Newcastle University

Post-Doc, School of Historical Studies

Research Assistant for Historic Seascape Characterisation

Thesis Title: An archaeology of movement

About

I am now at Newcastle University, School of History, Classics and Archaeology as a Research Assistant (Post-doc) conducting the Historic Seascape Characterisation between East Yorkshire to Newport, Norfolk (Eastern England). This is a one year position, starting April 2012.

Since 2008 I have been completing my PhD on landscape archaeology, specifically on an archaeology of movement.

My thesis is called ‘An archaeology of movement’ and focuses on examining the relations between past movement and landscape and critically assessing landscape archaeology. The main research aim questions the dominating static representations of past landscapes in contemporary archaeology and argues the need to re-present more dynamic representations of the past that are evident in landscape’s materiality and in our archaeological practices. Another aim is to draw attention to the inadequate way that past movement has been studied by archaeologists by offering new thinking related to two archaeological case studies. The case studies are: the gathering and sorting of sheep in Mývatnssveit during the 19th and early-20th century, and cairn building and paths of movement around Vatnsfjörður from a long-term perspective. The two case studies use several different practical/theoretical perspectives and argue why examining these two aims is relevant for contemporary archaeology, and in particular, in advancing the study of past movement. However, while landscapes are presented as having considerably more fluidity, the case studies also identify the important role that immobile structural forces have in anchoring or gravitating mobility – such as sites that have had a continual presence through time in the landscape. How immobility has overshadowed mobility is remedied by attending to their relationship symmetrically. Thus, these two contradictory forces of mobility, characterised by moving bodies, and immobile structures, of movement systems, are two (ontologically 'flat') components in the shaping of landscape's materiality and in our attending practices that are used to understand the past. These practical/theoretical approaches lead towards the scrutinizing of the relationships between landscape change on the one hand, and movement on the other. The thesis concludes by examining these relationships in light of the case studies and from landscape’s connectivities by drawing on several contemporary approaches in archaeology, anthropology and geography that have begun (but not finished the job!) to suture the gap between theory and practice, and between humans and nonhumans. The thesis concludes by offering new theoretical knowledge on the relationship between past movement and landscape, and the practice (and theory) of conducting landscape archaeology.

I am the recipient of a PhD stipend from the University of Iceland Research Fund (Rannsóknasjóði Háskóla Íslands). In 2008 (Wint) I was a Visiting Graduate Student affiliated to Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University http://proteus.brown.edu/aldred/home; and in 2009 (Spr) I was a Visiting Graduate Student affiliated to the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge.

I have a BA (Hons) in Classical Studies and Archaeology, University of Liverpool (1994), and a MA in Landscape Archaeology, University of Leicester (1995). From 1995 I worked at Archaeological Field Unit (Cambs CC), Cambridge Archaeological Unit and Somerset County Council, England (1999-2002) on excavations, landscape research (1995-1999) and Heritage Management projects (1999-2002). While at Somerset I completed two research projects for English Heritage: Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) project for Somerset and Exmoor National Park (2001) and the national review of HLC methods to establish future direction and guidelines (2002).

From 2002 I worked for the Institute of Archaeology, Iceland (Fornleifastofnun Íslands). I was responsible for Digital Data Management, project manager for the EU Culture 2000 funded ARENA project, and as well as research projects related to excavation and landscape archaeology. I was the Icelandic coordinator for the European ESF-COST funded A27 Understanding pre-industrial structures in rural and mining landscapes (LANDMARKS) project (2004-2008). And currently, I am project manager for the Institute's participation in the EU Culture 2007-2013 funded project Archaeolandscapes Europe.

I am the current Chair of the Aerial Archaeology Research Group (AARG).