Foreword David Saunders Beauty and belief: the endangered tradition of Omani silver jewelry Aude Mongiatti, Fahmida Suleman and Nigel Meeks Evidence for shield construction from the early Anglo-Saxon cemetery site of Tranmer House, Bromeswell, Suffolk Hayley Bullock, Alexandra Baldwin, Jamie Hood, Chris Fern, Caroline Cartwright, Janet Lang and Quanyu Wang The Noli me Tangere: study and conservation of a Cretan icon Lynne Harrison, Janet Ambers, Rebecca Stacey, Caroline Cartwright and Angeliki Lymberopoulou Grimes Graves revisited: a new light on chalk ‘lamps’ Satoko Tanimoto, Rebecca Stacey, Gillian Varndell and Tracey Sweek Portrait mummies from Roman Egypt: ongoing collaborative research on wood identification Caroline Cartwright, Lin Rosa Spaabæk and Marie Svoboda A Chinese bronze gui vessel: genuine Western Zhou object or fake? Quanyu Wang, Sascha Priewe, Kwang-tzuu Chen and Susan La Niece Investigating technological and environmental evidence from plant remains and molluscs in cuneiform tablets Caroline Cartwright and Jon Taylor Defence and decoration: new findings on a late fourteenth-century ‘kettle-hat’ helmet found in London Jamie Hood, Joanne Dyer, Janet Lang and Janet Ambers Assessing the potential of historic archaeological collections: a pilot study of the British Museum’s Swiss lake dwelling textiles Catherine Higgitt, Susanna Harris, Caroline Cartwright and Pippa Cruickshank The history and conservation of the papyrus of Tuy John Taylor, Bridget Leach and Helen Sharp