el-Amarna, the short-... more A series of archaeological experiments were carried out at the site of Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived capital city of king Akhenaten (who reigned c. 1348–1331BCE), in Middle Egypt between 2017 and 2019. These experiments, which were based on the iconographic evidence presented in two-dimensional metal-working scenes chiefly from Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181BCE) and Middle Kingdom (c. 2050–1710BCE) tombs, had the purpose of demonstrating that it is possible to carry out small-scale glass working, in particular the manufacture of beads, at household level using small and simple fire pits, which were ventilated with blowpipes. While glass rods and other items indicative of glass working have been found in the smaller houses at Amarna, firing structures are often absent from the archaeological record from the early excavations (1911–1936). If these firing structures - if they existed - were insubstantial and superficial features (rather than being larger ovens) they could easily have been missed by the early excavations. The feasibility of producing small items, such as beads, from glass, using a rudimentary fire pit, which leaves only a faint trace in the archaeological record, would eliminate the necessity of a superior industrial setup for this activity, such as a sophisticated workshop with complex firing structures. The results of the experiments presented in this paper suggest that it was possible to produce glass beads using a small fire pit using technologies borrowed or adapted from metallurgical processes. This makes it possible that the working of glass into beads took place throughout the city of Amarna, rather than only in a set of specialized workshops.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2020

This paper presents the elemental composition of a representative group of glass-working and-prod... more This paper presents the elemental composition of a representative group of glass-working and-production samples from Amarna in the collection of the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Berlin, obtained by quantitative laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). These analyses were carried out to verify the results from a set of on site analyses of glass objects at Amarna, carried out by pXRF. The main research question of this study was whether the various sources of Co-ore can be identified using transition metal data from pXRF analysis only. The 40 samples from the Berlin collection were confirmed as belonging to the group of Type A, Co-and Co-Cu coloured glass objects, produced in the Egyptian 18 th dynasty, coloured with cobalt-containing ores originating from the western desert in Egypt (close to the Dakhla and Kharga Oases). The element composition revealed correlations between Co and Al, Mn, Fe, Ni and the REEs. However, the major, minor and trace element composition revealed no further distinction between the various workshops in the collection, indicating that similar recipes and raw materials were used in the workshops at Amarna. Thus, quantitative pXRF using Co, Ni, Mn and Zn concentrations alone, such as by pXRF, can be used as an indicative instrument for provenancing cobalt in glass objects, directly on site of objects that cannot be removed from a site or a museum collection.

Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites, 2020

This paper discusses the glass- and faience-industries of Egypt and the Ancient Near East (ANE) d... more This paper discusses the glass- and faience-industries of Egypt and the Ancient Near East (ANE) during the Late Bronze Age, focussing on the domestic manufacture of vitreous materials alongside the production of food in an urban setting. With a focus on Tell el-Amarna, a comparative spatial analysis of urban settlement sites in Egypt and the ANE has been carried out using GIS technology in order to detect patterns of control over these industries. It has been possible to gain information on the control of raw materials by studying the proximity of buildings used in food and faience production and glass-working to institutional ones such as palaces, temples or elite houses. This paper compares the evidence from Amarna and Malqata (Egypt) with that from Assur and Nuzi, as well as with Tell Brak and Ugarit (ANE).

David Warburton, Shiyanthi Thavapalan (eds.). Value of Colour. Material and Economic Aspects in the Ancient World, 2020

This paper discusses a central aspect in the study of glass-working in New Kingdom Egyptian (ca. ... more This paper discusses a central aspect in the study of glass-working in New Kingdom Egyptian (ca. 1550–1077 BC) royal cities: the colours of the raw material, their application and symbolism. Concentrations of glass-working items are analysed spatially and statistically in order to gain information on colour preference, the administration and control of raw glass and colourants as well as some technical aspects of glass-working. The study is based on artefactual and archaeological evidence from the New Kingdom sites of Amarna and Gurob.

