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Department of Archaeology

 

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

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

Research supervision: 

Other Professional Activities

Members of Magdalene College

Job Titles

PhD Student in Archaeology

General Info

Not available for consultancy
Research Expertise / Fields of study: 
Material Culture
Artefact Analysis & Technology
Archaeometallurgy

Contact Details

yth24 [at] cam.ac.uk

Affiliations

Person keywords: 
Medieval Archaeology
Archaeomaterial
Silver and lead metallurgy
History of Science
Knowledge transmission
Subjects: 
Archaeology
Themes: 
Material Culture
Geographical areas: 
Europe
Periods of interest: 
Medieval
Post-Medieval