Biography
- 2010-2015 BA in Anthropology, National Taiwan University
- 2015-2016 MSc in Technology and Analysis of Archaeological Material, Institute of Archaeology, UCL (distinction)
- 2017-2018 MPhil in Archaeological Science, Institute of Archaeology, UCL.
Research
My research focuses on using archaeometric methods to study material cultures and technology in the past in order to investigate the movement of people, materials and knowledge. Funded by Cambridge Trust, my current PhD project is to study how small-scale cupellation (silver extraction) was implemented in mines and mint from the Late Medieval to Early Modern Europe, in order to investigate the dissemination and the transfer of technical knowledge in a time when open access to information and modern chemistry was in its infancy. The project is in collaboration with multiple institutes in the Czech Republic, Norway and France. I have also participated in projects related to the technology and production of glass and glaze in the Near East.
Key Publications
Saussus, L., Hsu, Y.-T., Poulain, M., Martinón-Torres, M., Thomas, N., & De Clercq, W. (2022). Refining silver at the castle: The rare case of a large early modern cupel from Middelburg-in-Flanders, Belgium. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 14(10), 185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01655-7
Wood, J. R., Hsu, Y.-T., & Bell, C. (2021). Sending Laurion Back to the Future: Bronze Age Silver and the Source of Confusion. Internet Archaeology, 56. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.56.9
Wood, J. R., & Hsu, Y.-T. (2020). Recycling Roman glass to glaze Parthian Pottery. IRAQ, 82, 259–270. https://doi.org/10.1017/irq.2020.9
Hsu, Y.-T., & Martinón-Torres, M. (2019). Fire assay and cupellation at the late medieval Porto Mint, Portugal: A technological study. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 24, 496–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.01.027
Wood, J., & Hsu, Y.-T. (2019). An Archaeometallurgical Explanation for the Disappearance of Egyptian and Near Eastern Cobalt-Blue Glass at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Internet Archaeology, 52. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.52.3
Teaching and Supervisions
Supervisors: Professor Marcos Martinón-Torres
Other Professional Activities
Members of Magdalene College