The Value of Colour , an interdisciplinary group of scholars come together to examine economicall... more The Value of Colour , an interdisciplinary group of scholars come together to examine economically relevant questions concerning a narrow slice of social and cognitive history: namely, colours. Traditionally, the study of colours has been approached from a cultural or linguistic perspective. The essays collected in this volume highlight the fact that in earliest human history, colours appear in contexts of prestige (value) and commerce. Acquisition, production, labour, circulation and consumption are among the issues discussed by individual authors to show how colourful materials acquired meaning in the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds. Spanning the Palaeolithic to the early Imperial Rome, the contributions also demonstrate the many questions asked and approaches used by historians in the growing fi eld of Colour Studies. 70 berlin studies of the ancient world berlin studies of the ancient world · 70 edited by topoi excellence cluster

STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 2019

Cobalt was commonly used as a colourant in the Egyptian glass industries of the 18th dynasty, dar... more Cobalt was commonly used as a colourant in the Egyptian glass industries of the 18th dynasty, dark blue glass being a regular find at palatial and settlement sites, including Amarna and Malqata. The main source of cobalt ore used during this period has been identified in the Egyptian western desert, around the oases of Kharga and Dakhla. In order to better understand the chaîne opératoire of Late Bronze Age glass production and -working, in particular with regard to cobalt ore, at Amarna, chemical analysis by portable X-Ray fluorescence was carried out in the field. This was done on contextualised archaeological material excavated at the site of Amarna, which cannot be exported from Egypt for analysis. The results of this study demonstrate how cobalt ore was used in the various known workshop sites at Amarna, resulting in a deeper understanding of raw materials use and exchange across this settlement.

Between 18 October and 13 November 2014, excavations were undertaken in the Main City South at Am... more Between 18 October and 13 November 2014, excavations were undertaken in the Main City South at Amarna. The team consisted of Anna Hodgkinson (field director), Susan Kelly, Ashley Bryant, and Kimberley Watt, and inspector from the Ministry of State for Antiquities, Mohamed Khalil. The work was funded by grants from the G.A. Wainwright Fund, the Corning Museum of Glass (Rakow Grant), the Association for the History of Glass and the Thames Valley Ancient Egypt Society.

Egyptian Archaeology 48, Mar 2016

Anna K. Hodgkinson reports on the glass finds from recent seasons at Tell el-Amarna and the uses ... more Anna K. Hodgkinson reports on the glass finds from recent seasons at Tell el-Amarna and the uses of X-ray fluorescence in their analysis: determining and comparing their chemical composition may allow to trace trade networks across the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean.

A domestic complex in the Main City South at Tell el-Amarna was excavated in late 2014. The work ... more A domestic complex in the Main City South at Tell el-Amarna was excavated in late 2014. The work focused on a building complex that was called M50.14–16 when it was initially excavated for the Egypt Exploration Society in 1922, where it was described as a workshop for the manufacture of glass and faience objects. The recent project was developed after an area of vitrified mud-brick debris, an indicator of high-temperature industries, was discovered on the surface. A domestic structure was excavated, along with a large workshop area processing glass, faience and agate, amongst other materials.

Excavation report on the excavations of a New Kingsom workshop area at Gurob, Fayum, Egypt in 2012.

This case study demonstrates how Oxford Archaeology1 have successfully adopted open source geospa... more This case study demonstrates how Oxford Archaeology1 have successfully adopted open source geospatial software, in particular the desktop GIS packages gvSIG and Quantum GIS (QGIS) in an active move away from proprietary mapping software such as CAD or ArcGIS. ...

Archaeology in the Digital Era Volume II: e-Papers from the 40 th Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Southampton, 26-30 March 2012, 2014

Proprietary software can put archaeological data at risk by placing unnecessary barriers of entry... more Proprietary software can put archaeological data at risk by placing unnecessary barriers of entry to studying the past through closed file formats. Open source software has been successfully adopted for visualisation and analysis of archaeological data in both commercial and academic archaeology. Two case-studies are presented here: a large commercial fieldwork project in England and an archaeological and topographic survey at the site of Medinet el-Gurob in Egypt. Open source software -as we describe -replaces proprietary software both within the highly cost-sensitive commercial sector and within international and educational archaeology. This is done through active use and testing, as well as dissemination of documentation. Software discussed includes tools for digital survey download (Total Open Station), GIS (gvSIG, Quantum GIS (QGIS), GRASS, PostGIS), Illustration (Inkscape) and 3D analysis (Paraview, VisIt). The move from proprietary software to open source has been a success both within this sector of British archaeology and this Egyptian project.

