Mary Ownby

Adjunct Assistant Professor (Appointed via Letter of Academic Title)
PhD, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK (2010

Education:

B.A. (magnum cum laude) Anthropology. University of Arizona (2000)

MA (Egyptian Archaeology). University of California, Berkeley, CA (2004)

MSc (with Distinction) Technology and Analysis of Archaeological Materials. University College London, UK (2006)
Dissertation: "Non-Destructive X-Ray Fluorescence"

PhD (Archaeology) Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK (2010)
Dissertation: "Canaanite Jars from Memphis as Evidence for Trade and Political Relationships in the Middle
Bronze Age"






Research:

Scientific study of cultural materials (with a focus on ceramics), petrography, scanning electron microscopy, chemistry (often through neutron activation analysis), intercultural interactions, economic systems, technological knowledge, mobility, and ceramic ecology; US Southwest and Egypt.  

Recent Publications:

Bajeot, J., Ownby, M.F., and Gatto, M.C., 2024. The Social Implication of a “mixed” Ceramic Assemblage: Understanding the Predynastic Community of Nag el-Qarmila (First Nile Cataract, Egypt) Through Pottery Technology. African Archaeological Review 41: 443-475.

Giomi, E., Ownby, M.F., Renson, V., and Stephens, J. 2023. Petrographic and Lead Isotope Analyses to Assess Regional Variability in Rio Grande Glaze Wares from New Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 51: 104185.

Matin, Moujan and Ownby, M.F., 2023. Early stonepaste ceramic technology in Fustat, Egypt. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 50: 104105.

Ownby, M.R., Ferguson, J.R., Borck, L., Clark, J.J., and Huntley, D., 2022. Combining big data and thick data: scalar issues when integrating neutron activation and petrographic data as illustrated through a ceramic study from the southern US
Southwest. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14: 110.

Ownby, M.F., Hartung, U., and Sowada, K., 2022. The Jars from Tomb Uj – A further Petrographic and Contextual Reassessment. Ägypten und Levante/Egypt and the Levant 32: 231-268.