There's nothing quite like the feeling of opening up the results from a big batch of radiocarbon dates, and having them confirm all things you hoped and suspected but weren't quite sure about. Kudos to the amazing #ProjectARKK team for capturing all the stratigraphic and chronological subtleties

Thrilled with the coverage our recent paper on copper metallurgy and iron invention is getting. Not so thrilled with this definitely-AI generated furnace image that was used to illustrate one of those pieces.

Link to our article: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Researchers have long suspected a link between bronze metallurgy and the invention of iron smelting, but direct evidence has been elusive. Our work help substantiate that link.

We show that copper smelters in the Early Iron Age were deliberately collecting and adding iron oxides to the furnace to help them smelt copper. They recognized iron oxides as a discrete material and were experimenting with its behavior in at high temperatures in the metallurgical furnace.

Currently writing the report for my @gerda-henkel-stiftung.de "Surviving the Crisis Years" grant, centred around our excavations of a LBA-EIA fortress in the Caucasus. It's amazing what we've accomplished in two years--so proud of my team! Photo: @shmills.bsky.social excavating the fortress gate.

Got a question on Elgar wrong on my Life in the UK Test. Ironically, I only knew them from Peep Show, which I would argue is cultural knowledge essential to life in the UK.

I will never get over how sharply the Greater Caucasus range rises from the Alazani plain.

A short drama in three parts:

Day 1: "Would be cool for this paper to make a quick diagram to summarize the different Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani chronologies and cultural groupings for the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, seems like no one has ever done it."

Our excavations at Dmanisis Gora have literally put it on the (Google) map. With a 5 star review! (and not by me). Google maps image was annoyingly taken during backfill, juuuuust too late to get us an end-of-season final photo from space.

There are many great names for archaeological sites, but the the name of a Bronze Age copper mine way up in the Caucasus mountains, "Zaargash" goes so hard.

Sounds like the source for Sauron's copper supply.

Since this photogrammetry survey was done we've been carrying out substantial further excavations at the site, with some more exciting results to come!

We knew the site was large, but had no sense of how many structures there were in the outer settlement until we processes the first draft DEMs and orthophotos. Definitely one of those archaeological thrill-of-discovery moments.

Loving the fractal beauty of these #SEM images of copper ores!

Virtual Talk in the Cranfield Seminar Series in Archaeological Science:

Thursday, June 6th at 3 pm (UK time)

Rats and the Archaeology of Trade, Urbanism, and Disease in Historic Europe

David Orton, University of York

Register here for Zoom link: www.cranfield.ac.uk/events/event...

Cranfield Seminar Series in Arch Sci (virtual), 3pm (UK) March 21: Carolyne Douché (Oxford) on archaeobotany in Mesopotamia. Register here for Zoom link: www.cranfield.ac.uk/events/event...

Today, I'm giving a talk about South Caucasus metallurgy 1500-500 BC as part of a series on Eurasian Bronzeworking. 2 pm UK time here: us02web.zoom.us/j/85462794125

Glorious shot of the cyclopean hillfort of Dmanisis Gora in evening light this past summer. #ProjectARKK #Hillfortswednesday