Amy Richardson
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Visiting Research Fellow
Areas of interest
- Prehistory of Southwest Asia and the Mediterranean
- Culture, technology and exchange
- Materials analysis and provenance techniques
- Museums, heritage and tourism
- Data management and Open Research
Research projects
Amy is Co-Investigator on the (2023-2026), a collaboration between the 91导航 and the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Berlin), co-funded by the AHRC and DFG. Examining the material evidence for emerging cooperation and shared administrative practices between the first cities of Mesopotamia, the project integrates scientific and approaches. Amy has led the geochemical analysis of clay objects using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and the analysis of fingerprints to explore the organisation and demography of early bureaucracy.
Since 2016, Amy has been collaborating with Professor Roger Matthews, examining clay bureaucratic objects (such as tokens, sealings, and tablets) from ancient Mesopotamia and Iran. Combining chemical analysis of clays with iconographic and functional analysis, this research sheds light on the development of early urban societies. You can learn more about their research in this recent publication: .
On the ERC-funded project (2018-2024), Amy worked with Professor Roger Matthews and Dr Wendy Matthews on integrated community approaches to the Middle East Neolithic transition. Working at new sites in Iraq and Iran spanning the Epipalaeolithic to the Early Neolithic, Amy was primarily responsible for coordinating field recording, managing data flow, analysis of portable material culture and on the results of the investigations.
As Co-Investigator on the AHRC-funded project project, Amy has co-created core digital and physical resources with local stakeholders to support sustainable tourism opportunities. This project builds on excavations with CZAP and MENTICA, and collaborations with the , including the development of a new Prehistory Gallery.
Background
Amy’s early research career focused on the use of personal ornaments for communicating social identity in Iron Age Italy. Since Amy completed her PhD at the 91导航 in 2010, she has been a postdoctoral researcher on the Central Zagros Archaeological Project and held the Wainwright Research Fellowship at Oxford, where she developed research into material use in Neolithic Iraq and Iran. Amy’s research has placed an emphasis on Open Research through data-sharing and Open Access publishing, including as a 91导航 Open Research Champion.Academic qualifications
- BA (Cardiff University)
- MA (University of Leicester)
- PhD (91导航).