Samantha Dobson
Postgraduate Researcher
Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
About me:
Samantha Dobson is a PhD student (David Higgins scholarship) in the Centre for Islamic Archaeology within the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. Her PhD research is focussed on the historical archaeology of the pearling industry and the related Islamic identity at the site historical site of Muharraq, Bahrain from the 18th to 20th centuries AD.
She holds an MRes (by Sci) in Archaeological Science from the University of Nottingham focussed on the chemical characterisation of glasses from Sri Lanka and Bahrain as well as an undergraduate BSc in Archaeology also from the University of Nottingham. She has also worked previously in commercial archaeology with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit.
Her wider research interests are the use of scientific investigative techniques on the provenance of archaeological materials and the implications of this on trade in the historic and ancient worlds, Islamic glass and glazes, the Maritime Silk Road and trade in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf regions.
Research Unit:
Centre for Islamic Archaeology
Education:
January 2021 January 9999
University of Exeter
Ph.D
Thesis Title: Pearl Fishing, Commerce and Identities in Muharraq Town, Bahrain
Supervisors: Prof. Timothy Insoll and Dr. John Cooper.
Centre for Islamic Archaeology
Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies
January 2019 January 2020
University of Nottingham
MRes (by Sci) Archaeological Science
Thesis Title: Chemical characterisation of glasses from Mantai, Sri Lanka and Bilad al-Qadim, Bahrain from the 8th to the 13th centuries AD and their interpretation in the wider context of the Maritime Silk Road and trade within the Islamic World.
Supervisor: Prof. Julian Henderson
January 2016 January 2019
University of Nottingham
BSc Archaeology
Dissertation: A review of the current standards and guidelines regarding the practice of stable isotope studies in the field of bioarchaeology with particular reference to its application in the archaeological interpretation of the human.
Supervisor: Dr. Holly Miller