Andrew J Koh | Yale University (original) (raw)

Journal papers by Andrew J Koh

BASOR, 2021

Archaeologists and historians have routinely attributed “branded” goods to particular regions and... more Archaeologists and historians have routinely attributed “branded” goods to particular regions and cultural groups, often without rigorous analysis. Phoenician cedar oil is perhaps one of the best-known examples from antiquity. Hellenistic Tel Kedesh in the Upper Galilee region of the Levant is particularly relevant for these discussions by virtue of its strategic role as a border settlement in Phoenicia during one of the most dynamic periods in ancient history. As a concise contribution to these discussions, we present here an interdisciplinary analysis of amphoriskoi found with ca. 2,000 impressed sealings from the archive complex of the Persian-Hellenistic Administrative Building. While the building was constructed under the Achaemenids and occupied in both the Ptolemaic and Seleucid eras, the archive was in use only under the Seleucids in the first half of the of the 2nd century B.C.E. Blending organic residue analysis with archaeological and textual data has allowed us to identify with certainty one of the value-added goods most closely attached to ancient Phoenicia, true cedar oil from Cedrus libani. This discovery not only empirically verifies this well-known association for the first time, but also provides a rich context in which to test our assumptions about culturally-branded goods, the role they played in participant societies, and the mechanisms and systems in place that facilitated their production, use, and export.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2020

Despite its ubiquity in historical and mythological narratives, the ancient region of southern Ph... more Despite its ubiquity in historical and mythological narratives, the ancient region of southern Phokis in central Greece has been approached primarily as a backdrop for more prominent neighbors (e.g. Delphi, Boiotia), whose roles have been codified in extant histories. Archaeological research has been likewise limited, with the result that southern Phokis has remained largely untouched and unintegrated into the larger narratives of each of the major periods of antiquity. Recent work by the Southern Phokis Regional Project (SPRP) in the Desfina Plain is correcting this lacuna. SPRP is blending the strongest attributes of several disciplinary approaches (e.g. classics, archaeochemistry, digital humanities) to produce a comprehensive transdisciplinary study of the natural and cultural landscape of the region, thereby illuminating the important role of southern Phokis during some of the richest epochs of human history.
Our 2018 study of Desfina's natural and cultural environs, bolstered by excavations at the Mycenaean citadel of Kastrouli (ca. 1350-1000 B.C.E.), is revealing that southern Phokis served as a major, if not the primary, gateway to points south and west for northern Phokis, western Boiotia, and perhaps even eastern Lokris by securing access to the Corinthian Gulf. Our survey has documented ambitious engineering works that include a major hydrological project reminiscent of the Kopais Basin and "Cyclopean" terrace walls that sculpt the landscape. These achievements testify to a level of socio-cultural complexity and interconnectivity previously overlooked. In the shadows of Mount Parnassos, Desfina makes the best case yet to be not only the home of Echedameia, destroyed by Philipp II during the Third Sacred War, but also Homeric Anemoreia.

Sustainability, 2019

Often treated as an accessory science, organic residue analysis (ORA) has the capacity to illumin... more Often treated as an accessory science, organic residue analysis (ORA) has the capacity to illuminate otherwise hidden aspects of ancient technology, culture, and economy, and therein can play a central role in archaeological inquiry. Through ORA, both the intact vessel freshly excavated from a tomb and the sherd tucked away in a museum storage closet can offer insights into their contents, their histories, and the cultures that created them—provided the results can be carefully calibrated to account for their treatment during and after excavation. The case study below presents ORA data obtained from a range of artifacts from Late Bronze Age Crete, setting results from freshly-excavated and legacy objects alongside one another. Although legacy objects do tend to yield diminished results from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective, our comparative work has demonstrated both their value and untapped potential when their object biographies are carefully considered. It also sheds light on biomarker degradation processes, which have implications for methodologies of extraction and interpretation of legacy objects. Comparative studies such as these broaden the pool of viable ORA candidates, and therein amplify ORA’s ability to reveal patterns of consumption as well as ecological and environmental change. They also highlight the role and value of data-sharing in collaborative environments such as the OpenARCHEM archaeometric database.

This report presents the architecture of the storage rooms found during the 2013 and 2015 excavat... more This report presents the architecture of the storage rooms found during the 2013 and 2015 excavations within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri in present-day Israel, as well as the ceramic finds within them, and the initial results of the petrographic and organic residue analyses. We hope that this detailed preliminary report can supply some insights into a few of the activities conducted within this Canaanite palace during the early second millennium B.C.E.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2017

The turn of the 12th century B.C. traditionally has been cast as a period of turmoil and upheaval... more The turn of the 12th century B.C. traditionally has been cast as a period of turmoil and upheaval in the eastern Mediterranean. Although recent scholarship qualifies "the Collapse," the dominant narrative continues to be one of disruption, regression, and isolation. East Crete has been painted with a similar brush. Yet the century that followed the final demise of Bronze Age Knossos remains generally understudied, despite scholarly recognition of the region's importance for the reconstruction of both local Cretan and pan-Mediterranean histories at the end of the Late Bronze Age. As a small contribution to this discourse, we present here an interdisciplinary analysis of a noteworthy Late Minoan IIIC Early (ca. 1175 B.C.) stirrup jar from the western Siteia foothills of East Crete. Organic residue analysis utilizing gas chromatography has allowed us not only to identify the value-added product contained within the jar, a perfumed oil, but also to consider its individual ingredients in light of known craft practices and agricultural activity from the earlier Neopalatial period. Our results reveal surprising evidence of specialized craft continuity in East Crete at the conclusion of the Bronze Age, which suggests a historical picture more complex than traditionally imagined. This will be the first in a series of OpenARCHEM studies of legacy objects employing both traditional and scientific methods.

