Assistant Professor of Archaeometallurgy
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Profile
Thomas Rose will join CMRAE as Assistant Professor of Archaeometallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in 2026.
Thomas Rose currently works as researcher at the research area Archaeometallurgy of the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum in the DFG-funded project “GlobaLID – Building an interface between geochemistry and archaeometry to create a new research infrastructure with a global perspective”. He holds a PhD degree in archaeology of Ben Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel) and the Sapienza (Rome, Italy), a master’s degree in Geosciences from the Goethe University (Frankfurt, Germany), and a bachelor’s degree in Prehistory from Tübingen University (Germany). He gained expertise in ancient copper metallurgy with focus on the Chalcolithic Southern Levant and stable metal isotope systems as well as research data management and research software development. He is maintainer of the R package ChronochRt and joint honorary editor (technical) of the journal Historical Metallurgy. He is engaged in the activities of several learned societies and founding member of the initiative Young Researchers in Archaeometry.
His research focuses on the development and application of new methods and concepts for the reconstruction of ancient metallurgy and its impact on past societies. He aims for a holistic approach with special emphasis on the combination of experimental and analytical techniques based on a sound understanding of the underlying physico-chemical processes. He is particularly passionate about exploring the potential of stable metal isotopes for archaeometallurgical research and the potential of reproducible research practices to increase the transparency and validity of research output.
Selected Publications
- Rose T, Natali S, Brotzu A, Fabian P, Goren Y (2024) Bellows and furnace covers in the unalloyed copper metallurgy of the Chalcolithic Southern Levant: Reassessing the evidence from Abu Matar. Archaeometry 66:583–599. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12931
- Rose T, Natali S, Brotzu A, Bar S, Goren Y (2023) First evidence for alloying practices in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant (4500–3800 BCE) as revealed by metallography. Heritage Science 11:193. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-01030-2
- Rose T, Fabian P, Goren Y (2023) The (in)visibility of lost wax casting moulds in the archaeological record: Observations from an archaeological experiment. Archaeological Anthropological Science 15:31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01731-6
- Klein S, Rose T, Westner KJ, Hsu Y-K (2022) From OXALID to GlobaLID: Introducing a modern and FAIR lead isotope database with an interactive application. Archaeometry 64:935–950. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12762
- Rose T, Hanning EK, Klein S (2020) Smelting Experiments with Chalcopyrite Ore based on Evidence from the Eastern Alps. Metalla 25:77–100. https://doi.org/10.46586/metalla.v25.2019.i2.77-100
- Rose T, Télouk P, Fiebig J, Marschall HR, Klein S (2020) Iron and oxygen isotope systematics during corrosion of iron objects: A first approach. Archaeological Anthropological Science 12:133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01072-8
- Klein S, Rose T (2020) Evaluating copper isotope fractionation in the metallurgical operational chain: An experimental approach. Archaeometry 62:134–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12564