Contact Professor Andrew Shortland
- Tel: +44 (0) 1793 785028
- Email: a.shortland@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Background
Professor Shortland is Professor of Archaeological Science and Director of Research for Cranfield Defence and Security, one of the Schools of Cranfield University. From 2016 to 2023 he was Director of Cranfield Forensic Institute and previous to that Programme Manager for the Forensic Modular Master Programme, with overall responsibility for all MSc themes in forensics in the University. As Director of Research, he has overall responsibility for all research activity in the School and an indirect supervisory role for its of 150+ research students.
After reading a BA in geology at the University of Oxford, Professor Shortland spent a year working in the Oxford Earth Sciences Department using Pb isotopic techniques to provenance copper and bronze objects from the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. Exploring the cross over between science and archaeology further, he continued at Oxford to read for a masters’ degree in Prehistoric Archaeology, before being recruited into the Ministry of Defence, Whitehall to work for six years in a series of security related posts. On leaving the MoD, he returned to Oxford to undertake research in Egyptology, receiving a DPhil for work on vitreous materials from the site of Amarna in Middle Egypt. After a number of years as Research Fellow and then University Research Lecturer at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology in Oxford, Professor Shortland moved to Cranfield University in 2005 and established the Centre for Archaeological and Forensic Analysis which in turn became part of Cranfield Forensic Institute.
Current activities
Professor Shortland’s own research group consists of archaeologists and scientists who employ their skills in a whole range of historical and/or defence related fields. The work concentrates in two areas. The first involves the identification and interpretation of material culture from the ancient and historical worlds. Professor Shortland is particularly involved in the analysis of glass, glaze and ceramics of a wide range of dates from the fourth millennium BC to the nineteenth century AD. Beyond vitreous materials, he is involved in the application of science more widely to questions arising from art history and archaeology and increasingly forensics. Much of his work involves using the latest techniques to answer questions about valuable or historically important objects. Typically, these involve queries about provenance, date, identification of past restoration or conservation and even the detection of deliberate fakes and forgeries. Professor Shortland uses a wide variety of different analytical techniques in his work including SEM-EDS, microprobe, XRF, XRD, Raman, LA-ICPMS, CT and optical microscopy.
Secondly, Professor Shortland is increasingly interested in the fate of archaeological and historical sites, objects and museums in conflict zones. As such, he is a specialist reserve officer with a leadership and recruitment role in a unit that provides experts to advise the military and government departments on current and future issues.
Clients
- Universities throughout the world (Oxford, Harvard, Leuven, Leiden, Berlin, etc.)
- Major museums (Ashmolean, British Museum, Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard Art Museums, National Museums Scotland, etc.)
- Auction houses (Bonhams, Sothebys, Chrisities)
- The Ministry of Defence, government departments and various military units
- Private clients
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Kemp V, Delbey T & Shortland A (2023) The dating and provenance of glass fragments from the site of Serabit el-Khâdim, Sinai, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 49 (June) Article No. 103920.
- Norris D, Braekmans D & Shortland A. (2022) Emulation and technological adaptation in late 18th century Cloisonné-style Chinese painted enamels, Archaeometry, 64 (4) 951-968.
- Norris D, Braekmans D & Shortland AJ (2022) Technological connections in the development of 18th and 19th century Chinese painted enamels, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 42 (April) Article No. 103406.
- Kemp V, Brownscombe W & Shortland AJ (2022) The investigation and provenance of glass vessel fragments attributed to the tomb of Amenhotep II, KV35, Valley of the Kings, Archaeometry, 64 (1) 147-160.
- Kemp V, Rohan R & Shortland A (2021) Identifying and evaluating atypical traits in Ancient Egyptian glass vessels using raw data analysis and expert assessment, Archaeological and Environmental Forensic Science, 2 (1) 1-17.
- Hamerow H, Shortland A & Cameron E (2021) Early medieval garnet-inlaid metalwork: a comparative analysis of disc brooches from early Wessex, Antiquaries Journal, 101 143-159.
- Ma Q, Braekmans D, Shortland A & Pollard AM (2021) The production and composition of Chinese lead-barium glass through experimental laboratory replication, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 551 (January) Article No. 120409.
- Norris D, Braekmans D, Domoney K & Shortland A (2020) The composition and technology of polychrome enamels on Chinese ruby‐backed plates identified through nondestructive micro‐X‐ray fluorescence, X-Ray Spectrometry, 49 (July-August) 502-510.