Bronze Age Clothing in Minoan Crete was multicolored and made from intricately woven textiles. Un... more Bronze Age Clothing in Minoan Crete was multicolored and made from intricately woven textiles. Until now, our only evidence related to the colors in the textiles came from the study of costume in wall paintings. Fortunately, recent research has revealed that several different dyes were produced in Minoan Crete. Clothing is depicted in frescoes and other art forms from various Middle to Late Bronze Age Aegean sites (ca.1700–1400 BCE). Many of these images such as those on the tiny surface of seals—fail to convey the strikingly colorful nature of Minoan garments. And the representation of a blue bodice is not sufficient evidence to conclude that Minoans wore indigo-dyed, blue, woolen clothing. To identify the dyestuffs used during this period, we conducted scientific analysis of the pottery from a dye workshop at Alatzomouri-Pefka in Crete.

A recent set of radiocarbon dates, run by the Oxford laboratory, has returned results considerabl... more A recent set of radiocarbon dates, run by the Oxford laboratory, has returned results considerably higher than expected for several phases of the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri. The samples suggest a date that is at least a century earlier than expected, which would indicate that miniature frescoes were being painted at Kabri well before their appearance at Santorini. The dates also bring back into play a possible narrative of an artistic influence that traveled from east to west, rather than the opposite, just as Woolley originally suggested when excavating at Alalakh. However, the situation could conceivably also be much more complex and not nearly as linear in one direction or the other. Moreover, it remains to be seen if the radiocarbon dates are accurate; we will be retrieving more samples and dating them in coming seasons.

Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies, Oct 1, 2015

Scholars have long been aware of tombs in the western Siteia foothills of Crete, dating to the en... more Scholars have long been aware of tombs in the western Siteia foothills of Crete, dating to the end of the Bronze Age and yielding an array of notable finds. While detailed analyses of these finds have been invaluable, the settlements to which the tombs were tied have proven elusive. Using topographic and GIS studies, this article analyzes the broader archaeology of these foothills to link the burials to their settlements. We now know that the tombs were part of a bustling landscape, one that adapted the preexisting settlement hierarchy of the region during a period of both continuity and change. This has important implications for current narratives of collapse and shows that life, though undoubtedly altered, did not end abruptly with the Bronze Age.

PLoS ONE, Aug 27, 2014

Scholars have for generations recognized the importance of wine production, distribution, and con... more Scholars have for generations recognized the importance of wine production, distribution, and consumption in relation to second millennium BC palatial complexes in the Mediterranean and Near East. However, direct archaeological evidence has rarely been offered, despite the prominence of ancient viticulture in administrative clay tablets, visual media, and various forms of documentation. Tartaric and syringic acids, along with evidence for resination, have been identified in ancient ceramics, but until now the archaeological contexts behind these sporadic discoveries had been uneven and vague, precluding definitive conclusions about the nature of ancient viticulture. The situation has now changed. During the 2013 excavation season of the Kabri Archaeological Project, a rare opportunity materialized when forty large storage vessels were found in situ in an enclosed room located to the west of the central courtyard within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace. A comprehensive program of organic residue analysis has now revealed that all of the relatively uniform jars contain evidence for wine. Furthermore, the enclosed context inherent to a singular intact wine cellar presented an unprecedented opportunity for a scientifically intensive study, allowing for the detection of subtle differences in the ingredients or additives within similar wine jars of apparently the same vintage. Additives seem to have included honey, storax resin, terebinth resin, cedar oil, cyperus, juniper, and perhaps even mint, myrtle, or cinnamon, all or most of which are attested in the 18th century BC Mari texts from Mesopotamia and the 15th century BC Ebers Papyrus from Egypt. These additives suggest a sophisticated understanding of the botanical landscape and the pharmacopeic skills necessary to produce a complex beverage that balanced preservation, palatability, and psychoactivity. This new study has resulted in insights unachievable in the past, which contribute to a greater understanding not only of ancient viticulture but also of Canaanite palatial economy.

Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middl... more Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middle Bronze Age palace at Tel Kabri, a 34 ha site located in the western Galilee of modern day Israel. The palace was founded in the middle part of the MBA I period, and continued without interruption until an advanced part of the MBA II period. Despite the fact that the Kabri palace was vast (perhaps up to 6000 sq m), functioned as the center of a polity, and could commission wall and floor paintings in an Aegean style, there are no signs of literate administration, or even administrative use of sealings. Patterns of animal husbandry, textile production, pottery manufacture and consumption, and storage within the palace all provide evidence that the palace behaved economically much more like an estate than a redistributive center. Our hypothesis is that the palace had aspects of an Oikos economy, i.e., that it functioned as a large household—richer and more populous than other households of the period, but with minimal involvement in the economy of the private sector. This contrasts with the contemporary polities in Syria, such as Alalakh and Ebla, as well as possibly its neighbor to the east, Tel Hazor, which had literate administrations and redistributive economies during this same period.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Jun 14, 2016

Analysis by gas chromatography was conducted on pottery from a Middle Bronze Age workshop from th... more Analysis by gas chromatography was conducted on pottery from a Middle Bronze Age workshop from the Minoan culture of Crete, confirming it as a facility for manufacturing organic dyes. The archaeological site is located at Alatzomouri-Pefka in northeast Crete. The site has a series of nine rock-cut basins associated with channels in the bedrock, remains of stone walls, and many artifacts. Its pottery provides a date in Middle Minoan IIB (ca. 1800/1700 B.C.). The gas chromatography identified three dyes (Murex purple, yellow from weld, and red from madder) as well as lanolin, the oil associated with wool from sheep.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2010

Aphrodite’s Kephali is a small hilltop site in Eastern Crete. Its pottery indicates that it was i... more Aphrodite’s Kephali is a small hilltop site in Eastern Crete. Its pottery indicates that it was inhabited during Early Minoan I (EM I), ca. 3200–2700 B.C. The fortified site has a considerable amount of storage, including nine pithoi. The analysis by gas chromatography of sherds from the site indicates that vessels contained olive oil and wine. These results are the earliest documented presence of both of these commodities in Crete. The evidence is important because the domestication of the olive and grape at this early period in Crete has been previously questioned.

Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 2006

Past discussion on the htm of Deir el-Medina has focused on the role of that facility in supply a... more Past discussion on the htm of Deir el-Medina has focused on the role of that facility in supply and administration of the workmen’s village. Opinion has varied significantly, however, on the actual physical location of the htm. Suggestions have ranged from the immediate north of the town’s main entrance to a location adjacent to the Ramesseum. In his study of P. Turin 1923, R. Ventura has shown the importance of ancient survey measurements in recording the elevation of the htm relative to the Ramesseum and a well dug during the reign of Ramesses VI. This well, likely equivalent with the Great Pit excavated by B. Bruyère, and the Ramesseum provide reference points in establishing the probable location of the htm. Employing recent geographic information systems studies based on the CEDAE map of the Theban Necropolis combined with low altitude aerial photographs from the 1960s, the location of the xtm can be determined with a high degree of probability to lie at the north-eastern edge of the Qurnet Murai and facing the Ramesseum. In particular it is postulated that the htm was situated within 250 meters of the north-eastern corner of the Ptolemaic Hathor temple putting it in the immediate proximity of the village and not the Ramesseum. This conclusion is supported by organizational similarities with the Eastern Village at Amarna, the distribution of Ramesside administrative ostraca at Deir el-Medina and topographical observations.

Chapters by Andrew J Koh

Alatzomouri Pefka A Middle Minoan IIB Workshop Making Organic Dyes, 2020

A program of extraction and analysis of organic residues in order to determine the contents of ce... more A program of extraction and analysis of organic residues in order to determine the contents of ceramic vessels from the site of Pefka was accomplished by a collaboration between several institutions: ARCHEM; the 24th EPCA in eastern Crete; the Departments of Classical Studies and Chemistry at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; the INSTAP SCEC in Pacheia Ammos, Crete; the Museum of Cretan Ethnology Research Centre in Vori, Crete; and the Department of Art History, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This nondestructive field technique can provide important information to supplement the data recovered by other means.

Excavations at Tel Kabri: The 2005–2011 Seasons, 2020

Organic residue analysis (ORA) has been recognized as a valuable contributor to archaeological fi... more Organic residue analysis (ORA) has been recognized as a valuable contributor to archaeological field research with the site of Tel Kabri known as one of its earliest adopters, going back to its first major expedition in the 1980s. While great advances have been made in the intervening years, ORA still finds itself an irregular fixture in field research as a whole. Presented here are the early steps taken during the renewed expedition to produce not only ORA results but also to help incorporate ORA more effectively and comprehensively into standard archaeological research design and practice. While definitive results and details of the ancient viticulture activities that have become a fixture of understanding the palatial economy at the site will be presented in Kabri III, the general findings over the years nevertheless provide useful contextual background and highlight the invaluable methodological insights and overall significance of the initial ORA results provided by the 2005–2011 seasons presented here. They hint at the aggregate advantage of conducting ORA studies over numerous consecutive seasons at a well-organized, scientifically investigated site while a part of a larger ORA ecosystem, such as the OpenARCHEM archaeometric database.

Dais: The Aegean Feast, edited by L. Hitchcock, R. Laffineur, and J. Crowley, 125-131. Aegaeum 29, 2008

One of the new components of the 2004 and 2005 Greek American excavations of the Bronze Age town ... more One of the new components of the 2004 and 2005 Greek American excavations of the Bronze Age town at Mochlos was the introduction of an intensive program to collect organic residue samples from pottery. With the help of Dr. Andrew Koh, then at the University of Pennsylvania, the excavators developed a plan to apply non-destructive collection techniques to more than 600 sherds from the Early, Middle, and Late Minoan levels of the town. The results have been interesting, including the discovery of an assemblage of LM I equipment from Building C.7 that appears to be connected with the production of perfumed oils.

In connection with the conference topic of feasting, the authors will examine a larger number of Middle Minoan II and Late Minoan I samples for traces of wine. The paper will focus on two sets of data to test the potential limits of our analysis. In the first section we examine three archaeological contexts from Building C.7 that appear to be connected with the production, storage, and consumption of wine in the Bronze Age town. In the second section we examine the possibility of screening a large number of shapes (e.g., amphora, jars, jugs, cups and bowls) that might have served as storage, serving, or drinking vessels for wine, but whose contexts did not immediately suggest such a specific function.

In the conclusion to the paper we discuss how this new evidence for the production, storage and consumption of wine fills in the emerging picture of both household and ceremonial dining within the Late Bronze Age town.

Web Publications by Andrew J Koh

Classical Inquiries: Studies on the Ancient World from the Center for Hellenic Studies, 2016

A Mediterranean archaeologist offers a corroborating view on the Minoan-Mycenaean fusion that Nag... more A Mediterranean archaeologist offers a corroborating view on the Minoan-Mycenaean fusion that Nagy identifies in certain myths concerning Athens and Crete.

