Dr Carmen Ting

I am an archaeologist with a specialisation in archaeological materials analysis. I am interested in ancient technologies, especially how technological innovation emerged and spread. I received BA and MSc training at the UCL Institute of Archaeology, where I also conducted my PhD research that focussed on revisiting the nature of the 'Classic Maya Collapse' by exploring the changes in ceramic production in Belize, Central America. Since then, I held research and teaching positions at the Leiden University, UCL Qatar, University of Cyprus and University of Cambridge. I have also led and participated in research projects in the Caribbean, northern Africa, eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and Central Asia. Currently, I dedicate a large part of my research on understanding the emergence and spread of medieval glazed tableware. 

My research stretches from exploring the making of early colonial material culture in the Caribbean upon the European colonisation to the spread of iron metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa. My main research revolves around understanding the emergence and spread of medieval glazed tableware in the Levant and Central and West Asia. My research has been supported through funding from the Marie Sklodowska Curie Action, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Renfrew Fellowship, British Academy, Council for British Research in the Levant and European Commission Iperion HS. I am currently leading the following research projects:

The spread of Islamic glaze technology along the Silk Road: Evidence from the Bukhara Oasis (Funded by the Society of Antiquaries London Research and Travel Grant)

This project explores how and why glazed ceramics production began in Central Asia during the Islamic period, specifically the role played by the Silk Road exchange. It integrates scientific analyses with archaeology and history to examine the production remains from the pottery workshops in the Bukhara Oasis, Uzbekistan. The results will challenge the traditional model on Islamisation by highlighting the underlying social processes.

The life and afterlife of the Adès collection of medieval Persian ceramics (Funded by the British Academy/ Leverhulme Small Research Project Grant)

This project seeks to bridge the gap in narratives and approaches between art history, archaeology and museological practice in the study of museum objects using the Adès collection of medieval Persian glazed ceramics as case study. It capitalises on the availability of state-of-the-art analytical tools in archaeological and conservation science, unprecedented access to materials both in the UK and Iran and support from national and international research networks. A biographical approach is adopted by the project in reconstructing the life and afterlife of the Adès pieces, highlighting the people and agency involved in the journey. This approach is expected to contribute to the development of the emerging field of heritage science, while the results will inform a new, decolonised interpretation of medieval Persian ceramics. 

Soft as Silk: Connecting talc-based and woven inspired decorated ceramics production over time and space in West Central Africa (Funded by the Wiener-Anspach Foundation)

The project seeks to better understand the relation between woven inspired decorated pottery producing communities in West Central Africa between the 11th and 15thc. CE and their link to older pottery traditions. Using the 'compared technology' method, manufacturing process will be reconstructed and compared to each other to determine whether the stylistic resemblance only reflects a general taste for fine clothes among polities and communities of the area or more close interaction, suggesting communities of practice over time and space Moreover, the use of talc in the fabrics shows similarities with pottery productions dated to the 1st millennia BCE/CE. Identifying common technical features could contribute to better understand the transition – currently poorly known due to a lack of data – between two key periods in the history of Central Africa: the first villages and the Bantu expansion and the development of major polities in the 2nd millennium CE.

The glaze is less opaque on the other side: The development of Egyptian and southern Levantine glazed ceramic production from the early Islamic to Crusader periods

I am involved in the teaching and coordination of various campus-based and distant learning modules for the subject of Archaeology and Ancient History. The campus-based modules I am coordinating for the academic year 2025/26 are: Artefact Analysis, Using Archaeological Evidence and World Archaeology AD. I am also coordinating the following distant learning modules for the academic year 2025/26: Archaeological Practice, Research Bootcamp, Doing Historical Archaeology, Aims and Methods in Archaeology, and An Introduction to World Archaeology AD. I am also contributing to other modules such as Heritage Skills, Debates in Archaeological Heritage, and Heritage and Archaeology.