University of Chester

Faculty Member, History & Archaeology

Professor of Archaeology

About

I am Professor of Archaeology at the University of Chester. My archaeological research interests focus on death, burial and commemoration, particularly for the early medieval period (c. AD 400-1100) in Britain, NW Europe and Scandinavia. I am interested in the relationships between material culture, monuments and landscape in the construction and negotiation of memories, focusing on mortuary practices. I also explore the roles of portable artefacts, materials and substances, tombs, sculpture, architecture and settlements as media and environments for memory work and performance.

I began my research career investigating the early medieval reuse of prehistoric and Roman monuments before turning to investigate early Anglo-Saxon cremation graves for my doctoral research. Since then, I have pursued a range of themes in early medieval burial studies including the role of funerals in constructing identities. This work has attempted to connect theory, method and data and address cross-disciplinary debates in the study of memory, emotion and personhood, particularly with anthropology and history. You can find papers of mine in edited books and also academic journals. I have edited one book for Springer International, co-edited one themed journal edition of World Archaeology and co-edited two more books, one for Oxbow, the other for University of Exeter Press. I have also written a book called 'Death and Memory in Early Medieval Britain' published by Cambridge University Press. Details of these are on this site and my SelectedWorks website.

Through research projects, publications and conferences, I  have enjoyed working with a range of researchers. Currently and on different projects, I am collaborating with Dr Meggen Gondek (University of Chester), Joanne Kirton (University of Chester) and Professor Philip Schwyzer (University of Exeter).

I have sometimes explored mortuary archaeology in periods other than the early Middle Ages. I have investigated monument reuse, ephemeral monumentality and cremation practices of Roman Britain. I have increasingly looked later in time, in one paper considering the relationships between architecture, tombs and burials in later medieval monastic contexts. Most recently, I have been exploring contemporary cremation practices in the UK and Scandinavia. My interests also extend to the archaeology of war memorials resulting in a recent paper co-authored with Samuel Walls. I am currently serving as guest editor for the journal 'Mortality', drawing together a special themed edition on 'Contemporary Archaeologies of Death'.

In recent years, I have developed an interest in public and community archaeology, publishing two co-authored papers for the journal 'Public Archaeology', one with Elizabeth Williams, another with Dr Faye Simpson (Manchester Metropolitan University). More recently, I have published on the display of the ancient dead in modern society in the book 'Mortuary Practices and Social Identities in the Middle Ages' published by University of Exeter Press.

The history and theory of archaeology also interest me, particularly in relation to the early Middle Ages and antiquarian perceptions and practices surrounding death. I have organised conferences and published on these topics including a themed edition of the journal 'Early Medieval Europe', co-edited with Professor Bonnie Effros (University of Florida). I serve as OUP series editor for 'Oxford Studies in the History of Archaeology'.

My work is both library/desk-based and field-based. Regarding fieldwork, I have conducted independent field-visits and research in the UK and Scandinavia. As a fieldwork director, I have been involved in three projects involving archaeological survey and excavation. The first of these was at an Early Bronze Age burial mound with indications of later reuse on Roundway Down, Wiltshire in collaboration with Dr Sarah Semple (University of Durham). As a community and student-training project, I also directed survey and excavations of a medieval manorial complex at Stokenham in the South Hams of Devon incorporating a detailed archaeological survey of the churchyards of Stokenham and Slapton. On the international stage, I co-directed the excavations of a Viking boat-grave at Skamby, Sweden with Dr Martin Rundkvist, now published in 'Medieval Archaeology'. I am currently developing two new fieldwork projects, at Kingskerswell, Devon (with Dr Niall Finneran, University of Winchester) and the Pillar of Eliseg near Llangollen in North Wales (with Professor Dai Morgan Evans, University of Chester and Professor Nancy Edwards and Dr Gary Robinson, both of the University of Bangor).

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