Full Spectrum: Micro-Publications from OpenARCHEM, 2018

BASOR, 2021

Archaeologists and historians have routinely attributed “branded” goods to particular regions and... more Archaeologists and historians have routinely attributed “branded” goods to particular regions and cultural groups, often without rigorous analysis. Phoenician cedar oil is perhaps one of the best-known examples from antiquity. Hellenistic Tel Kedesh in the Upper Galilee region of the Levant is particularly relevant for these discussions by virtue of its strategic role as a border settlement in Phoenicia during one of the most dynamic periods in ancient history. As a concise contribution to these discussions, we present here an interdisciplinary analysis of amphoriskoi found with ca. 2,000 impressed sealings from the archive complex of the Persian-Hellenistic Administrative Building. While the building was constructed under the Achaemenids and occupied in both the Ptolemaic and Seleucid eras, the archive was in use only under the Seleucids in the first half of the of the 2nd century B.C.E. Blending organic residue analysis with archaeological and textual data has allowed us to identify with certainty one of the value-added goods most closely attached to ancient Phoenicia, true cedar oil from Cedrus libani. This discovery not only empirically verifies this well-known association for the first time, but also provides a rich context in which to test our assumptions about culturally-branded goods, the role they played in participant societies, and the mechanisms and systems in place that facilitated their production, use, and export.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2020

Despite its ubiquity in historical and mythological narratives, the ancient region of southern Ph... more Despite its ubiquity in historical and mythological narratives, the ancient region of southern Phokis in central Greece has been approached primarily as a backdrop for more prominent neighbors (e.g. Delphi, Boiotia), whose roles have been codified in extant histories. Archaeological research has been likewise limited, with the result that southern Phokis has remained largely untouched and unintegrated into the larger narratives of each of the major periods of antiquity. Recent work by the Southern Phokis Regional Project (SPRP) in the Desfina Plain is correcting this lacuna. SPRP is blending the strongest attributes of several disciplinary approaches (e.g. classics, archaeochemistry, digital humanities) to produce a comprehensive transdisciplinary study of the natural and cultural landscape of the region, thereby illuminating the important role of southern Phokis during some of the richest epochs of human history.
Our 2018 study of Desfina's natural and cultural environs, bolstered by excavations at the Mycenaean citadel of Kastrouli (ca. 1350-1000 B.C.E.), is revealing that southern Phokis served as a major, if not the primary, gateway to points south and west for northern Phokis, western Boiotia, and perhaps even eastern Lokris by securing access to the Corinthian Gulf. Our survey has documented ambitious engineering works that include a major hydrological project reminiscent of the Kopais Basin and "Cyclopean" terrace walls that sculpt the landscape. These achievements testify to a level of socio-cultural complexity and interconnectivity previously overlooked. In the shadows of Mount Parnassos, Desfina makes the best case yet to be not only the home of Echedameia, destroyed by Philipp II during the Third Sacred War, but also Homeric Anemoreia.

Sustainability, 2019

Often treated as an accessory science, organic residue analysis (ORA) has the capacity to illumin... more Often treated as an accessory science, organic residue analysis (ORA) has the capacity to illuminate otherwise hidden aspects of ancient technology, culture, and economy, and therein can play a central role in archaeological inquiry. Through ORA, both the intact vessel freshly excavated from a tomb and the sherd tucked away in a museum storage closet can offer insights into their contents, their histories, and the cultures that created them—provided the results can be carefully calibrated to account for their treatment during and after excavation. The case study below presents ORA data obtained from a range of artifacts from Late Bronze Age Crete, setting results from freshly-excavated and legacy objects alongside one another. Although legacy objects do tend to yield diminished results from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective, our comparative work has demonstrated both their value and untapped potential when their object biographies are carefully considered. It also sheds light on biomarker degradation processes, which have implications for methodologies of extraction and interpretation of legacy objects. Comparative studies such as these broaden the pool of viable ORA candidates, and therein amplify ORA’s ability to reveal patterns of consumption as well as ecological and environmental change. They also highlight the role and value of data-sharing in collaborative environments such as the OpenARCHEM archaeometric database.

This report presents the architecture of the storage rooms found during the 2013 and 2015 excavat... more This report presents the architecture of the storage rooms found during the 2013 and 2015 excavations within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri in present-day Israel, as well as the ceramic finds within them, and the initial results of the petrographic and organic residue analyses. We hope that this detailed preliminary report can supply some insights into a few of the activities conducted within this Canaanite palace during the early second millennium B.C.E.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2017

The turn of the 12th century B.C. traditionally has been cast as a period of turmoil and upheaval... more The turn of the 12th century B.C. traditionally has been cast as a period of turmoil and upheaval in the eastern Mediterranean. Although recent scholarship qualifies "the Collapse," the dominant narrative continues to be one of disruption, regression, and isolation. East Crete has been painted with a similar brush. Yet the century that followed the final demise of Bronze Age Knossos remains generally understudied, despite scholarly recognition of the region's importance for the reconstruction of both local Cretan and pan-Mediterranean histories at the end of the Late Bronze Age. As a small contribution to this discourse, we present here an interdisciplinary analysis of a noteworthy Late Minoan IIIC Early (ca. 1175 B.C.) stirrup jar from the western Siteia foothills of East Crete. Organic residue analysis utilizing gas chromatography has allowed us not only to identify the value-added product contained within the jar, a perfumed oil, but also to consider its individual ingredients in light of known craft practices and agricultural activity from the earlier Neopalatial period. Our results reveal surprising evidence of specialized craft continuity in East Crete at the conclusion of the Bronze Age, which suggests a historical picture more complex than traditionally imagined. This will be the first in a series of OpenARCHEM studies of legacy objects employing both traditional and scientific methods.

