Research in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
The Department has an active research culture, and a strong series of departmental research seminars. We regularly host national and international conferences. Further details of departmental events are listed on our events pages
The Department has five Research Groups: European Prehistory; Materiality; Human Origins; Mediterranean archaeology; and Social Anthropology.
Details of opportunities for research students are provided on our postgraduate pages.
European Prehistory
[ Professor Richard Harrison, Dr Volker Heyd, Dr Joshua Pollard, Dr Richard Tabor ]
The Department has a strong and varied faculty expertise in Neolithic and Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe and Britain. Specialisms include Late Neolithic-Copper Age transitions, funerary archaeology, monumentality, Neolithic materialities and prehistoric landscapes. Current funded research projects in this field include the Avebury Longstones Project (AHRB, English Heritage and National Trust-funded), the South Cadbury Environs Project (AHRB funded with University of Oxford), and the Kinship and Residence 3rd Mill. BC Project (download a poster of this project) (Thyssen-funded with the University of Manchester and the University of Halle, Germany).
Mediterranean Worlds
[ Dr Tamar Hodos, Dr Nicoletta Momigliano, Dr David Shankland, Dr Dimitrios Theodossopoulos, Dr Aidan Dodson, Professor Peter Warren.
The Department's research into the Mediterranean region ranges from Bronze Age and Iron Age archaeology to Egyptian archaeology, contemporary perceptions of heritage in Anatolia and social anthropology in North Africa.
Social Anthropology
[ Dr Fiona Bowie, Dr David Shankland, Dr Dimitrios Theodossopoulos, Dr Rohit Barot ]
The Department has a broad range of faculty expertise in social anthropology, including the anthropology of religion, kinship, political anthropology, environmental anthropology and tourism and heritage studies.
Materiality and Historical Archaeology
[ Dr Josh Pollard, Dr Nick Saunders, Dr Christine Finn, Dr John Schofield, Dr Mark Horton ]
Several members of the Department collaborate in their archaeological studies of materiality and historical archaeology. A strong body of postgraduate research in this field ranges from studies of the Long Kesh/Maze site in Northern Ireland, to the material dimensions of Atlantic history and British colonialism and the archaeology of 20th century leisure landscapes. We also contribute to the University's research theme on Performativity, Place, Space.
Human Origins
[ Dr Kate Robson Brown, Dr Alistair Pike, Dr Mhairi Gibson, Dr João Zilhão ]
The Department has a strong and expanding international reputation for research into human origins in Africa, Asia and Europe. This research includes investigations of human evolution, the development of modern human behaviour, and quaternary environmental archaeology and scientific dating techniques.
The Archaeology and Anthropology of Panama
[Prof. Mark Horton, Dr Dimitrios Theodossopoulos]
The Department is undertaking multi-disciplinary research in Panama, on identity, material culture, colonisation, and migration (in the past and the present). For more details on the particular projects, see our web page.