This quick guide is intended to guide the reader through the Helmert georeferencing method, which... more This quick guide is intended to guide the reader through the Helmert georeferencing method, which is available in the plugin repository of open source desktop GIS package Quantum GIS (QGIS) 1 . The guide has been written mainly for an archaeological audience, as it is still common practice to offset plans of archaeological features using no more than two points, usually the section drawing points, which are surveyed. The plans would then be scanned and referenced to the site data for digitisation using a two-point transformation in CAD software. Until recently open source GIS packages, the use of which is becoming increasingly popular within archaeology, have not been able to reference raster images using only two points, but required a minimum of three points for (usually polynomial) georeferencing. This is undisputedly the most accurate method of georeferencing, however the offsetting and survey of additional points is time-consuming, which is not ideal on archaeological sites. Hence, proprietary CAD software still had to be regularly used for two-point transformations of archaeological site plans. Now the excellent open source GIS package QGIS contains this tool within its georeferencing plugin and thus provides another reason not to use proprietary CAD software for archaeological spatial data.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2024

Oxford University Press eBooks, Dec 7, 2017

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020

STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 2019

Journal of glass studies

ABSTRACT

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020

A series of archaeological experiments were carried out at the site of Tell el-Amarna, the short-... more A series of archaeological experiments were carried out at the site of Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived capital city of king Akhenaten (who reigned c. 1348–1331BCE), in Middle Egypt between 2017 and 2019. These experiments, which were based on the iconographic evidence presented in two-dimensional metal-working scenes chiefly from Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181BCE) and Middle Kingdom (c. 2050–1710BCE) tombs, had the purpose of demonstrating that it is possible to carry out small-scale glass working, in particular the manufacture of beads, at household level using small and simple fire pits, which were ventilated with blowpipes. While glass rods and other items indicative of glass working have been found in the smaller houses at Amarna, firing structures are often absent from the archaeological record from the early excavations (1911–1936). If these firing structures - if they existed - were insubstantial and superficial features (rather than being larger ovens) they could easily have been missed by the early excavations. The feasibility of producing small items, such as beads, from glass, using a rudimentary fire pit, which leaves only a faint trace in the archaeological record, would eliminate the necessity of a superior industrial setup for this activity, such as a sophisticated workshop with complex firing structures. The results of the experiments presented in this paper suggest that it was possible to produce glass beads using a small fire pit using technologies borrowed or adapted from metallurgical processes. This makes it possible that the working of glass into beads took place throughout the city of Amarna, rather than only in a set of specialized workshops.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2020

Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites, 2020

David Warburton, Shiyanthi Thavapalan (eds.). Value of Colour. Material and Economic Aspects in the Ancient World, 2020

STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 2019

Cobalt was commonly used as a colourant in the Egyptian glass industries of the 18th dynasty, dar... more Cobalt was commonly used as a colourant in the Egyptian glass industries of the 18th dynasty, dark blue glass being a regular find at palatial and settlement sites, including Amarna and Malqata. The main source of cobalt ore used during this period has been identified in the Egyptian western desert, around the oases of Kharga and Dakhla. In order to better understand the chaîne opératoire of Late Bronze Age glass production and -working, in particular with regard to cobalt ore, at Amarna, chemical analysis by portable X-Ray fluorescence was carried out in the field. This was done on contextualised archaeological material excavated at the site of Amarna, which cannot be exported from Egypt for analysis. The results of this study demonstrate how cobalt ore was used in the various known workshop sites at Amarna, resulting in a deeper understanding of raw materials use and exchange across this settlement.