- Shortland A & Shortland A (2020) Governance under the shadow of the law: trading high value fine art, Public Choice, 184 (July).
- Kemp V, Schmidt K, Brownscombe W, Soennecken K, Vieweger D, Häser J & Shortland A (2020) The dating and provenance of glass artefacts excavated from the ancient city of Tall Zirā‛a, Jordan, Archaeometry, 62 (6) 1164-1181.
- Kemp V, McDonald A, Brock F & Shortland AJ (2020) LA-ICP-MS analysis of late bronze age blue glass beads from Gurob, Egypt, Archaeometry, 62 (1) 42-53.
- Degryse P, Shortland AJ, Dillis S, van Ham-Meert A, Vanhaecke F & Leeming P (2020) Isotopic evidence for the use of Caucasian antimony in Late Bronze Age glass making, Journal of Archaeological Science, 120 (August) Article No. 105195. Dataset/s: 10.1016/j.jas.2020.105195
- Cooper L, Costello S, Eremin K, Moy M, King K, Walton M, Pouyet E, Shortland A & Dussubieux L (2020) Numbered Jun Ware – A technical study, Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, Available online 19th November 2020 (4).
- Degryse P & Shortland A (2020) Interpreting elements and isotopes in glass: a review, Archaeometry, Available online 26th November 2019.
- Dillis S, Van Ham-Meert A, Leeming P, Shortland A, Gobejishvili G, Abramishvili M & Degryse P (2019) Antimony as a raw material in ancient metal and glass making: provenancing Georgian LBA metallic Sb by isotope analysis, Science and Technology of Archaeological Research, 5 (2) 98-112.
- Van Ham-Meert A, Dillis S, Blomme A, Cahill N, Claeys P, Elsen J, Eremin K, Gerdes A, Steuwe C, Roeffaers M, Shortland A & Degryse P (2019) A unique recipe for glass beads at Iron Age Sardis, Journal of Archaeological Science, 108 (August) Article No. 104974.
- Brown D & Shortland AJ (2019) Two letters from Ike: military necessity and cultural property protection, British Army Review, BAR Special Report: Culture in conflict 6-16.
- Tite M, Herringer SN, Shortland A, Matin M, Pradell T & Alcock SE (2018) Production technology of Nabataean painted pottery compared with that of Roman terra sigillata, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 21 (October) 1073-1078.
- Shortland AJ, Kirk S, Eremin K, Degryse P & Walton M (2018) The analysis of late Bronze Age glass from Nuzi and the question of the origin of glass-making, Archaeometry, 60 (4) 764-783.
- Scott RB, Neyt B, Brems D, Eekelers K, Shortland AJ & Degryse P (2017) Experimental mixing of natron and plant ash style glass: implications for ancient glass recycling, European Journal of Glass Science and Technology Part a Glass Technology, 58 (1) 8-16.
- Giannini, R, Freestone IC & Shortland AJ. (2017) European cobalt sources identified in the production of Chinese Famille Rose porcelain, Journal of Archaeological Science, 80 (April) 27-36.
- Kemp V, McDonald A & Shortland AJ (2017) Ancient biographies: trace element analysis to investigate provenance and transportation mechanisms of Late Bronze Age glass, Archaeological and Environmental Forensic Science, 1 (2) 161-174.
- Dunster J, Shortland AJ, Panes & N (2017) Isleworth porcelain - the mystery deepens, Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle, 28.
- Hansford GM, Turner SMR, Degryse P & Shortland AJ. (2017) High-resolution X-ray diffraction with no sample preparation, Acta Crystallographica Section A: Foundations and Advances, A73 293-311.
- Marcus ES, Dee MW, Ramsey CB, Higham TFG & Shortland AJ (2016) Radiocarbon verification of the earliest astro-chronological datum, Radiocarbon, 58 (4) 735-739.
- Blomme A, Elsen J, Brems D, Shortland A, Dotsika E & Degryse P. (2016) Tracing the primary production location of core-formed glass vessels, Mediterranean Group I, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 5 1-9.
- Pradell T, Molina G, Murcia S, Ibáñez R, Liu C, Molera J & Shortland A. (2016) Materials, Techniques, and Conservation of Historic Stained Glass "Grisailles", International Journal of Applied Glass Science, 7 (1) 41-58.
