Martin Odler
I am a Visiting Fellow at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology of Newcastle University, and was recently an MSCA post-doctoral fellow here, working on a project EgypToolWear – Metalwork Wear Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Tools, under the guidance of Prof. Andrea Dolfini. My research focuses predominantly on the metallurgy and metalwork of copper and bronze in Ancient Egypt and Nubia. For over a decade, I have collaborated with natural scientists, particularly archaeometallurgists and geologists, to develop an interdisciplinary perspective.
At the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, I completed all three curricula in archaeology, i.e., Egyptology, Classical Archaeology, and Prehistoric and Early Mediaeval Archaeology. Because of this broad background, I view ‘traditional’ Egyptological problems through a wider archaeological lens and engage effectively with colleagues across different archaeological specialisations.
I am a member of the board of trustees of Slovak Egyptological foundation Aigyptos. I am also interested in issues concerning the evaluation of scientific research, being a co-author of the Slovak translations of the Leiden Manifesto for Research Metrics and of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (also known as DORA).
Address: School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Armstrong Building
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU - United Kingdom
At the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, I completed all three curricula in archaeology, i.e., Egyptology, Classical Archaeology, and Prehistoric and Early Mediaeval Archaeology. Because of this broad background, I view ‘traditional’ Egyptological problems through a wider archaeological lens and engage effectively with colleagues across different archaeological specialisations.
I am a member of the board of trustees of Slovak Egyptological foundation Aigyptos. I am also interested in issues concerning the evaluation of scientific research, being a co-author of the Slovak translations of the Leiden Manifesto for Research Metrics and of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (also known as DORA).
Address: School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Armstrong Building
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU - United Kingdom
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Books by Martin Odler
Besides currently popular focus on the ore provenance, the selection of the applied methods aimed also at the description of practical physical properties of the objects. The question of differences between full-size functional artefacts and models is addressed, as is the problem of 'imports' and their ethnic interpretation. The analyses brought many unexpected results to light, the most surprising being a bowl (ÄMUL 2162) made of arsenical copper high in nickel, which has parallels in Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Anatolia, and was featured in an article in the Journal of Archaeological Science in 2018. The corpus presented here involves the largest analysed metalwork assemblage from the Nubian C-Group and the Egyptian New Kingdom, and it addresses the issue of the use of local Nubian ore sources versus the sources of copper from Cyprus and elsewhere.
Archaeometallurgy by Martin Odler
Keywords: Naqada culture, Predynastic Period, ancient Egyptian technology, archaeometallurgy, bow drill, rotary motion, Badari
The main aim of this paper is to report preliminary results of the archaeometallurgical study of selected samples of Old Kingdom artefacts (Fourth to Sixth Dynasty, ca. 2600–2180 BC) excavated at the Egyptian site of Abusir by the Czech Institute of Egyptology. Although the possibilities of the use of archaeometallurgical methods are limited in contemporary Egypt, some can be applied. The samples were studied using the methods of metallography/optical microscopy and (portable) X-ray fluorescence spectrometry in the laboratory of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology (IFAO), and the Archaeometry Department in Cairo. Thanks to the present project, the social framework of the Old Kingdom copper artefacts will be supplemented for the first time with data about the physical properties and chemical composition of the objects themselves. While the analyses brought largely expected results of the composition of most model tools, miniature vessels and an altar made of copper with traces of arsenic, there are also some surprises including the first possible Old Kingdom arsenical copper ingot. The paper also contains a brief overview of previous analytical work on metals from Abusir started by Friedrich Rathgen, the founder of conservation science, in the early 20th century.
Keywords: Old Kingdom – Abusir – copper metallurgy – arsenical copper – X-ray fluorescence – metallography – ingot
reference to the ritual of funerary repast (pr.t-xrw), and their role in the ritual is explored in the article. The assemblage from this tomb is studied also from the point of view of regularized production of artefacts. It is then compared to other assemblages of copper vessels from Sixth Dynasty Egypt connected to the funerary repast and the Opening of the Mouth ritual. On the basis of the collected evidence, it is argued that the scope of vessels present in the burial equipment was similar to the vessels used in contemporary temples. The occurrence of the same types of vessels in several specimens in full-size as well as miniaturized versions is explained as a possible trace of the agency of different participants in the provision of the burial equipment.
Keywords: Old Kingdom – Sixth Dynasty – copper vessels – funerary repast – Opening of the Mouth ritual – artefact regularization – agency