Margaret Sax
Special Assistant
Science
Department: Conservation and Scientific
Research
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 8268
Email: science @ thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Margaret’s research into the characteristics
of tool marks preserved on hard stone artefacts allowed her to
develop a methodology, based on optical and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), for the identification of ancient carving
methods. Her specialization arose from a project to identify the
materials of more than two thousand near Eastern cylinder seals (c.
3500-400 BC), which led to an investigation of the tools and
techniques used to engrave the hardest, quartz seals.
The study resulted in a radical reassessment
of the date for the introduction of the jeweller’s wheel in
Mesopotamia. The methodology has since been applied to the carving
of nephrite jade in China, a tradition spanning seven
millennia.
In 2006, Margaret was invited to study a
selection of the jades excavated at the Jin Marquis cemetery,
Shanxi province, China.
In collaboration with the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington DC, she is also working on the lapidary
technology of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
Current British Museum projects
The origin of large quartz crystal skulls and pre-Columbian
lapidary technology
Scientific examination of jade terrapin
Investigation of the methods used to carve jade and other hard
stones in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica
Investigation of the methods used to carve jades excavated at
the Jin Marquis cemetery, Shanxi province, China
Previous British Museum projects
Identification of carving techniques on Chinese jade
Identification of engraving techniques on quartz cylinder seals
from Mesopotamia, c.3000-400 BC
Identification of the materials of cylinder seals from
Mesopotamia, c.3500-400 BC
External fellowships/ honorary positions/ membership of professional bodies
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Publications
Most recent publications
M. Sax, N. D. Meeks, J. Ambers, C. Michaelson, ‘The
introduction of rotary incising wheels for working jade in China’,
P. Jett, (ed.) Scientific Research on the Sculptural Arts
of Asia, Proceedings of the Forbes Symposium at the Freer Gallery
of Art, Washington DC, 2005 (in press)
M. Sax, N. D. Meeks, C.
Michaelson, A. P. Middleton, ‘The identification of carving
techniques on Chinese jade’, Journal of Archaeological
Science, 31 (2004), pp. 1413-1428
M. Sax, N. D. Meeks, D. Collon, ‘The
introduction of the lapidary engraving wheel in Mesopotamia’,
Antiquity, 74(284), (2000), pp. 380-387
M. Sax, ‘The seal materials, their
chronology and sources’, in: D. Colon, Catalogue of the Western
Asiatic Seals in the British Museum, Cylinder seals V, Neo-
Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods, (London, The British
Museum Press, 2001), pp. 18-34
M. Sax, J. McNabb, N. D. Meeks,
‘Methods of engraving Mesopotamian cylinder seals: experimental
confirmation’, Archaeometry, 40 (1998), pp. 1-21