Abstract Scope |
From inception of ACerS in 1898, members published technological studies of historic pottery, porcelain, glass and building materials. Following World War II, study of ancient materials expanded beyond optical microscopy, composition and replication to development and application of analytical techniques that determined microstructure, properties and performance. A meeting at The Center for Advanced Studies, Princeton, organized by Agora archaeologist Homer Thompson, asked how science could contribute to archaeology. Willard Libby, Anna Shepard and others contributed by developing analytical techniques and research strategies that revolutionized study of ancient objects in museums and from archaeological sites and that led to conservation studies. For the international year of glass in 1968, the British Museum mounted a major exhibit of the history of glass technology that led to a focus on what we did not know. In 1970s and 80s, interdisciplinary studies coalesced into field of archaeological science with expanded research questions, techniques, results. |