Thomas J. Derrick

• Gale Research Fellow in Ancient Glass and Material Culture, Macquarie University

I am an archaeologist and academic focusing on the Roman Imperial period.

My main interests include glass, perfumes/medicines/cosmetics, and sensory archaeology/approaches - but I have a wider interest in the lives of everyday people in the Roman period and concepts of luxury.

Roman glass: I specialise in the identification, recording, analysis, and publication of Roman glass assemblages of all dates. I have worked directly on several Roman assemblages from Italy, Kosovo, and Britain, but have a strong working knowledge of the history of glass production in the late-Republican and Imperial periods and the distribution of Roman material throughout the Empire.

Perfumes, cosmetics, and medicine: The Roman harvesting and transformation of natural resources has long been an interest of mine. The synthesis of botanical resources into compound substances, and the surrounding knowledge, infrastructure, and associated material culture is a key theme of my research.

Sensory and quotidian archaeologies: Rather than uncover 'treasures' or items of material culture related to famous or notable people, my work focuses on 'everyday' items that may often be overlooked in the archaeological record. Sensory archaeology is a loosely-linked set of multi-disciplinary methodologies that aims to reconstruct the lived experience of individuals in the past. The aim is to not solely focus on what individuals did, but rather how they lived.

• –present Gale Research Fellow in Ancient Glass and Material Culture, Macquarie University

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