Egyptian Archaeology 48, Mar 2016

Excavation report on the excavations of a New Kingsom workshop area at Gurob, Fayum, Egypt in 2012.

Archaeology in the Digital Era Volume II: e-Papers from the 40 th Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Southampton, 26-30 March 2012, 2014

Glass objects have been produced in pharaonic Egypt since c. 1500 BC, when it was mainly a royal ... more Glass objects have been produced in pharaonic Egypt since c. 1500 BC, when it was mainly a royal monopoly. Whilst raw glass was first imported from Mesopotamia and the Levant, some was also produced in institutional workshops under strict control. However, the manufacture of finished goods including elaborate vessels, but also (and most frequently) of small items of jewellery occurred in small, domestic houses.

This talk will present the vast evidence of domestic glassworking found at the short-lived ancient Egyptian capital of Akhetaten (Tell el-Amarna), which was settled for a brief period of time under the rule of pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife, Queen Nefertiti (c. 1353 BC – 1336 BC). Focusing on the archaeological and artefactual record I will discuss ways of reconstructing the ancient glass-working techniques and its organisation.

This paper presents the archaeological evidence of glass manufacture and -working from the New Ki... more This paper presents the archaeological evidence of glass manufacture and -working from the New Kingdom Egyptian site of Tell el-Amarna. Excavations near the Central City, at site O45.1 have uncovered industrial high-temperature workshops that were probably under royal control. Simultaneously, a multitude of domestic complexes throughout the Main City exist that have yielded evidence of glass-working. The latter appeared to have been done without complicated firing structures, frequently alongside other industries. While the majority of glass objects from Amarna and other New Kingdom sites is cobalt blue in colour (imitating lapis lazuli), a range of glass-working items in other colours has also been found.
Archaeological material from Amarna furthermore includes glass ingots and the fragments thereof, most of which were blue and of the same size and shape as those from the Uluburun shipwreck. Two ingots were found at the recently excavated domestic workshop M50.14-16 in the southern Main City, and this workshop with its finds corpus will form the focal point of this paper. Its role will be discussed in the context of nearby domestic workshops, such as the house of Ranefer and Grid 12.

This paper presents some of the results of a recent spatial analysis undertaken for the New Kingd... more This paper presents some of the results of a recent spatial analysis undertaken for the New Kingdom Egyptian settlement of Amarna. The analysis focussed on a selection of high-status industries and the production of luxury goods, especially glass, faience, but also metals and sculpture, aiming to establish a working model applicable to the socio-economics of industrial activities across settlement sites dating to the New Kingdom in ancient Egypt.
For her PhD, the author catalogued those artefacts from Amarna that have been identified as evidence of industrial activity for each of the categories listed above. The same has been done for the finished products of the glass-, metal- and sculpture-industries across Amarna. Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software, density analyses were undertaken for each data set, and distribution patterns were detected. While each category of production evidence and finished products was analysed separately, it was also possible to compare distribution maps. At the same time, while the artefact distributions were studied across the settlement site as a whole, the sizes of the buildings and other archaeological contexts the objects found in were also taken into account. In addition to the spatial analysis, the social context of excavated workshops, both as a production site and a domestic house were considered.
Based on the results of the spatial and archaeological analyses, organisational models were established. These incorporate archaeological evidence reflecting a high level of elite control over raw materials and finished produce, as well as an insight into workshop organisation.

Abstract: This paper presents part of my PhD, in which I am researching how products and raw mate... more Abstract: This paper presents part of my PhD, in which I am researching how products and raw materials were controlled within the boundaries of the major urban centres of the Egyptian New Kingdom (c. 1550 – 1070 BC), namely Memphis, Thebes, Gurob, Amarna and Pi-Ramesse. I am approaching this problem by analysing the distribution of artefactual and architectural evidence of high-status industries within each settlement.

In this paper I am focussing on the well-preserved, relatively well-documented, almost purely single-period site of Amarna, examining in particular the evidence relating to the glass, metal, sculpture, textiles and faience industries.

