AGES

Archaeological, Geographical & Environmental Sciences

Dr Andrew Wilson

Lecturer in Archaeological Sciences

Archaeological Sciences

Room:	Phoenix SW 1.07
Tel:	(01274) 235351
Email:	A.S.Wilson2@Bradford.ac.uk

Andrew Wilson is Lecturer in Archaeological Sciences. Previously he was Research Fellow funded by Wellcome Trust (2002-06) and AHRC Research Centre for Textile Conservation & Textile Studies (2006-07). He holds a BSc in Archaeological Conservation (1994, UCL), MSc in Osteology, Palaeopathology & Funerary Archaeology (1997, Bradford/ Sheffield) and PhD funded by the Wellcome Trust Bioarchaeology Initiative (2002, Bradford). He has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, Wiltshire County Council Conservation Service and Ancient Monuments Laboratory.

He contributes to MSc Forensic Archaeology & Crime Scene Investigation and BSc Forensic & Archaeological Science. He is module coordinator for ‘Degradation of Archaeological Materials’ (level M) and contributes to ‘Taphonomy & Chemistry of Human Remains’ (level M); ‘Archaeological Conservation’ (level 3) and CPD short courses: Principles and Practice of Stable Light isotopes and Palaeopathology.

Professional activities

Andrew co-organised conference sessions at UK Archaeological Sciences (2005), the Mummy Congress in Turin (2004) and Greenland (2001) and has given plenary lectures at University of Leiden, National Museum of Ireland, British Museum and BA Festival of Science. He is a network member on EPSRC Geoforensics and Information Management for Crime Investigations (GIMI); Member [http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/archsci/external/fsag/index.html|Forensic Search Advisory Group (FSAG)]]; Member European Hair Research Society (EHRS).

Research

Andrew’s research lies at the interface between archaeological science, conservation science and forensic science. His research is directed towards recovering trace information from human remains and associated materials (particularly from hair and fibres), whilst accounting for taphonomic changes to these remains. His work on keratotics (e.g. hair/wool, nail, feather, hoof and horn), which survive only under exceptional conditions within the archaeological record brings him into contact with naturally preserved and artificially mummified human/ faunal remains from extreme environments (e.g. frozen/ arid-desiccated remains from South America, Greenland and Egypt; bog remains from NW Europe), cist burials and more recent 19th century archaeological contexts.

Andrew exploits the rapid formation/ incremental nature of hair/nail (~10 mm/ month for Caucasoid scalp hair) to reconstruct recent life-history (e.g. variation in diet and locational information connected with seasonal, physiological, geographic and cultural factors) using stable light isotope data. Andrew also works closely with other researchers on aspects of mtDNA survival, drug metabolites and other toxicological information in hair/ nail used for identification purposes.

Andrew has a detailed understanding of histological change to hair and is interested in conditions associated with the decay of human remains (subject to surface exposure/ soil burial) that influence this. Fieldscale taphonomic experiments have been conducted at the Anthropological Research Facility (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), with the Bioanthropology Foundation in Southern Peru, and within the UK (including UoB’s taphonomic research facility). He has strong linkages with other researchers active in this area (see also Rob Janaway), currently via GIMI network. Allied to this research is casework experience in forensic archaeology/ taphonomy, working closely with FSAG, West Yorkshire Police and other UK Forces. Andrew’s conservation background supports recent work on depositional environment fluxes and their impact on preservation of archaeological remains in-situ (e.g. EH-funded agrochemicals on metalwork; temperature/ re-oxygenation on Neolithic wood in Greek wetlands).