Bronze Age Clothing in Minoan Crete was multicolored and made from intricately woven textiles. Un... more Bronze Age Clothing in Minoan Crete was multicolored and made from intricately woven textiles. Until now, our only evidence related to the colors in the textiles came from the study of costume in wall paintings. Fortunately, recent research has revealed that several different dyes were produced in Minoan Crete. Clothing is depicted in frescoes and other art forms from various Middle to Late Bronze Age Aegean sites (ca.1700–1400 BCE). Many of these images such as those on the tiny surface of seals—fail to convey the strikingly colorful nature of Minoan garments. And the representation of a blue bodice is not sufficient evidence to conclude that Minoans wore indigo-dyed, blue, woolen clothing. To identify the dyestuffs used during this period, we conducted scientific analysis of the pottery from a dye workshop at Alatzomouri-Pefka in Crete.

A recent set of radiocarbon dates, run by the Oxford laboratory, has returned results considerabl... more A recent set of radiocarbon dates, run by the Oxford laboratory, has returned results considerably higher than expected for several phases of the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri. The samples suggest a date that is at least a century earlier than expected, which would indicate that miniature frescoes were being painted at Kabri well before their appearance at Santorini. The dates also bring back into play a possible narrative of an artistic influence that traveled from east to west, rather than the opposite, just as Woolley originally suggested when excavating at Alalakh. However, the situation could conceivably also be much more complex and not nearly as linear in one direction or the other. Moreover, it remains to be seen if the radiocarbon dates are accurate; we will be retrieving more samples and dating them in coming seasons.

Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies, Oct 1, 2015

Scholars have long been aware of tombs in the western Siteia foothills of Crete, dating to the en... more Scholars have long been aware of tombs in the western Siteia foothills of Crete, dating to the end of the Bronze Age and yielding an array of notable finds. While detailed analyses of these finds have been invaluable, the settlements to which the tombs were tied have proven elusive. Using topographic and GIS studies, this article analyzes the broader archaeology of these foothills to link the burials to their settlements. We now know that the tombs were part of a bustling landscape, one that adapted the preexisting settlement hierarchy of the region during a period of both continuity and change. This has important implications for current narratives of collapse and shows that life, though undoubtedly altered, did not end abruptly with the Bronze Age.

PLoS ONE, Aug 27, 2014

Scholars have for generations recognized the importance of wine production, distribution, and con... more Scholars have for generations recognized the importance of wine production, distribution, and consumption in relation to second millennium BC palatial complexes in the Mediterranean and Near East. However, direct archaeological evidence has rarely been offered, despite the prominence of ancient viticulture in administrative clay tablets, visual media, and various forms of documentation. Tartaric and syringic acids, along with evidence for resination, have been identified in ancient ceramics, but until now the archaeological contexts behind these sporadic discoveries had been uneven and vague, precluding definitive conclusions about the nature of ancient viticulture. The situation has now changed. During the 2013 excavation season of the Kabri Archaeological Project, a rare opportunity materialized when forty large storage vessels were found in situ in an enclosed room located to the west of the central courtyard within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace. A comprehensive program of organic residue analysis has now revealed that all of the relatively uniform jars contain evidence for wine. Furthermore, the enclosed context inherent to a singular intact wine cellar presented an unprecedented opportunity for a scientifically intensive study, allowing for the detection of subtle differences in the ingredients or additives within similar wine jars of apparently the same vintage. Additives seem to have included honey, storax resin, terebinth resin, cedar oil, cyperus, juniper, and perhaps even mint, myrtle, or cinnamon, all or most of which are attested in the 18th century BC Mari texts from Mesopotamia and the 15th century BC Ebers Papyrus from Egypt. These additives suggest a sophisticated understanding of the botanical landscape and the pharmacopeic skills necessary to produce a complex beverage that balanced preservation, palatability, and psychoactivity. This new study has resulted in insights unachievable in the past, which contribute to a greater understanding not only of ancient viticulture but also of Canaanite palatial economy.

Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middl... more Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middle Bronze Age palace at Tel Kabri, a 34 ha site located in the western Galilee of modern day Israel. The palace was founded in the middle part of the MBA I period, and continued without interruption until an advanced part of the MBA II period. Despite the fact that the Kabri palace was vast (perhaps up to 6000 sq m), functioned as the center of a polity, and could commission wall and floor paintings in an Aegean style, there are no signs of literate administration, or even administrative use of sealings. Patterns of animal husbandry, textile production, pottery manufacture and consumption, and storage within the palace all provide evidence that the palace behaved economically much more like an estate than a redistributive center. Our hypothesis is that the palace had aspects of an Oikos economy, i.e., that it functioned as a large household—richer and more populous than other households of the period, but with minimal involvement in the economy of the private sector. This contrasts with the contemporary polities in Syria, such as Alalakh and Ebla, as well as possibly its neighbor to the east, Tel Hazor, which had literate administrations and redistributive economies during this same period.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Jun 14, 2016

Analysis by gas chromatography was conducted on pottery from a Middle Bronze Age workshop from th... more Analysis by gas chromatography was conducted on pottery from a Middle Bronze Age workshop from the Minoan culture of Crete, confirming it as a facility for manufacturing organic dyes. The archaeological site is located at Alatzomouri-Pefka in northeast Crete. The site has a series of nine rock-cut basins associated with channels in the bedrock, remains of stone walls, and many artifacts. Its pottery provides a date in Middle Minoan IIB (ca. 1800/1700 B.C.). The gas chromatography identified three dyes (Murex purple, yellow from weld, and red from madder) as well as lanolin, the oil associated with wool from sheep.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2010

Aphrodite’s Kephali is a small hilltop site in Eastern Crete. Its pottery indicates that it was i... more Aphrodite’s Kephali is a small hilltop site in Eastern Crete. Its pottery indicates that it was inhabited during Early Minoan I (EM I), ca. 3200–2700 B.C. The fortified site has a considerable amount of storage, including nine pithoi. The analysis by gas chromatography of sherds from the site indicates that vessels contained olive oil and wine. These results are the earliest documented presence of both of these commodities in Crete. The evidence is important because the domestication of the olive and grape at this early period in Crete has been previously questioned.

Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 2006

Past discussion on the htm of Deir el-Medina has focused on the role of that facility in supply a... more Past discussion on the htm of Deir el-Medina has focused on the role of that facility in supply and administration of the workmen’s village. Opinion has varied significantly, however, on the actual physical location of the htm. Suggestions have ranged from the immediate north of the town’s main entrance to a location adjacent to the Ramesseum. In his study of P. Turin 1923, R. Ventura has shown the importance of ancient survey measurements in recording the elevation of the htm relative to the Ramesseum and a well dug during the reign of Ramesses VI. This well, likely equivalent with the Great Pit excavated by B. Bruyère, and the Ramesseum provide reference points in establishing the probable location of the htm. Employing recent geographic information systems studies based on the CEDAE map of the Theban Necropolis combined with low altitude aerial photographs from the 1960s, the location of the xtm can be determined with a high degree of probability to lie at the north-eastern edge of the Qurnet Murai and facing the Ramesseum. In particular it is postulated that the htm was situated within 250 meters of the north-eastern corner of the Ptolemaic Hathor temple putting it in the immediate proximity of the village and not the Ramesseum. This conclusion is supported by organizational similarities with the Eastern Village at Amarna, the distribution of Ramesside administrative ostraca at Deir el-Medina and topographical observations.

Alatzomouri Pefka A Middle Minoan IIB Workshop Making Organic Dyes, 2020

A program of extraction and analysis of organic residues in order to determine the contents of ce... more A program of extraction and analysis of organic residues in order to determine the contents of ceramic vessels from the site of Pefka was accomplished by a collaboration between several institutions: ARCHEM; the 24th EPCA in eastern Crete; the Departments of Classical Studies and Chemistry at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; the INSTAP SCEC in Pacheia Ammos, Crete; the Museum of Cretan Ethnology Research Centre in Vori, Crete; and the Department of Art History, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This nondestructive field technique can provide important information to supplement the data recovered by other means.

Excavations at Tel Kabri: The 2005–2011 Seasons, 2020

Organic residue analysis (ORA) has been recognized as a valuable contributor to archaeological fi... more Organic residue analysis (ORA) has been recognized as a valuable contributor to archaeological field research with the site of Tel Kabri known as one of its earliest adopters, going back to its first major expedition in the 1980s. While great advances have been made in the intervening years, ORA still finds itself an irregular fixture in field research as a whole. Presented here are the early steps taken during the renewed expedition to produce not only ORA results but also to help incorporate ORA more effectively and comprehensively into standard archaeological research design and practice. While definitive results and details of the ancient viticulture activities that have become a fixture of understanding the palatial economy at the site will be presented in Kabri III, the general findings over the years nevertheless provide useful contextual background and highlight the invaluable methodological insights and overall significance of the initial ORA results provided by the 2005–2011 seasons presented here. They hint at the aggregate advantage of conducting ORA studies over numerous consecutive seasons at a well-organized, scientifically investigated site while a part of a larger ORA ecosystem, such as the OpenARCHEM archaeometric database.

Dais: The Aegean Feast, edited by L. Hitchcock, R. Laffineur, and J. Crowley, 125-131. Aegaeum 29, 2008

One of the new components of the 2004 and 2005 Greek American excavations of the Bronze Age town ... more One of the new components of the 2004 and 2005 Greek American excavations of the Bronze Age town at Mochlos was the introduction of an intensive program to collect organic residue samples from pottery. With the help of Dr. Andrew Koh, then at the University of Pennsylvania, the excavators developed a plan to apply non-destructive collection techniques to more than 600 sherds from the Early, Middle, and Late Minoan levels of the town. The results have been interesting, including the discovery of an assemblage of LM I equipment from Building C.7 that appears to be connected with the production of perfumed oils.

In connection with the conference topic of feasting, the authors will examine a larger number of Middle Minoan II and Late Minoan I samples for traces of wine. The paper will focus on two sets of data to test the potential limits of our analysis. In the first section we examine three archaeological contexts from Building C.7 that appear to be connected with the production, storage, and consumption of wine in the Bronze Age town. In the second section we examine the possibility of screening a large number of shapes (e.g., amphora, jars, jugs, cups and bowls) that might have served as storage, serving, or drinking vessels for wine, but whose contexts did not immediately suggest such a specific function.

In the conclusion to the paper we discuss how this new evidence for the production, storage and consumption of wine fills in the emerging picture of both household and ceremonial dining within the Late Bronze Age town.

Classical Inquiries: Studies on the Ancient World from the Center for Hellenic Studies, 2016

A Mediterranean archaeologist offers a corroborating view on the Minoan-Mycenaean fusion that Nag... more A Mediterranean archaeologist offers a corroborating view on the Minoan-Mycenaean fusion that Nagy identifies in certain myths concerning Athens and Crete.

Full Spectrum: Micro-Publications from OpenARCHEM, 2018

Kentro: The Newsletter of the INSTAP Study Center for East Crete

The 2017 excavations at Tel Kabri, the capital of a Middle Bronze Age Canaanite kingdom located i... more The 2017 excavations at Tel Kabri, the capital of a Middle Bronze Age Canaanite
kingdom located in the western Galilee region of modern Israel, lasted from 18 June to
27 July 2017. Highlights of the season included uncovering a courtyard of the palace
with rich material culture deposits; massive architecture belonging to phase 4 of the
palace ("the painted palace"); and additional data on the "northern complex" belonging
to both phase 4 and phase 3 ("the wine palace"). In addition, a solidly built Iron Age
structure was unexpectedly found, located above the MB palace courtyard.

