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The Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art (RLAHA) is a laboratory at the University of Oxford, England which develops and applies scientific methods to the study of the past. It was established in 1955 and its first director was Teddy Hall.RLAHA page on the Oxford University School of Archaeology website
/ref> The first deputy director was Dr Stuart Young, who was followed by
Martin Aitken Martin Jim Aitken FRS (11 March 1922 – 13 June 2017) was a British archaeometrist. Aitken was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and studied physics at Wadham College, Oxford. He was a fellow of Linacre College, Oxford. He was Professor of Archa ...
in 1957. After many years of de-facto association with the Institute of Archaeology, in 2000 it was jointly brought under the single departmental umbrella of School of Archaeology. The laboratory includes the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU), which carries out
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
using an accelerator mass spectrometer. The Laboratory publishes the journal '' Archaeometry'', and hosts a chair named for its first director, Edward Hall Professorship in Archaeological Science, and a seminar series named for Martin Aitkin. The Laboratory is currently directed by Professor Mark Pollard.


Areas of Research, Past and Present

*
Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
*
Luminescence dating Luminescence dating refers to a group of methods of determining how long ago mineral grains were last exposed to sunlight or sufficient heating. It is useful to geologists and archaeologists who want to know when such an event occurred. It uses var ...
* Materials analysis *
Palaeodiet The Paleolithic diet, Paleo diet, caveman diet, or stone-age diet is a modern fad diet consisting of foods thought by its proponents to mirror those eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era. The diet avoids processed food and typically inc ...
* Archaeological geophysics * Uranium-series dating * Diagenesis * Tephrachronology


History of Directorship

* Teddy Hall, 1955-1989. * Mike Tite, 1989-2004. * Mark Pollard, 2004-2014. * Christopher Bronk Ramsey 2014-2019. * Mark Pollard, 2019–Present.


Edward Hall Professorship in Archaeological Science

In 1989, when Teddy Hall retired, the laboratory was placed in jeopardy. In order for the University to agree to the funding of the Deputy Directorship in 1955, Hall, who was independently wealthy, forfeited his own salary. Knowing that his replacement would require funding, he launched an appeal and raised a million pound endowment for a Chair, the now eponymous Edward Hall Professorship in Archaeological Science. The first to take this chair was a previous student of Martin Aikten's, Mike Tite, who also worked with the pair on dating the Turin Shroud. Tite was Edward Hall Professor from 1989, until his retirement in 2004. He was replaced by Mark Pollard, who remains in post.


See also

* Archaeology * History of Art * School of Archaeology, Oxford


References


External links


Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art website

Archaeometry journal website
1955 establishments in England Archaeological research institutes Archaeology of the United Kingdom Departments of the University of Oxford Educational institutions established in 1955 Research institutes established in 1955 Research institutes in Oxford University and college laboratories in the United Kingdom {{UK-university-stub