Andrew is active in communicating science to the wider public. Projects include: South Cadbury Shield (joint Wiltshire and Somerset CC project; winner MGC National Conservation Award,1999); National Museum of Ireland Bog Bodies Project (2004-6); Brontëan Abstracts (2006)/ Who were the Brontës? (2007-9) (Brontë Parsonage Museum/ Cornelia Parker); Strange Powers: Bog Bodies and Boglands (2004 - Dr. Christine Finn); Gristhorpe Man (2005-8 Scarborough Museum/ Dr. Nigel Melton) and at BA Festival of Science (2004); Salters Festival of Chemistry (2007). His research has been featured by New Scientist, BBC (Timewatch; Tomorrows World; Questions, Questions), Nova and other TV/ radio channels.

Publications Since 2000

Wilson, A. S. in print (2008). The decomposition of hair in the buried body environment. In M. Tibbett and D. O. Carter (ed.) Soil Analysis in Forensic Taphonomy: Chemical and Biological Effects of Buried Human Remains: 119-148. Boca Raton: CRC Press

Frohlich, B., M. Zuckerman, T. Amgalantugs, D. Hunt, A. S. Wilson, M. T. P. Gilbert, R. Chambers, H. M. Coyle, B. Falkowski, E. Garofalo & E. Batchatar in press (2009). Human Mummified Remains from the Gobi Desert: Current Progress in Reconstruction and Evaluation. In P. Atoche (ed.) Proceedings of Mummy Congress. Lanzarote.

Janaway, R. C., A. S. Wilson, G. Carpio Díaz & S. Guillen in press (2009). Taphonomic changes to the buried body in arid environments: an experimental case study in Peru. In K. Ritz, L. Dawson and D. Miller (ed.) Criminal & Environmental Soil Forensics: 341-356. New York: Springer

Edwards, H. G. M., J. Montgomery, N. D. Melton, M. D. Hargreaves, A. S. Wilson & E. A. Carter in press 2010. Gristhorpe Man : Raman Spectroscopic Study of a Bronze Age Log Coffin Burial. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy

Gilbert, M. T. P., D. J. Tobin & A. S. Wilson in press. Hair as a source of ancient DNA. In G. Dorado (ed.) Molecular markers, PCR, Bioinformatics & Ancient DNA - Technology, Troubleshooting & Applications: New York: Science Publishers

Pollard, A. M., D. R. Brothwell, A. Aali, S. Buckley, H. Fazeli, M. Hadian Dehkordi, T. Holden, A. K. G. Jones, J. J. Shokouhi, R. Vatandoust & A. S. Wilson in press. Below the salt: a preliminary study of the dating and biology of five salt-preserved bodies from Zanjan Province, Iran. Iran - Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies

Janaway, R. C., S. L. Percival & A. S. Wilson 2009. Decomposition of human remains. In S. L. Percival (ed.) Microbiology and Aging: Clinical Manifestations: New York: Springer

Petrou, M., H. G. M. Edwards, R. C. Janaway, P. Kavvouras, G. B. Thompson & A. S. Wilson 2008. The degradation of lignocellulosics under conditions applicable to wetlands in northern Greece. In H. Kars and R. M. Van Heeringen (ed.) Preserving achaeological remains in situ. Proceedings of the 3rd conference 7-9 December 2006: Geoarchaeological and Bioarchaeological studies 10. 47-54. Amsterdam:

Wilson, A. S. 2008. The decomposition of hair in the buried body environment. In M. Tibbett and D. O. Carter (ed.) Soil Analysis in Forensic Taphonomy: Chemical and Biological Effects of Buried Human Remains: 123-151. Boca Raton: CRC Press

Edwards, H. G. M., A. S. Wilson, N. F. N. Hassan, A. Davidson & A. Burnett 2007. Raman spectroscopic analysis of human remains from a seventh century cist burial on Anglesey, UK. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 387: 821-828.

Gilbert, M. T. P., L. P. Tomsho, S. Rendulic, M. Packard, D. I. Drautz, A. Sher, A. Tikhonov, L. Dalen, T. Kuznetsova, P. Kosintsev, P. F. Campos, T. Higham, M. J. Collins, A. S. Wilson, F. Shidlovskiy, B. Buigues, P. G. P. Ericson, M. Germonpre, A. Gotherstrom, P. Iacumin, V. Nikolaev, M. Nowak-Kemp, E. Willerslev, J. R. Knight, G. P. Irzyk, C. S. Perbost, K. M. Fredrikson, T. T. Harkins, S. Sheridan, W. Miller & S. C. Schuster 2007. Whole-genome shotgun sequencing of mitochondria from ancient hair shafts. Science 317: 1927-1930.