The town of Concord, Massachusetts played a critical role in the American Revolutionary War and w... more The town of Concord, Massachusetts played a critical role in the American Revolutionary War and will forever be linked to this momentous military conflict. While this connection is understandable, Concord has a rich history of indigenous, European, and American life dating back thousands of years. The McGrath Farm site is an excellent example of this complicated and storied past. Once a portion of a farm owned by prominent Revolutionary War figure Col. James Barrett, the McGrath Farm reflects many components of Concord's complex history in its role as a site of indigenous settlement, railroad development, Irish immigrant agriculture, and World War II German P.O.W. labor. Archaeology at the McGrath Farm offers the opportunity to build on the existing Barrett family narrative while contributing new stories to Concord's diverse, multi-temporal cultural heritage.

The 2015 excavations at Tel Kabri, the capital of a Middle Bronze Age Canaanite kingdom located i... more The 2015 excavations at Tel Kabri, the capital of a Middle Bronze Age Canaanite kingdom located in the western Galilee region of modern Israel, lasted from 14 June to 9 July 2015. Highlights of the season included the discovery of three more rooms containing a minimum of 70 jars, connected to the original “wine cellar” (Room 2440) discovered in 2013. Combining these with the discoveries of the 2013 season, we can now confidently report that we have located a southern storage complex belonging to the palace, with at least 110 restorable jars still in situ within four storage rooms, as well as a different building complex with additional jars in what might be a fifth storage room located to the northwest. Organic Residue Analysis is currently being conducted on each jar, in order to determine the contents.

This archaeological project aims to use the most recent techniques in organic chemistry and mappi... more This archaeological project aims to use the most recent techniques in organic chemistry and mapping to better understand typological and spatial function in Bronze Age Crete. Excavations in the Neopalatial settlement at Mochlos in eastern Crete have recovered the complete plan of an intriguing building, C.7. The plan of Building C.7 and the contents of some rooms are unusual, leading us to consider the possibility that the building was not a typical domestic structure but rather some form of manufacturing center. One path to understanding the various functions of this building is a comprehensive program of qualitative and quantitative organic residue analysis of the well-preserved vessels from C.7. This study presents the overall methodology used and specific results produced from the so-called LM I Vat Room. It is postulated that the Vat Room was designed for the manufacture of perfumed oils and unguents on an industrial scale. This is not only supported by the architectural features of the room and the general characteristics of the pottery, but also confirmed by the organic residues extracted from the objects.

PowerPoint Presentation to Third Graders at Thoreau Elementary School (Concord, MA)

OpenARCHEM is a repository, a resource, and a publication outlet for archaeometric data. Through ... more OpenARCHEM is a repository, a resource, and a publication outlet for archaeometric data.
Through open-source sharing of data and methodologies, OpenARCHEM is designed to provide archaeometric resources by which archaeologists and archaeometrists alike can integrate organic residue and other scientific studies into analyses of newly excavated objects, and breathe life into legacy data, asking new questions of old material through the application of modern techniques.

Mediterranean Archaeology and …, 2010

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2015

A. J. Koh, P. P. Betancourt, 2010

Aphrodite's Kephali is a small hilltop site in Eastern Crete. Its pottery indicates that it was i... more Aphrodite's Kephali is a small hilltop site in Eastern Crete. Its pottery indicates that it was inhabited during Early Minoan I (EM I), ca. 3200-2700 B.C. The fortified site has a considerable amount of storage, including nine pithoi. The analysis by gas chromatography of sherds from the site indicates that vessels contained olive oil and wine. These results are the earliest documented presence of both of these commodities in Crete. The evidence is important because the domestication of the olive and grape at this early period in Crete has been previously questioned.

Sustainability, 2019

Often treated as an accessory science, organic residue analysis (ORA) has the capacity to illumin... more Often treated as an accessory science, organic residue analysis (ORA) has the capacity to illuminate otherwise hidden aspects of ancient technology, culture, and economy, and therein can play a central role in archaeological inquiry. Through ORA, both the intact vessel freshly excavated from a tomb and the sherd tucked away in a museum storage closet can offer insights into their contents, their histories, and the cultures that created them—provided the results can be carefully calibrated to account for their treatment during and after excavation. The case study below presents ORA data obtained from a range of artifacts from Late Bronze Age Crete, setting results from freshly-excavated and legacy objects alongside one another. Although legacy objects do tend to yield diminished results from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective, our comparative work has demonstrated both their value and untapped potential when their object biographies are carefully considered. It also sheds light on biomarker degradation processes, which have implications for methodologies of extraction and interpretation of legacy objects. Comparative studies such as these broaden the pool of viable ORA candidates, and therein amplify ORA’s ability to reveal patterns of consumption as well as ecological and environmental change. They also highlight the role and value of data-sharing in collaborative environments such as the OpenARCHEM archaeometric database.

A recent set of radiocarbon dates, run by the Oxford laboratory, has returned results considerabl... more A recent set of radiocarbon dates, run by the Oxford laboratory, has returned results considerably higher than expected for several phases of the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri. The samples suggest a date that is at least a century earlier than expected, which would indicate that miniature frescoes were being painted at Kabri well before their appearance at Santorini. The dates also bring back into play a possible narrative of an artistic influence that traveled from east to west, rather than the opposite, just as Woolley originally suggested when excavating at Alalakh. However, the situation could conceivably also be much more complex and not nearly as linear in one direction or the other. Moreover, it remains to be seen if the radiocarbon dates are accurate; we will be retrieving more samples and dating them in coming seasons.

Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middl... more Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middle Bronze Age palace at Tel Kabri, a 34 ha site located in the western Galilee of modern day Israel. The palace was founded in the middle part of the MBA I period, and continued without interruption until an advanced part of the MBA II period. Despite the fact that the Kabri palace was vast (perhaps up to 6000 sq m), functioned as the center of a polity, and could commission wall and floor paintings in an Aegean style, there are no signs of literate administration, or even administrative use of sealings. Patterns of animal husbandry, textile production, pottery manufacture and consumption, and storage within the palace all provide evidence that the palace behaved economically much more like an estate than a redistributive center. Our hypothesis is that the palace had aspects of an Oikos economy, i.e., that it functioned as a large household—richer and more populous than other households of the period, but with minimal involvement in the economy of the private sector. This contrasts with the contemporary polities in Syria, such as Alalakh and Ebla, as well as possibly its neighbor to the east, Tel Hazor, which had literate administrations and redistributive economies during this same period.

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 2017

The turn of the 12th c. B.C. traditionally has been cast as a period of turmoil and upheaval in t... more The turn of the 12th c. B.C. traditionally has been cast as a period of turmoil and upheaval in the eastern Mediterranean. Although recent scholarship qualifies "The Collapse", the dominant narrative continues to be one of disruption, regression and isolation. East Crete has been painted with a similar brush, having been described as "the wild country east of Dikte." Yet the century that followed the final demise of Bronze Age Knossos remains generally understudied, despite scholarly recognition of the region's importance for the reconstruction of both local Cretan and pan-Mediterranean histories at the end of the Late Bronze Age. As a small contribution to this discourse, we present here an interdisciplinary analysis of a noteworthy Late Minoan IIIC Early (ca. 1175 B.C.) stirrup jar from the Western Siteia foothills of East Crete. Organic residue analysis utilizing gas chromatography has allowed us not only to indetify the value-added product within the jar, a perfumed oil, but also to consider its individual ingredients in light of known craft practices and agricultural activity from the earlier Neopalatial period. Our results reveal surprising evidence of specialized craft continuity in East Crete at the conclusion of the Bronze Age which suggests a historical picture more complex than traditionally imagined. This will be the first in a series of OpenARCHEM studies of legacy objects employing both traditional and scientific methods. (in press, Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry vol. 17.2 (2017)

The Wine Storage Complex at the Middle Bronze II Palace of Tel Kabri: Results of the 2013 and 201... more The Wine Storage Complex at the Middle Bronze II Palace of Tel Kabri: Results of the 2013 and 2015 Seasons

Andrew J. Koh, Kathleen J. Birney, Ian M. Roy, and Ioannis Liritzis, 2020

Despite its ubiquity in historical and mythological narratives, the ancient region of southern Ph... more Despite its ubiquity in historical and mythological narratives, the ancient region of southern Phokis in central Greece has been approached primarily as a backdrop for more prominent neighbors (e.g. Delphi, Boiotia), whose roles have been codified in extant histories. Archaeological research has been likewise limited, with the result that southern Phokis has remained largely untouched and unintegrated into the larger narratives of each of the major periods of antiquity. Recent work by the Southern Phokis Regional Project (SPRP) in the Desfina Plain is correcting this lacuna. SPRP is blending the strongest attributes of several disciplinary approaches (e.g. classics, archaeochemistry, digital humanities) to produce a comprehensive transdisciplinary study of the natural and cultural landscape of the region, thereby illuminating the important role of southern Phokis during some of the richest epochs of human history. Our 2018 study of Desfina's natural and cultural environs, bolstered by excavations at the Mycenaean citadel of Kastrouli (ca. 1350-1000 B.C.E.), is revealing that southern Phokis served as a major, if not the primary, gateway to points south and west for northern Phokis, western Boiotia, and perhaps even eastern Lokris by securing access to the Corinthian Gulf. Our survey has documented ambitious engineering works that include a major hydrological project reminiscent of the Kopais Basin and "Cyclopean" terrace walls that sculpt the landscape. These achievements testify to a level of socio-cultural complexity and interconnectivity previously overlooked. In the shadows of Mount Parnassos, Desfina makes the best case yet to be not only the home of Echedameia, destroyed by Philipp II during the Third Sacred War, but also Homeric Anemoreia.

Alatzomouri Pefka. A Middle Minoan IIB Workshop Making Organic Dyes, 2020

Organic Residue Studies from a MM IIB Dye Workshop at Alatzomouri Pefka, Crete.

Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 385 , 2021

Archaeologists and historians have routinely attributed “branded” goods to particular regions and... more Archaeologists and historians have routinely attributed “branded” goods to particular regions and cultural groups, often without rigorous analysis. Phoenician cedar oil is perhaps one of the best known examples from antiquity. Hellenistic Tel Kedesh in the Upper Galilee region of the Levant is particularly relevant for these discussions by virtue of its strategic role as a border settlement in Phoenicia during one of the most dynamic periods in ancient history. As a concise contribution to these discussions, we present here an interdisciplinary analysis of two amphoriskoi found with ca. 2000 impressed sealings from the archive complex of the Persian-Hellenistic Administrative Building. While the building was constructed under the Achaemenids and occupied in both the Ptolemaic and Seleucid eras, the archive was in use only under the Seleucids in the 1st half of the of the second century B.C.E. Blending organic residue analysis with archaeological and textual data has allowed us to identify with certainty one of the value-added goods most closely attached to ancient Phoenicia, true cedar oil from Cedrus libani. This discovery not only empirically verifies this well-known association for the first time, but also provides a rich context in which to test our assumptions about culturally-branded goods, the role they played in participant societies, and the mechanisms and systems in place that facilitated their production, use, and export.