The prevailing opinion is that high-status goods were under the control of a strict authority and administration, which, in many instances reported to Pharaoh directly. However, my paper will demonstrate that, at least at Amarna, this cannot always have been the case and that production took place on a number of different levels, ranging from the larger, probably centrally controlled workshops to the household-community level.

Using only open source GIS software, such as QGIS and gvSIG, I have produced one vector point for each piece of evidence at Amarna and, with the help of vector and raster basemaps, created one polygon for each house unit. This data now allows me to query the evidence and then calculate artefactual densities and display these on maps. This procedure is still relatively rarely applied in Egyptology, as the archaeological remains often do not permit such analysis.

During the course of this experiment, which is still in progress, I have already observed spatial clusters within the distribution of this evidence, reflecting in particular areas of glass- and metal-working. I have been able to isolate and interpret areas of concentrated industrial activity, emphasizing the fact that control over high-status industries was less tight than previously assumed.

Open source GIS for archaeological data visualisation and analysis ... more Open source GIS for archaeological data visualisation and analysis

Anna Hodgkinson and Christina Robinson, Oxford Archaeology North

Abstract
This paper demonstrates how Oxford Archaeology1 have successfully adopted open source geospatial software, in particular the desktop GIS packages gvSIG and Quantum GIS (QGIS) in an active move away from proprietary mapping software such as CAD or ArcGIS. Open source GIS has been successfully applied for the visualisation and analysis of archaeological survey data, proving extremely capable of handling 2D and 3D vector and raster data. Oxford Archaeology have gone one step further, introducing the use of open source illustration software, Inkscape, for the editing of vector maps and the production of high-quality publication-standard illustrations.

Introduction and problems
At Oxford Archaeology we have been striving to move away from the use of proprietary software, especially in the geospatial sector of our work. Instead, we aim to use open source GIS software wherever possible, both for data maintenance during the fieldwork stage and for later analysis.
This approach has formerly been criticised and the move away from CAD and other proprietary spatial software declared problematic by fellow archaeologists. The main problem we faced was the lack of documentation and training time, as archaeological site survey and GIS is still considered a specialist task, inaccessible to the archaeologist fieldworker, however, we aimed to eliminate this thinking. As commercial archaeology usually faces a large amount of time-pressure, it has been argued that teaching staff the use of open source GIS would be time-consuming, but it has not been considered that, for instance, the use of CAD software can present a threat for the archaeological data with its inability to maintain topology and the fact that data is saved in proprietary formats, which can result in it being ”locked in”. It became increasingly clear that having good documentation would lead to more cost effective training methods for staff as well as safer data overall.

Solutions
In 2009, as part of a large-scale road scheme, we had the chance for the first time, to set up the data visualisation project for the fieldwork phase fully in open source GIS software. We selected our “in-house” software, gvSIG OA Digital Edition2 as our desktop GIS package for data visualisation and initial analysis, but used other open source GIS software, such as QGIS3 alongside this, for extended functionality. The gvSIG OA Digital Edition, based on gvSIG 1.104 has been adapted by the company especially for the use within archaeology – a freedom only granted by open source GIS software.
After successfully setting up a project on site, the data from previous phases of the same project was exported from CAD in ESRI shapefile format and thus linked to the GIS. We then used open source GIS software gvSIG on a daily basis to import the downloaded survey data, to print maps, make database queries and georeference images, both hand-drawn site plans and hi-view photographs. Some initial digitising was also undertaken (this usually being part of the post-excavation process).
During the excavation, databases were set up in Microsoft Access, as Oxford Archaeology's migration to PostgreSQL databases had not taken place at the time. However, all archaeological databases, both those produced during the fieldwork and the post-excavation stages were later successfully imported into a PostgreSQL database, complete with a spatial PostGIS component.
Our on-site work-flow, was documented in detail and released a manual, which in turn was tested on site and refined on by using it as training material for staff. This manual would both guide the archaeologist though the steps of setting up their survey equipment and also explain to them the downloading of the data including an introduction to gvSIG, digitising and producing of maps.
Until recently cartography tools for the production of high-quality printable maps, for instance for the illustration of official client reports, were not available in open source GIS software and proprietary software was normally used for this. However, we developed a second methodology, involving new, improved cartography tools in gvSIG and QGIS, which we combined with powerful open source illustration software, Inkscape, and produced highly satisfying results, which have been used in official reports. Therefore, the Survey and GIS work-flow has been extended, and a second manual has been published focussing on high-quality map illustrations and additional cartographic techniques available in QGIS and Inkscape5.