Gilbert, M. T. R., D. Djurhuus, L. Melchior, N. Lynnerup, M. Worobey, A. S. Wilson, B. Andreasen & J. Dissing 2007. mtDNA from hair and nail clarifies the genetic relationship of the 15th century Qilakitsoq inuit mummies. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 133: 847-853.

Wilson, A. S., H. I. Dodson, R. C. Janaway, A. M. Pollard & D. J. Tobin 2007. Selective biodegradation in hair shafts derived from archaeological, forensic and experimental contexts. British Journal of Dermatology 157: 450-457.

Wilson, A. S. & M. T. P. Gilbert 2007. Hair and nail. In T. Thompson and S. Black (ed.) Forensic Human Identification: an Introduction: 147-174. Boca Raton: CRC Press

Wilson, A. S., R. C. Janaway, A. D. Holland, H. I. Dodson, E. Baran, A. M. Pollard & D. J. Tobin 2007. Modelling the buried human body environment in upland climes using three contrasting field sites. Forensic Science International 169: 6-18.

Wilson, A. S., M. P. Richards, B. Stern, R. C. Janaway, A. M. Pollard & D. J. Tobin 2007. Information on Grauballe man from his hair. In P. Asingh and N. Lynnerup (ed.) Grauballe Man: An Iron Age Bog Body Revisited: 188-195. Moesgaard: Jutland Archaeological Society

Wilson, A. S., T. Taylor, M. C. Ceruti, J. A. Chavez, J. Reinhard, V. Grimes, W. Meier-Augenstein, L. Cartmell, B. Stern, M. P. Richards, M. Worobey, I. Barnes & M. T. P. Gilbert 2007. Stable isotope and DNA evidence for ritual sequences in Inca child sacrifice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 16456-16461.

Gilbert, M. T. P., R. C. Janaway, D. J. Tobin, A. Cooper & A. S. Wilson 2006. Histological correlates of postmortem mitochondrial DNA damage in degraded hair. Forensic Science International 156: 201-207.

Gilbert, M. T. P., L. Menez, R. C. Janaway, D. J. Tobin, A. Cooper & A. S. Wilson 2006. Resistance of degraded hair shafts to contaminant DNA. Forensic Science International 156: 208-212.

Pollard, A. M., L. Wilson, A. S. Wilson & A. J. Hall 2006. Assessing the influence of agrochemicals on the rate of copper corrosion in the vadose zone of arable land - Part 2: laboratory simulations.. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 7: 225-239.

Wilson, L., A. M. Pollard, A. J. Hall & A. S. Wilson 2006. Assessing the influence of agrochemicals on the nature of copper corrosion in the vadose zone of arable land - Part 3: geochemical modelling. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 7: 241-260.

Wilson, A. S. 2005. Hair as a Bioresource in Archaeological Study. In D. J. Tobin (ed.) Hair in Toxicology: an Important Biomonitor: 321-345. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry

Edwards, H. G. M., N. F. N. Hassan & A. S. Wilson 2004. Raman spectroscopic analyses of preserved historical specimens of human hair attributed to Robert Stephenson and Sir Isaac Newton. Analyst 129: 956-962.

Gilbert, M. T., A. S. Wilson, M. Bunce, A. J. Hansen, E. Willerslev, B. Shapiro, T. F. Higham, M. P. Richards, T. C. O'Connell, D. J. Tobin, R. C. Janaway & A. Cooper 2004. Ancient mitochondrial DNA from hair. Current Biology 14: R463-4.