- Tite MS, Shortland AJ, Schibille N & Degryse P (2016) New Data on the Soda Flux Used in the Production of Iznik Glazes and Byzantine Glasses, Archaeometry, 58 (1) 57-67.
- Degryse P, Lobo L, Shortland A, Vanhaecke F, Blomme A, Painter J, Gimeno D, Eremin K, Greene J, Kirk S & Walton M (2015) Isotopic investigation into the raw materials of Late Bronze Age glass making, Journal of Archaeological Science, 62 (October) 153-160.
- Hamerow H, Byard A, Cameron E, During A, Levick P, Marquez-Grant N & Shortland A (2015) A high-status seventh-century female burial from West Hanney, Oxfordshire, Antiquaries Journal, 95 (September) 91-118.
- Molina G, Odin GP, Pradell T, Shortland AJ & Tite MS (2014) Production technology and replication of lead antimonate yellow glass from New Kingdom Egypt and the Roman Empire, Journal of Archaeological Science, 41 (January) 171-184.
- Dee MW, Wengrow D, Shortland AJ, Stevenson A, Brock F & Ramsey CB (2014) Radiocarbon dating and the Naqada relative chronology, Journal of Archaeological Science, 46 (June) 319-323.
- Lobo Lara, Degryse Patrick, Shortland Andrew, Eremin Katherine & Vanhaecke Frank (2014) Copper and antimony isotopic analysis via multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry for provenancing ancient glass, Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 29 (1) 58-64.
- Manning SW, Dee MW, Wild EM., Ramsey CB, Bandy K, Creasman PP, Griggs CB, Pearson CL, Shortland AJ & Steier P (2014) High-precision dendro-C-14 dating of two cedar wood sequences from First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom Egypt and a small regional climate-related C-14 divergence, Journal of Archaeological Science, 46 401-416.
- Attard-Montalto N & Shortland A (2014) 17th century blue enamel on window glass from the cathedral of Christ Church, Oxford: Investigating its deterioration mechanism, Journal of Cultural Heritage, 16 (3).
- Devulder V, Vanhaecke F, Shortland A, Mattingly D, Jackson C & Degryse P (2014) Boron isotopic composition as a provenance indicator for the flux raw material in Roman natron glass, Journal of Archaeological Science, 46 107-113.
- Dee M, Wengrow D, Shortland A, Stevenson A, Brock F, Girdland Flink L & Bronk Ramsey C (2013) An absolute chronology for early Egypt using radiocarbon dating and Bayesian statistical modelling, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 469 (2159).
- Lobo L, Degryse P, Shortland A & Vanhaecke F (2013) Isotopic analysis of antimony using multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry for provenance determination of Roman glass, Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 28 (8) 1213-1219.
- Degryse P & Shortland AJ (2013) Nourishing archaeology and science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110 (51) 20352-20353.
- Dee MW, Rowland JM, Higham TFG, Shortland AJ, Brock F, Harris SA & Bronk Ramsey C (2012) Synchronising radiocarbon dating and the Egyptian historical chronology by improved sample selection, Antiquity, 86 (333) 868-883.
- Walton M, Eremin K, Shortland A, Degryse P & Kirk S (2012) Analysis of late bronze age glass axes from nippur-a new cobalt colourant, Archaeometry, 54 (5) 835-852.
- Scott RB, Shortland AJ, Degryse P, Power M, Domoney K, Boyen S & Braekmans D (2012) In situ analysis of ancient glass: 17th century painted glass from Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and Roman glass vessels, European Journal of Glass Science and Technology Part a Glass Technology, 53 (2) 65-73.
- Montalto NA, Shortland A & Rogers K (2012) The provenancing of ochres from the Neolithic Temple Period in Malta, Journal of Archaeological Science, 39 (4) 1094-1102.
- Domoney K, Shortland A & Kuhn S (2012) Characterization of 18th Century Meissen porcelain using SEM-EDS, Archaeometry, 54 (3) 454-474.
- Roberts P, Weston S, Wild B, Boston C, Ditchfield P, Shortland AJ & Pollard AM (2012) The men of Nelson's navy: A comparative stable isotope dietary study of late 18th century and early 19th century servicemen from Royal Naval Hospital burial grounds at Plymouth and Gosport, England, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 148 (1) 1-10.
- Casadio F, Bezur A, Domoney K, Eremin K, Lee L, Mass JL, Shortland A & Zumbulyadis N (2012) X-ray fluorescence applied to overglaze enamel decoration on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century porcelain from central Europe, Studies in Conservation, 57 (S1) S61-S72.