Conclusions
These two manuals6 represent a powerful demonstrator of the potentials of open source software and of open methodologies; both have been published online under a creative commons license, and broadcast widely.
Whilst we were initially faced with a slight reluctance amongst the archaeological community to adopt the new work flow, this has now been overcome, and the last two years have seen an increasing number of our fieldwork projects being visualised using open source GIS rather than CAD. Anecdotally, it is part of the geomatic community that is still sometimes struggling to find its way out of the habitual use of CAD despite the open source packages being readily available and proven capable. Simultaneously, fieldwork project officers and managers are usually more open to adapt whatever technology suits the surveyor best and “works” fast and efficiently. Given the analysis and query capabilities of GIS it has been possible to convince several archaeologists that on-site GIS can help keep track of the data much more efficiently and produce results already during excavation, making the archaeology more accessible to clients and the public. Furthermore, the use of Inkscape by able, but not Illustration-specialised archaeologists, speeds the production of high-quality maps for reports and publications up and may lower staff costs. CAD is still being relied on for building surveys and, to a certain extent, for 3D modelling and rendering, but as the open source GIS packages such as GRASS7 GIS are becoming increasingly capable, even this use of proprietary software may be avoidable.
The manuals have proven useful and successful, not only within commercial archaeology, but has also been known to be of use, for instance in university teaching, and their adoption within other industries has been encouraged.

3rd Open Source GIS Conference (OSGIS), University of Nottingham Centre for Geospatial Sciences, Nottingham, UK - June 21-22nd 2011, 2011

This paper demonstrates how Oxford Archaeology have successfully adopted open source geospatial ... more This paper demonstrates how Oxford Archaeology have successfully adopted open source geospatial software, in particular the desktop GIS packages gvSIG and Quantum GIS (QGIS) in an active move away from proprietary mapping software such as CAD or ArcGIS. Open source GIS has been successfully applied for the visualisation and analysis of archaeological survey data, proving extremely capable of handling 2D and 3D vector and raster data. Oxford Archaeology have gone one step further, introducing the use of open source illustration software, Inkscape, for the editing of vector maps and the production of high-quality publication-standard illustrations.

The city of Amarna was one giant workshop. Among its products were glass vessels and jewellery wh... more The city of Amarna was one giant workshop. Among its products were glass vessels and jewellery which often combined several colours.
This poster presents the results of two separate archaeological experiments, based on evidence from the site of Amarna: raw glass making and bead manufacture,

This poster was presented at the Amarna Study Day in May 2018. The authors would like to thank Vicky Kemp for the design and layout.

I am organising an interdisciplinary workshop on "Approaches in the Analysis of Production at Arc... more I am organising an interdisciplinary workshop on "Approaches in the Analysis of Production at Archaeological Sites", which will take place in Berlin in January 2018. The workshop is part of my ongoing Marie-Curie project. A keynote lecture will be given by Prof. Cathy Costin on the evening of January 20th.
Please send abstracts to ahodgkinson@zedat.fu-berlin.de by 30 September 2017!

