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Dr. Thomas R. Fenn

Director, Center for the Study of Ancient Pyro-Technology

 

Analysis of Beads by Thomas Fenn

Dr. Fenn has been working with ancient glass remains from archaeological sites, much of which comprises glass beads, for more than a decade. His initial research utilized glass beads to examine 1st millennium to early 2nd millennium AD contacts between sites in sub-Saharan West Africa and the greater Mediterranean, Southwest and South Asia. Similar questions of trade and socio-economic contacts carried Dr. Fenn’s research to other portions of Africa, including North, East and Southern Africa. The research combines archaeological evidence with a variety of analytical results, including elemental and isotopic compositions of the glass, to explore questions on raw glass and glass bead production and trade at local, regional and global scales. These researches have lead Dr. Fenn to identify and provide new evidence for economic connections between various part of Africa and the greater Islamic world. More recently, Dr. Fenn has continued his research with glass beads, but outside of Africa, with materials ranging from ancient Thailand to historic Alaska.


 

Glass Beads from Dr. Fenn’s Own Research:
Azelik, Niger - ca. AD 1000-1400+ - Islamic era

 

Glas Beads from Collaborations:

  • Dr. Peter Robertshaw (California State University San Bernardino, CA, U.S.A.)

    • Sites:

    Al-Basra, Morocco - ca. AD 800-1100 - Islamic era
    Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria - ca. AD 800-1100 - Islamic era
    Kissi, Burkina Faso - ca. 2nd-7th c. AD - late Iron Age
    Shanga, Kenya - ca. AD 750-1000 - Islamic era
    Tumbe, Pemba Island, Tanzania - ca. AD 750-1000 - Islamic era
    Pont Drift, South Africa - ca. AD 750-950 - Islamic era
    Schroda, South Africa - ca. AD 750-950 - Islamic era
    Mapungubwe, South Africa - ca. AD 1100-1300+ - Islamic era
    K2, South Africa - ca. AD 1000-1300+ - Islamic era
    Thulamela, South Africa - ca. AD 1300-1650+ - Islamic era
    Faure, South Africa - ca. AD 1400-1650+ - Islamic era
    Nqoma, Botswana - ca. 7th-11th c. AD - Islamic era
    Mmadipudi, Botswana - ca. AD 750-950 - Islamic era
    Matlapaneng, Botswana - ca. AD 750-950 - Islamic era
    Bosutswe-Kgotla 3, Botswana - ca. AD 750-950 - Islamic era
    Bosutswe, Botswana - ca. AD 1240-1300+ - Islamic era
    Kgaswe, Botswana - ca. AD 1240-1300+ - Islamic era
    Toutswe, Botswana - ca. AD 1400-1650+ - Islamic era
    Tora Nju, Botswana - ca. AD 1400-1650+ - Islamic era
    Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe - ca. AD 1300-1400+ - Islamic era

  • Dr. Edwin Wilmsen (University of Edinburgh, Scotland & University of Texas, U.S.A.)

    • Sites:

    Zhizo Hill, Zimbabwe - ca. AD 750-950 - Islamic era
    Nqoma, Botswana - ca. 7th-11th c. AD - Islamic era

  • Dr. Detlef Gronenborn (Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz, Germany)

    • Site:

    Durbi Takusheyi, Nigeria - ca. late 1200s to <1510 AD - Islamic era

  • Dr. Thanik Lertcharnrit (Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand)

    • Site:

    Phromtihin Tai, Thailand - ca. 500 BC - AD 500 - Iron Age

  • Dr. Douglas Anderson (Brown University, Providence, RI, I.S.A.)

    • Site:

    Kobuk, Alaska, U.S.A. - late 1700s or early 1800s - Historic Period

Presentations of Glass Bead Researchs:

Fenn,Thomas, Ed Wilmsen, Peter Robertshaw, David Killick, and Joaquin Ruiz. 2014. “Botswana, Southern Africa and Glass Bead Trade in the Indian Ocean during the 1st and 2nd Millennium AD.” Paper presented at the 14th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies & 22nd Biennial Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists, Johannesburg, South Africa, July 17, 2014.

 

Fenn,Thomas. 2014. “Botswana, Southern Africa and Glass Bead Trade in the Indian Ocean during the 1st and 2nd Millennium A.D.” Invited paper presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, Texas, April 24, 2014.

 

Fenn,Thomas R. 2012. “Ancient Global Dynamics of the Indian Ocean: Examination of African Interactions through Archaeometric Analyses.” Invited guest lecture presented at the Département de Géosciences, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland, December 11, 2012.

 

Fenn,Thomas R. 2012. “African Technological and Economic Developments as Defined through Chemical and Isotopic Analyses of Raw and Finished Materials.” Invited guest lecture presented at the Gent University, Gent, Belgium, October 16, 2012.