Pollard, A. M., L. Wilson, A. S. Wilson, A. J. Hall & R. Shiel 2004. Assessing the Influence of Agrochemicals on the Rate of Copper Corrosion in the Vadose Zone of Arable Land. Part 1: Field Experiments. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 6: 363-375.

Wilson, A. S., H. I. Dodson, R. C. Janaway, A. M. Pollard & D. J. Tobin 2004. The development of a histological index for assessing the condition of hair from archaeological or forensic contexts. Journal of the German Society of Dermatology 2: 515.

Janaway, R. C., A. S. Wilson, A. D. Holland & E. N. Baran 2003. Taphonomic change to the buried body and associated materials in an upland peat environment: experiments using pig carcasses as human body analogues. In N. Lynnerup, C. Andreasen and J. Berglund (ed.) Mummies in a New Millenium: 56-59. Copenhagen: Greenland National Museum and Archives & Danish Polar Center

Wilson, A. S., H. I. Dodson, R. C. Janaway, A. M. Pollard & D. J. Tobin 2003. Survival and alteration - experiments in hair degradation. In N. Lynnerup, C. Andreasen and J. Berglund (ed.) Mummies in a New Millenium: 63-66. Nuuk, Greenland: Greenland National Museum and Archives, Danish Polar Center

Wilson, A. S. 2002. The South Cadbury Shield: Problems of Differential Corrosion In Archaeological Bronze. In H. Moody (ed.) Back to Basics: 9-12. London: The Metals Section - United Kingdom Institute for Conservation

Caffell, A. C., C. A. Roberts, R. C. Janaway & A. S. Wilson 2001. Pressures on Osteological Collections - The Importance of Damage Limitation. In E. Williams (ed.) Human Remains: Conservation, Retrieval and Analysis: British Archaeological Reports International Series 934. 187-197. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports

Janaway, R. C., A. S. Wilson, A. C. Caffell & C. A. Roberts 2001. Human skeletal collections: the responsibilities of project managers, physical anthropologists, conservators and the need for standardised condition assessments. In E. Williams (ed.) Human Remains: Conservation, Retrieval and Analysis: British Archaeological Reports International Series 934. 199-208. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports

Neal, A. V., A. S. Wilson & S. C. Minnitt 2001. The South Cadbury Shield Project. Scottish Society for Conservation and Restoration Journal 12: 17-21.

Wilson, A. S., R. A. Dixon, H. I. Dodson, R. C. Janaway, A. M. Pollard, B. Stern & D. J. Tobin 2001. Yesterday's Hair - Human Hair in Archaeology. Biologist 48: 213-217.

Wilson, A. S., R. A. Dixon, H. G. M. Edwards, D. W. Farwell, R. C. Janaway, A. M. Pollard & D. J. Tobin 2001. Towards an Understanding of the Interaction of Hair with the Depositional Environment. Chungara, Revista de Antropologia Chilena 33: 293-296.

Wilson, A. S., R. A. Dixon, R. C. Janaway, A. M. Pollard, B. Stern & D. J. Tobin 2001. Yesterday's Hair - Human Hair in Archaeology. Biologist 48: 213-217.

Wilson, A. S., R. C. Janaway, A. M. Pollard, R. A. Dixon & D. J. Tobin 2001. Survival of Human Hair - The Impact of the Burial Environment. In E. Williams (ed.) Human Remains, Conservation, Retrieval and Analysis: British Archaeological Reports International Series 934. 119-128. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports

Wilson, A. S. & S. C. Minnitt 2001. The South Cadbury Shield: from Discovery to Display. The Archaeologist 40: 21-24.

Coles, J. M., Minnitt, S.C., Wilson, A.S., Somerset County Museums Service, S. C. Minnitt & A. S. Wilson 2000. Ceremony and display: the South Cadbury Bronze Age Shield. Taunton: Somerset County Museums Service.

Wilson, A. S. 2000. Hair Degradation. Trends in Analytical Chemistry 19: VIII.