This paper discusses the glass-working evidence from the New Kingdom Egyptian sites Malqata and A... more This paper discusses the glass-working evidence from the New Kingdom Egyptian sites Malqata and Amarna, excavated since the late 19th century. While Malqata was the Theban site of a ceremonial palace of Amenhotep III, Amarna was a newly-established capital, erected on behalf of Amenhotep's son, Akhenaten, in Middle Egypt.
Malqata is thought to have imported its raw glass in order to work it into finished objects, and most glass-working took place in Malqata's South Village. However, museum objects from the site have lost their precise provenance, and the obvious lack of firing structures do not facilitate the understanding of the Malqata glass-industries.
By contrast, excavations, both modern and old at Amarna, have yielded a range of industrial sites with a wide variety of firing structures, including some possibly used for glass-production. These sites can be classified as domestic, elite or under royal control. Furthermore, the findspots of glass-working materials have often been recorded, permitting an insight into their distribution and, possibly, access and control patterns. However, there still remain large quantities of only roughly provenanced glass-working materials from Amarna, e.g. in the Egyptian Museum Berlin, which remain to be fully analysed and understood.
Based on the object assemblages from the recent excavations of the Amarna site M50.14-16 and the Egyptian Museum in Berlin as well as the context of known glass-working sites at Amarna, the author argues that numerous domestic workshops for glass existed throughout Amarna. These workshops were dependent on large, industrial workshops under royal control and produced finished objects such as vessels or jewellery. The material assemblage from Malqata will also be presented, together with archaeological evidence from the site, to demonstrate that the earlier glass-workshops at Malqata were more centrally-controlled than those of Amarna. The raw materials together with their range of colours and the beginnings of a chemical analysis project concerning some glass ingots found at Amarna show that the glass-industries at this latter site were far less strictly organised than those found at Malqata.

This paper presents the results of a pilot study researching the usefulness of chemical analysis ... more This paper presents the results of a pilot study researching the usefulness of chemical analysis using portable XRF (pXRF) technology on Late Bronze Age (LBA) plantash glasses from Tell el-Amarna in Middle Egypt. 68 objects from the Egyptian Museum, Berlin have been analysed and the data evaluated in preparation for a season of chemical analysis of glasses at Amarna:
Since the beginning of the 20th century excavations at Amarna have yielded numerous glass-working related objects, including glass rods, ingots and cylindrical ingot moulds. The objects from old excavations are mostly only loosely provenanced and are kept in museums worldwide, although finds from modern excavations, stored on site, can be referenced to specific findspots [1]. For instance, recent excavations at houses M50.14-16 have produced over 300 glass objects, including two ingots [2].
Amarna is one of the first sites in Egypt to have produced glass from raw materials. Therefore, it is of importance to gather all possible information on the chemical composition of the objects at Amarna. Colourants, trace-, major- and minor elements can help determine the origins of these glasses and to chemically relate these items to other LBA glasses. For example, some of the glass ingots from the Uluburun shipwreck may have been made in Egypt [3]. Furthermore, blue is the most prevalent colour of Amarna glasses, being derived from cobalt or copper, but it is not always possible to tell the difference with the naked eye.
Since it is impossible to export the objects from Egypt, or to sample and analyse such a large quantity of objects using laboratory methods, and despite the known issues in detecting natron and magnesia, pXRF technology is the only feasible solution. We conclude that pXRF can be applied for the chemical analysis of LBA plantash glasses from Egypt to determine an object’s origin and colourants.
[1] For example P.T. Nicholson, Brilliant Things for Akhenaten: The Production of Glass, Vitreous Materials and Pottery at Amarna Site O45.1, Egypt Exploration Society Excavation Memoirs 80, London, 2007, and B. Kemp, A. Stevens, Busy Lives at Amarna: Excavations in the Main City (Grid 12 and the House of Ranefer, N49.18). Egypt Exploration Society Excavation Memoirs 90, London, 2010.

[2] A.K. Hodgkinson, Archaeological excavations of a bead workshop in the Main City at Tell el-Amarna, Journal of Glass Studies 57. The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, 279–284, 2015.

[3] C.M. Jackson, P.T. Nicholson, The provenance of some glass ingots from the Uluburun shipwreck, Journal of Archaeological Science 37, 295–301, 2010.

