Rachel spent a month staying at the Trust’s highgate house in August 2023.

I would like to send my sincerest thanks to The Robert Anderson Research Charitable Trust and its trustees, and particularly to Mr Howard Davies as my host, for providing me the opportunity to stay in London for one month to conduct academic research!

My visit to London was dedicated to my dissertation project, entitled “Divergence in Decoration: Opaque Red Glass Production in Europe from the Late Iron Age to Early Roman Empire.” This project is an archaeological study investigating the origins of opaque red glass as a decorative motif in primarily copper-alloy metal objects found in western and central Europe, and the obsolescence of this glass type in early Roman provincial period continental Europe, ca. 450 BCE to 100 CE.

My research in London was divided between library research, museum visits and object studies, and glass analysis in collaboration with the University College London Institute of Archaeology. I conducted library research primarily at British Library, the University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, and the Combined Library of the Institute of Classical Studies and the Hellenic and Roman Societies. I was able to study and photograph Iron Age British objects at the British Museum’s study rooms during my visit, and see the Iron Age and Roman collections on display at the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Due to a technical error with the glass analysis equipment at UCL, I was unable to complete my glass analysis, but gained a great deal of knowledge from my meetings with glass specialists at the university and was able to arrange for the completion of my analysis at a future date.

This visit was essential to my dissertation research. The knowledge I gained from handling objects from my period of study, while discussing opaque red glass and its composition in the Iron Age and Roman Empire with specialists in the subject, and conducting research at libraries with such extensive collections has assisted me in the writing process of my dissertation. Having the opportunity to network with curators, scientific researchers, and archaeologists in London has also opened doors for me that will be essential to my future as an academic.

The Trust is a wonderful opportunity for aspiring young scholars to further their academic research and network with individuals outside of their home countries, and I am grateful to have had this opportunity to progress as an academic.