- Erb-Satullo NL, Shortland AJ & Eremin K (2011) Chemical and mineralogical approaches to the organization of Late Bronze Age Nuzi Ware production, Archaeometry, 53 (6) 1171-1192.
- Shortland AJ, Degryse P, Walton M, Geer M, Lauwers V & Salou L (2011) The evaporitic deposits of lake fazda (Wadi natrun, Egypt) and their use in roman glass production, Archaeometry, 53 (5) 916-929.
- Bertini M, Shortland A, Milek K & Krupp EM (2011) Investigation of Iron Age north-eastern Scottish glass beads using element analysis with LA-ICP-MS, Journal of Archaeological Science, 38 (10).
- Degryse P, Boyce A, Erb-Satullo N, Eremin K, Kirk S, Scott R, Shortland AJ, Schneider J & Walton M (2010) Isotopic discriminants between late Bronze Age glasses from Egypt and the Near East, Archaeometry, 52 (3) 380-388.
- Degryse P, Shortland A, De Muynck D, Van Heghe L, Scott R, Neyt B & Vanhaecke F (2010) Considerations on the provenance determination of plant ash glasses using strontium isotopes, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37 (12) 3129-3135.
- Dee MW, Brock F, Harris SA, Ramsey CB, Shortland AJ, Higham TFG & Rowland JM (2010) Investigating the likelihood of a reservoir offset in the radiocarbon record for ancient Egypt, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37 (4) 687-693.
- Ramsey CB, Dee MW, Rowland JM, Higham TFG, Harris SA, Brock F, Quiles A, Wild EM, Marcus ES & Shortland AJ (2010) Radiocarbon-based chronology for dynastic Egypt, Science, 328 (5985) 1554-1557.
- Shortland AJ & Schroeder H (2009) Analysis of First Millennium BC glass vessels and beads from the Pichvnari Necropolis, Georgia*, Archaeometry, 51 (6) 947-965.
- Tite MS, Maniatis Y, Kavoussanaki D, Panagiotaki M, Shortland AJ & Kirk SF (2009) Colour in Minoan faience, Journal of Archaeological Science, 36 (2) 370-378.
- Walton MS, Shortland A, Kirk S & Degryse P (2009) Evidence for the trade of Mesopotamian and Egyptian glass to Mycenaean Greece, Journal of Archaeological Science, 36 (7) 1496-1503.
- Dee MW, Ramsey CB, Shortland AJ, Higham TFG & Rowland JM (2009) Reanalysis of the chronological discrepancies obtained by the Old and Middle Kingdom Monuments Project , Radiocarbon, 51 (3) 1061-1070.
- Degryse P & Shortland AJ (2009) Trace elements in provenancing raw materials for roman glass production, Geologica Belgica, 12 (3-4) 135-143.
- Hatton GD, Shortland AJ & Tite MS (2008) The production technology of Egyptian blue and green frits from second millennium BC Egypt and Mesopotamia, Journal of Archaeological Science, 35 (6) 1591-1604.
- Shortland AJ, Masters P, Harrison K, Williams A & Boston C (2008) Burials of eighteenth-century Naval personnel : preliminary results from excavations at the Royal Hospital Haslar, Gosport (Hants), Antiquity, 82 (317).
- Shortland A, Eremin K, Woodson BT & Olmstead R (2008) Reassessing bronze age manufacturing technologies at Nuzi, MRS Online Proceedings Library, 1047 (Y02-05) 217-231.
- Tite M, Pradell T & Shortland A (2008) Discovery, production and use of tin-based opacifiers in glasses, enamels and glazes from the Late Iron Age onwards: a reassessment, Archaeometry, 50 (1) 67-84.
- Shortland AJ (2007) Who were the glassmakers? Status, theory and method in mid-second millennium glass production, Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 26 (3) 261-274.
- Tite MS, Manti P & Shortland AJ (2007) A technological study of ancient faience from Egypt, Journal of Archaeological Science, 34 (10) 1568-1583.
- Shortland A, Rogers N & Eremin K (2007) Trace Element Discriminants between Egyptian and Mesopotamian Late Bronze Age Glasses, Journal of Archaeological Science, 34 (3) 781-789.
- Shortland AJ, Hope CA & Tite MS (2006) Cobalt blue painted pottery from 18th Dynasty Egypt, Geological Society Special Publications, 257 91-99.
