From Sea to Sea: Working techniques and trade in organic luxuries from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean (1500-500 BCE)

This PhD project is reconstructing the manufacture and trade mechanisms of ancient luxury objects made from organic materials, particularly ivory and shell, from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean.‌

Ivory lion's head from Sippar, part of a dagger handle (750-550 BCE) Image credit: © The Trustees of the British Museum

It uses digital microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to distinguish working tools and techniques, in comparison with literary and visual evidence pertaining to the manufacture and circulation of luxury items.

In doing so, this study is enhancing our understanding of the creation, circulation and use of organic luxuries as part of an integrated luxury network from their Bronze Age apogee (1500-1100 BCE), subsequent trade collapse (1100-900 BCE) and Iron Age revival (900-500 BCE).