This paper presents the results of a pilot study researching the usefulness of chemical analysis ... more This paper presents the results of a pilot study researching the usefulness of chemical analysis using portable XRF technology (pXRF) on Late Bronze Age (LBA) plant ash glasses from Tell el-Amarna in Middle Egypt. 68 objects from the collection of the Egyptian Museum, Berlin have been analysed and the data evaluated in preparation for a season of chemical analysis of glasses at Amarna in late 2016:
Since the beginning of the 20th century, excavations at Amarna have yielded numerous glass artefacts, in addition to a large amount of evidence of glass-working, including glass rods, ingots and cylindrical vessels (i.e. ingot moulds). Many of the objects from old excavations are only loosely provenanced and are kept in museums worldwide, although finds from modern excavations, stored on site, can be referenced to specific findspots. For instance, recent excavations at houses M50.14-16 have produced over 300 glass objects, including two ingots.
Amarna is one of the first sites in Egypt to have produced glass from raw materials, and it is, therefore, of particular importance to gather as much information as possible on the chemical composition of the objects kept at Amarna. Colourants and trace-, major- and minor elements can help determine the origins of these glasses and to chemically relate these items to other LBA glasses. For example, some of the glass ingots from the Uluburun shipwreck may have been made in Egypt based on their trace elements. Furthermore, blue is the most prevalent colour of Amarna glasses, being derived from cobalt or copper, but it is not always possible to tell the difference with the naked eye.
Since it is impossible to export the objects from Egypt for analysis, or to sample and analyse such a large quantity of objects using laboratory methods, and despite the known issues involved in detecting natron, magnesia and the weathering crust of the objects, pXRF technology is the only feasible solution. Although its usefulness is limited, this paper concludes that pXRF can be applied for the chemical analysis of LBA plant ash glasses from Egypt at least to determine an object’s origin and colourants used.

Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites, 2020

Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites presents the proceeding... more Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites presents the proceedings of an international and interdisciplinary workshop held in Berlin in 2018, which brought together scholars whose work focusses on manufacturing activities identified at archaeological sites. The various approaches presented here include new excavation techniques, ethnographic research, archaeometric approaches, GIS and experimental archaeology as well as theoretical issues associated with how researchers understand production in the past. These approaches are applied to research questions related to various technological and socio-economic aspects of production, including the organisation and setting of manufacturing activities, the access to and use of raw materials, firing structures and other production-related installations. The chapters discuss production activities in various domestic and institutional contexts throughout the ancient world, together with the production and use of tools and other items made of stone, bone, ceramics, glass and faience. Since manufacturing activities are encountered at archaeological sites on a regular basis, the wide range of materials and approaches presented in this volume provides a useful reference for scholars and students studying technologies and production activities in the past.

Berlin Studies of the Ancient World 70, 2020

Oxford Studies In Egyptian Archaeology, 2017

This book provides the first systematic and comprehensive discussion of the intra-urban distribut... more This book provides the first systematic and comprehensive discussion of the intra-urban distribution of high-status goods, and their production or role as a marker of the nature of the settlements known as royal cities of New Kingdom Egypt (c.1550-1069 BC).

Using spatial analysis to detect patterns of artefact distribution, the study focuses on Amarna, Gurob, and Malqata, incorporating Qantir/Pi-Ramesse for comparison. Being royal cities, these three settlements had a great need for luxury goods. Such items were made of either highly valuable materials, or materials that were not easily produced and therefore required a certain set of skills. Specifically, the industries discussed are those of glass, faience, metal, sculpture, and textiles.

Analysis of the evidence of high-status industrial processes throughout the urban settlements, has demonstrated that industrial activities took place in institutionalized buildings, in houses of the elite, and also in small domestic complexes. This leads to the conclusion that materials were processed at different levels throughout the settlements and were subject to a strict pattern of control. The methodological approach to each settlement necessarily varies, depending on the nature and quality of the available data. By examining the distribution of high-status or luxury materials, in addition to archaeological and artefactual evidence of their production, a deeper understanding has been achieved of how industries were organized and how they influenced urban life in New Kingdom Egypt.

Anna K. Hodgkinson and Daniel A. Frick, 2020