A. Mark Pollard

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Mark Pollard

FSA
Born (1954-07-05) 5 July 1954 (age 69)
Takapuna, New Zealand
Alma mater University of York
Known for
  • Materials analysis in archaeology
  • Biogeochemical analysis
  • Statistical applications in archaeology
Scientific career
FieldsArchaeological science
Institutions
Thesis X-ray fluorescence and surface studies of glass, with application to the durability of mediaeval window glass (1979)
Doctoral advisor G. A. Cox

Alan Mark Pollard FSA (born 5 July 1954) is a British archaeological scientist, who has been the Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford since 2005. [1] He is director of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Member of the Oriental Ceramic Society. [2] He has significantly contributed to many areas of archaeological science, most notably materials analysis, [3] with hundreds of well-cited papers. [4]

Contents

In 2018 he was awarded the Pomerance Medal for scientific contributions to archaeology by the Archaeological Institute of America. [5] [6]

He has co-authored several key textbooks on archaeological science: Archaeological Chemistry (now in 3rd edition), [7] Handbook of Archaeological Science, [8] and Analytical Chemistry in Archaeology. [9]

Pollard is a Fellow of Linacre College and has been the vice-principal since October 2020.

Early life

Pollard was born in Takapuna, New Zealand, on 5 July 1954 to Alan and Elizabeth Pollard, but emigrated to England at an early age. [10] He completed his BA and PhD degrees at the University of York in the Department of Physics; however, his dissertation was already focusing on archaeological material. Awarded in 1979, it was entitled X-ray fluorescence and surface studies of glass, with application to the durability of mediaeval window glass and used the case study of the glass from York Minster to assess both the analytical problems of surface analysis on vitreous materials, as well as what factors affected their durability. [11]

In 1993, he married fellow archaeologist, Rebecca Nicholson, and the couple have two daughters. [10]

Academic appointments

Immediately upon completing his doctorate in 1978, Pollard was appointed by Edward Thomas Hall as an analytical research officer at the Research Laboratory for the History of Art (RLAHA), where he remained until 1984. [10] After this, he took up the appointment of 'New Blood' Lecturer in Chemistry and Archaeology, within the Schools of Chemistry and Applied Chemistry, at Cardiff University. In 1988, he was appointed UK national co-ordinator for science-based archaeology, a post supported by SERC, English Heritage (Historic England) and the British Academy, to improve liaison between funding bodies, improve communication flow and encourage the development and take-up of science-based techniques and results in archaeology. He retained this position until 2000. [12] [13]

In 1990, he took up a professorship of archaeological science at the University of Bradford. In this same year, he was appointed head of the Department of Archaeology, replacing Arnold Aspinall. [14]

He remained in Bradford until 2004, during which time a great deal of cutting edge archaeological research was produced in Bradford, and Pollard supervised many students who went on to hold significant positions across academia, including Carl Heron, director of scientific research at the British Museum. In 1999, Pollard was appointed pro-vice chancellor.

In 2004, he returned to the RLAHA to replace the retiring Mike Tite as director, and to take up the chair of Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science. Since 2009, he has supervised 14 Oxford doctorates to completion, and co-supervised a further 23. [15] As of January 2022, he has seven doctoral students. [16]

Other appointments

Pollard is a trustee of the Mary Rose Museum since 2019, [17] was the associate head of the Social Science Division (Research) at the University of Oxford. He was also previously a trustee of both the Council For British Archaeology and the Institute of Field Archaeologists (now Chartered Institute for Archaeologists).

Pollard is also one of the managing editors of the journal Archaeometry, as well as being a member of the board of trustees. [18]

Related Research Articles

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. The first deputy director was Dr Stuart Young, who was followed by Martin Aitken 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.

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Dr Robert Brill is in the field of archaeological science, best known for his work on the chemical analysis of ancient glass. Born in the United States of America in 1929, Brill attended West Side High School in Newark, New Jersey, before going on to study for his B.S. degree at Upsala College. Having completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Rutgers University in 1954, Brill returned to Upsala College to teach chemistry. In 1960, he joined the staff of the Corning Museum of Glass as their second research scientist

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<i>Archaeometry</i> (journal) Academic journal

Archaeometry is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering archaeological science, particularly absolute dating methods, artefact studies, quantitative archaeology, remote sensing, conservation science, and environmental archaeology. It is published bimonthly by Wiley-Blackwell, on behalf of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at the University of Oxford, in association with the Gesellschaft für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie Archäometrie and the Society for Archaeological Sciences. Its current editors are A. Mark Pollard, Ina Reiche, Brandi MacDonald, Gilberto Artioli, and Catherine Batt.

Shadreck Chirikure is a professor at the University of Cape Town, and holds a British Academy Global Professorship within the School of Archaeology at Oxford. He is a leading archaeologist, studying pyrotechnology and southern Africa.

Sir Andrew John Pollard is the Ashall Professor of Infection & Immunity at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford. He is an Honorary Consultant Paediatrician at John Radcliffe Hospital and the Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group. He is the Chief Investigator on the University of Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine trials and has led research on vaccines for many life-threatening infectious diseases including typhoid fever, Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, streptococcus pneumoniae, pertussis, influenza, rabies, and Ebola.

References

  1. ↑ "Mike Tite Has Retired After 15 Years as Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science and Director of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art". Archaeometry. 47 (1): i–ii. 2005. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2005.00183.x.
  2. ↑ "Professor Mark Pollard". www.arch.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "The dead grateful Professor Mark Pollard and why archaeology is not all treasure, trowels and Indiana Jones | University of Oxford". www.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "A M Pollard". scholar.google.co.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology". Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  6. ↑ "News - 2018 AIA Award Winners". Archaeological Institute of America. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  7. ↑ Pollard, A. M. (2017). Archaeological chemistry. Carl Heron, Ruth Ann Armitage (3rd ed.). Cambridge. ISBN   978-1-83916-299-2. OCLC   1289836956.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ↑ Handbook of archaeological sciences. Don R. Brothwell, A. M. Pollard. Chichester: J. Wiley. 2001. ISBN   0-471-98484-1. OCLC   44905034.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ Analytical chemistry in archaeology. A. M. Pollard. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2007. ISBN   978-0-511-34994-2. OCLC   182763607.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. 1 2 3 "Pollard, Prof. (Alan) Mark, (born 5 July 1954), Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science, since 2004, and Associate Head (Research), Social Sciences Division, since 2016, University of Oxford (Director, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, 2004–14); Fellow, Linacre College, Oxford, since 2004". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u249463. ISBN   978-0-19-954088-4 . Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  11. ↑ Pollard, A. M. (1979). X-ray fluorescence and surface studies of glass, with application to the durability of mediaeval window glass. University of York.
  12. ↑ "People and Events". Physics Bulletin. 39 (1): 34–35. January 1988. doi:10.1088/0031-9112/39/1/032. ISSN   0031-9112.
  13. ↑ "Archaeology in Ruins". New Scientist. 121 (1648): 55. 1989. doi:10.1016/s0262-4079(12)61576-0. ISSN   0262-4079.
  14. ↑ "Remembering Arnold | International Society for Archaeological Prospection". www.archprospection.org. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  15. ↑ "Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford". www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  16. ↑ "Graduate Students". www.arch.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  17. ↑ "Alan Mark POLLARD personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  18. ↑ "Archaeometry". Wiley Online Library. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
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