 

Fenn,Thomas R. 2012. “Isotopes and Ancient African Glass Beads: Case Studies from the 1st & 2nd Millennium AD.” Invited guest lecture presented in the Centre for Archaeological Sciences Seminar Series, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven), Belgium, May 18, 2012.

 

Fenn,Thomas, Peter Robertshaw, Patrick Degryse, David Killick, and Ian Freestone. “Raw Material Selection in Locally Produced and Imported Glass from Ancient North Africa.” Invited paper presented in the organized session “Raw Material Perspectives on Technological Choice and Change”, at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Memphis, Tennessee, April 20, 2012.

 

Fenn, Thomas R., Peter Robertshaw, Ed Wilmsen, Marilee Wood, David Killick, Patrick Degryse, and Joaquin Ruiz. “From Whence the Monsoon Blows: Indian Ocean Trade in Glass Beads with Africa in the 1st and 2nd Millennium AD”. Invited paper presented at the workshop East Africa in the Indian Ocean II, Jesus College, University of Oxford, March 22, 2012.

 

Fenn,Thomas R. 2012. “Botswana, Southern and Eastern Africa and the 1st and 2nd Millennium AD Indian Ocean Glass Bead Trade.” Invited guest lecture presented in the Centre of African Studies Lecture Series, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, March 21, 2012.

 

Fenn,Thomas R., Patrick Degryse, David Killick, and Joaquin Ruiz. “Pb, Sr, and Nd Isotopic Analyses in Provenance Studies of Ancient African Archaeological Glasses.” Poster presented at the 2012 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry, Tucson, Arizona, January 13, 2012.

 

Fenn,Thomas R., Peter Robertshaw, Marilee Wood, David Killick, John Chesley, and Joaquin Ruiz. “Glass Trade Beads in Africa: Inference of Provenance through Lead and Strontium Isotopes and Trace Elements.” Paper presented at the 38th International Symposium on Archaeometry, ISA 2010, Tampa, Florida, May 14, 2010.

 

Fenn,Thomas R., Peter Robertshaw, Marilee Wood, John T. Chesley, and Joaquin Ruiz. “Early Islamic Commerce with sub-Saharan Africa: Chemical and Isotopic Analyses of Late 1st Millennium A.D. Glass Beads from Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria.” Invited paper presented in the organized session “Provenance Studies in Archaeology”, at the 74th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta, Georgia, April 25, 2009.

 

Publications of Glass Bead Research (published and in preparation):

 

Fenn, Thomas R., Peter Robertshaw, and Marilee Wood. “Igbo-Ukwu (Nigeria), Southern African, Middle Eastern and Indian Ocean Trade in the Late First Millennium AD Determined Through Isotopic and Chemical Analyses of Glass Beads.” (in prep.).

 

Fenn, Thomas R., Peter Robertshaw, Marilee Wood, David Killick, John Chesley, and Joaquin Ruiz. “The Rise and Fall of Indian Ocean Empires as Seen Through Isotopic Analyses of African Glass Trade Beads.” (in prep.).

 

Fenn, Thomas, Ed Wilmsen, Peter Robertshaw, David Killick, and Joaquin Ruiz. 2014. Botswana, Southern Africa and Glass Bead Trade in the Indian Ocean during the 1st and 2nd Millennium AD. ‘African Archaeology without Frontiers’, 14-18 July, 2014, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa: Academic Programme, p. 57. 14th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies & 22nd Biennial Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists, Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

Fenn, Thomas. 2014. Botswana, Southern Africa and Glass Bead Trade in the Indian Ocean during the 1st and 2nd Millennium A.D. Abstracts of the SAA 79th Annual Meeting, April 23-27, 2014, Austin, Texas, p. 228. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D.C.

 

Fenn,Thomas, Patrick Degryse, David Killick, Peter Robertshaw, and Ian Freestone. 2012. Raw Material Selection in Locally Produced and Imported Glass from Ancient North Africa. Abstracts of the 77th Annual Meeting, April 18-22, 2012, Memphis, Tennessee, p. 120. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D.C.

 

Fenn,Thomas R., Peter Robertshaw, Marilee Wood, David Killick, John Chesley, and Joaquin Ruiz. 2010. Glass trade beads in Africa: Inference of provenance through lead and strontium isotopes and trace elements. 38th International Symposium on Archaeometry, May 10-14, 2010: Programs and Abstracts, pp. 72-73. International Symposium on Archaeometry (ISA 2010), University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.

 

Fenn,Thomas R., Peter Robertshaw, Marilee Wood, John T. Chesley, and Joaquin Ruiz. 2009. Early Islamic Commerce with sub-Saharan Africa: Chemical and Isotopic Analyses of Late 1st Millennium A.D. Glass Beads from Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria. Abstracts of the 74th Annual Meeting, April 22-26, 2009, Atlanta, Georgia, p. 116. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D.C.