Michael Prange

Michael Prange is Professor of Applied Materials Science at Georg Agricola University of Applied Sciences since 2015 and Head of Research Departments for Fundamental Research at the German Mining Museum Bochum since 2014, leading both the Materials Laboratory and Department of Materials and Conservation Sciences. His institutional affiliations bridge academic materials science with museum-based archaeological research.

His core research spans archaeometallurgy, materials science, and conservation science, with specialized focus on ancient metal production techniques, historical mining archaeology, and cultural heritage preservation. He employs analytical methods to study metal artifacts and mining sites across Eurasia and the Americas, connecting material properties to historical technological practices. His work bridges hard science with archaeological interpretation to reconstruct prehistoric and ancient metallurgical processes.

Recent publications (2010-2012) reveal concentrated investigation of ancient mining sites: Roman wet-processing technology in Germany, Inca copper mining in Chile, pre-Roman lead/silver extraction on Ibiza, and Caucasus gold metallurgy. These studies demonstrate consistent methodology—integrating materials analysis with archaeological context—to decode technological evolution across diverse civilizations and time periods, with particular emphasis on analytical archaeometallurgy.

Prange directs externally funded research including German Archaeological Institute projects on the Pietrele settlement (since 2009) and Ibizan mining (2010-2013), plus Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung projects (from 2014). As head of the Materials Laboratory, he oversees archaeometallurgical analyses, conservation science initiatives, and the museum's research infrastructure development.