Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE)
Room 16-539
(617) 253-4099
Profile
Wiliam Gilstrap supervises the lab facilities at the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology or CMRAE, and co-teaches 3.984/3.989 (Materials in Ancient Societies). This year-long course provides formal training in analysis of preindustrial materials. He also co-teaches 3.098 (Ancient Engineering: Ceramic Materials), which explores the fundamentals of ceramic materials as well as how the materials have changed over time and affected social development. Gilstap’s research uses reconstructions of ancient ceramic technologies to understand the role of craft production and consumption in early complex societies.
Before MIT, Gilstrap was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Archaeometry Group of the University of Missouri Research Reactor in Columbia, Missouri. There he integrated elemental compositional analyses through neutron activation analysis, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and advanced analytical techniques to understand not just how things are made, but why they are made in a specific way. He earned an MS in archaeomaterials and a PhD in archaeology at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. After work, Gilstrap enjoys fly fishing, gardening, and spending time with his two children.
Selected Publications
Gilstrap, W.D, P.M. Day and V. kilikoglou. “EIIIMETRO 2: Compositional Analysis of LHIIIB-IIIC early Ceramics from the Cave of Euripides, Salamis, Greece. In Ch. Maraea (auth.), Salamis II”. The Cave of Euripides at Peristeria, Salamis: The Mycenaean Use. 215-231. Ionia, GR, University of Ionia Press. (2021).
Gilstrap, W.D, J. L. Meanwell, E.H. Paris, R. Lòpez Bravo and P. M. Day. “Post-depositional Alteration of Calcium Carbonate Phases in Archaeological Ceramics: Depletion and Redistribution Effects”. Minerals 11(7), 749. (2021).
Echenique, E., F. Avila, A. Nielsen, and W.D. Gilstrap. “Regional integration and ceramic consumption in the border region of Bolivia and Argentina (ca. A.D.1000-1450)“. Latin American Antiquity 32(1):99-119. (2021).
Callaghan, M.G., D.E. Pierce and W.D. Gilstrap. “The First Maya Trade Ware? New Data on Mars Orange Paste Ware from Holtun, Guatemala“. Latin American Antiquity 29(4):1-7. (2018).
Gilstrap, W.D., P.M. Day and V. Kilikoglou. “Pottery production at two neighboring centres in the Late Bronze Age Saronic Gulf: historical contingency and craft organization“. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7:499-509. (2016)