- Shortland AJ & Eremin K (2006) The analysis of second millennium glass from Egypt and Mesopotamia, part 1: New WDS analyses, Archaeometry, 48 (4) 581-603.
- Tite MS, Shortland A, Maniatis Y, Kavoussanaki D & Harris SA (2006) The composition of the soda-rich and mixed alkali plant ashes used in the production of glass, Journal of Archaeological Science, 33 (9) 1284-1292.
- Shortland AJ (2006) Application of lead isotope analysis to a wide range of Late Bronze Age Egyptian materials, Archaeometry, 48 657-669.
- Shortland A, Tite MS & Ewart I (2006) Ancient exploitation and use of cobalt alums from the western oases of Egypt, Archaeometry, 48 (1) 153-168.
- Shortland A & Tite MS (2005) Technological study of Ptolemaic-Early Roman faience from Memphis, Egypt, Archaeometry, 47 (1) 31-46.
- Shortland A, Sheridan A & Eremin K (2005) Understanding Bronze Age Faience in Britain and Ireland, MRS Online Proceedings Library, 852 217-230.
- Shortland A (2004) Evaporites of the Wadi Natrun: seasonal and annual variation and its implication for ancient exploitation, Archaeometry, 46 (4) 497-516.
- Shortland A, Thompson A, Richards M & Zakrzewski S (2004) New isotopic evidence for the reconstruction of ancient Egyptian diet, Journal of Archaeological Science.
Conference Papers
- Dee MW, Wengrow D, Shortland AJ, Stevenson A, Brock F & Bronk Ramsey C (2016) Radiocarbon dating of Early Egyptian pot residues. In: Vienna 2 - Ancient Egyptian Ceramics in the 21st Century, Vienna, 14-18 May 2012.
- Domoney K, Shortland S & Kuhn S (2014) Fakes, forgeries and reproductions of Meissen porcelain: Art meets science. In: Master Class 2012, Vinogradov Readings in St. Petersburg, St Petersburg, 13-14 November 2012.
- Domoney K, Shortland S & Kuhn S (2011) Characterisation of an eighteenth-century Meissen plate from the Gotzendorf-Grabowski service using VP-SEM and HV-SEM. In: Historical Technology, Materials and Conservation: SEM and Microanalysis, British Museum 9-10 September 2010, The British Museum, London, 9 September 2010.
Books
- Adlington LW, Freestone IC, Seliger L, Martinon-Torres M, Brock F & Shortland A. (2020) Chapter 10: In situ methodology for compositional grouping of medieval stained glass windows: introducing the "windolyzer" for handheld x-ray fluorescence spectrometry. In: Archaeological chemistry: a multidisciplinary analysis of the past, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, p. 176-201.
- Shortland AJ & Rehren T (2019) Chapter 15: Glass. In: Archaeological science: an introduction, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 347-364.
- Leoni F, Norris D, Domoney K, Matin M & Shortland A (2019) “The Illusion of an Authentic Experience”: A luster bowl in the Ashmolean museum. In: Muqarnas: An annual on the visual cultures of the Islamic world, Leiden: Brill, p. 229-249.
- Shortland AJ & Degryse P (2019) Chapter 14: Ceramics. In: Archaeological science: an introduction, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 335-346.
- Waker S, Shortland AJ & Henderson J (2018) Patterns in production : The Wilshere Collection of gold- glass examined. In: Things that Travelled: Mediterranean Glass in the First Millennium AD, London: UCL Press, p. 368-383.
- Shortland A. (2016) Towards an understanding of the origin of late Bronze Age Greek glass. In: Human mobility and technological transfer in the prehistoric Mediterranean, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, p. 94-101.
- Zakrzewski S, Shortland A & Rowland J (2015) Science in the study of ancient Egypt. New York: Taylor and Francis Inc., ed. 1st.
- Eremin K, Degryse P, Erb-Satullo N, Ganio M, Greene J, Shortland A, Walton M & Stager L (2012) Iron Age glass beads from Carthage. In: Historical technology, materials, and conservation: SEM and microanalysis, Archetype, p. 30-35.
- Shortland AJ (2012) Lapis lazuli from the kiln: glass and glassmaking in the late Bronze Age. Leuven: University Of Leuven Press.
- Tite MS & Shortland AJ (2008) Production technology of faience and related early vitreous materials. Oxford: Oxford University School of Archaeology.