Caroline Cartwright
Scientist
Scientific analysis of organics
including wood, charcoal, fibres and other plant remains, shell,
ivory and bone
Department: Conservation and Scientific
Research
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 8581
Email: ccartwright @ thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Caroline Cartwright’s primary areas of
scientific expertise cover the identification and interpretation of
organics such as wood, charcoal, fibres and other plant remains,
shell, ivory and bone from all areas and time periods in the
British Museum’s collection.
She has led many teams of archaeobotanists,
archaeozoologists and human osteologists on archaeological projects
in various parts of the world including the Middle East, Africa,
the Caribbean and Europe.
Before taking up her post at the British
Museum, Caroline was a lecturer for many years at the Institute of
Archaeology, University College London teaching the topics
mentioned above as well as ceramic and stone petrography, lithic
technology and early agriculture. Her research interests have
focused on the human resource exploitation of plant and animals,
modelling environmental reconstruction, past human ecology and
subsistence change. Also, in examining the evidence from the
archaeological record for the biology, biogeography and diversity
of Mediterranean-climate ecosystems.
Current British Museum projects
Mesoamerican shell, wood and other plant
remains
Mesoamerican copal resins
Icons (wood)
Fitzwilliam Museum coffin catalogue (wood)
Syrian helmets (wood)
Egyptian mummy portraits (wood)
Egyptian wooden coffins and other funerary
items
Salcombe (wood)
Hoxne (wood)
Previous British Museum projects
Mexican turquoise mosaics (shell, wood, plant
fibres etc)
Jericho wood
Ra’s al-Hadd (Oman) (shell, plant remains,
fish bones etc)
Stonea Grange (wood)
Runnymede (organics)
Arctic clothing (animal hair)
Limestone stelae
Sutton Hoo (organics)
External fellowships/ honorary positions/ membership of professional bodies
Keeper of Natural History Collections,
Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF)
Member of the International Association of
Wood Anatomists (IAWA)
Chairman, Grants Committee, Palestine
Exploration Fund (PEF)
Publications
C.R.Cartwright, 'Reconstructing the use of coastal
resources at Ra’s al-Hadd, Oman, in the third millennium BC'
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 34 (2004),
pp.45-51
C.R.Cartwright, 'Grapes or raisins? An Early
Bronze Age larder under the microscope; Antiquity 77
(296), (2003) pp.345-348
C.R.Cartwright, 'Grape and grain; dietary
evidence from an Early Bronze Age store at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh,
Jordan' Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 134
(2002) pp. 98-117
C.R.Cartwright, 'Egyptian mummy
portraits: examining the woodworkers’ craft', in M. Bierbrier (ed.)
Portraits and Masks. Burial Customs in Roman
Egypt (British Museum Press, London, 1997)
pp.106-11
C.R.Cartwright, 'The wood charcoal
assemblages from Elands Bay Cave, southwestern Cape: principles,
procedures and preliminary interpretation', with J.
Parkington South African Archaeological Bulletin
(1997) pp.52;59-72