50 years of the Marc and Ismene Fitch Laboratory, 50 years of archaeological science in Greece

The Marc and Ismene Fitch Laboratory was founded in 1974, and this year marks 50 years of contributions to archaeological science. The concept of the laboratory emerged much earlier, in the late 1960s, in Oxford. Hector Catling, then Senior Assistant Keeper at the Department of Antiquities of the Ashmolean Museum, began collaborating with the newly established Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art (RLAHA) at the University of Oxford. After much effort and support from many involved, particularly the generosity of Marc and Ismene Fitch, the laboratory officially opened on November 29th, 1974. Being the first laboratory for archaeological science in Greece, its opening marked the development of a new era in Greek archaeology characterised by increasing interdisciplinarity. Today, scientific methods play an integral role in all aspects of archaeological research, and the contributions of the Fitch Laboratory together with a number of other laboratories across Greece and beyond have dramatically advanced our knowledge of the past, mirroring a broader trend in the discipline.

To commemorate the laboratory’s 50th anniversary as well as half a century of developments in archaeological science in Greece, we have selected 12 papers published at the Annual of the British School at Athens that both provide a historical perspective of the development of archaeological science in Greece and highlight the breadth of research conducted by the Fitch Laboratory staff and collaborators.

The series begins with a review by Hector Catling (Catling 2005: ABSA 100), originally written to celebrate the BSA's centenary, where he recounts the early days of the Fitch Laboratory. This is followed by a foundational paper from the pre-laboratory period, which played a key role in connecting the scholars who would later establish the Fitch, and showcases early scientific work on ceramic provenance (Catling et al. 1963: ABSA 58). The third paper represents one of the first large-scale research projects undertaken at the Fitch, a collaboration that began at the RLAHA and later progressed within the Fitch Laboratory itself (Catling et al. 1980: ABSA 75). While the Fitch is best known today for its ceramic research, the following six papers reveal its contributions to a broader range of archaeological science and demonstrate the development of archaeological science in Greece.

This includes a paper on archaeometallurgy – and more specifically on oxhide ingots, important objects for understanding a key aspect of Bronze Age trade and metallurgy, showing the movement of copper (Gale and Stos-Gale 1986: ABSA 81). These objects are still an area of discussion and this paper represents one of the earlier works. In addition, this selection includes three papers that focus on environmental archaeology, highlighting important findings on animal remains and agricultural practices (Halstead 1987: ABSA 82; Jones 1987: ABSA 82; Jones et al. 1999: ABSA 94). The volume then turns to more recent bioarchaeological research, made possible by advances in DNA and isotope analysis, which have shed new light on human mobility in the past (Brown et al 2000: ABSA 95; Triantaphyllou 2015: ABSA 110).

The final three papers reflect the exciting new questions that archaeological science now allows us to explore, such as the organisation of production and supply networks, and human mobility patterns (Waksman 2014: ABSA 109; Lis et al 2020: ABSA 115; Muller 2021: ABSA 116). Together, these contributions offer a fitting tribute to the Fitch Laboratory’s 50-year legacy of groundbreaking research in archaeological science and the development of the field and its contribution to our understanding of the human past in Greece and beyond.

Carlotta Gardner and Evangelia Kiriatzi

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