Research projects in the Department
Our staff are engaged in a wide range of research projects, covering topics as diverse as prehistoric basketry and Medieval landscapes. Our research takes place around the world and the projects below are ordered by their geographic location. Each of these projects are related to the department's research themes.
The archaeology of Southwest England
Exeter provides an ideal base to study the archaeology of the southwest region. A number of research projects have focused on this region to gain a greater insight into our local history.
Climate change archaeology; building resilience from research in the world’s coastal wetlands
This project starts from the knowledge that climate change is probably the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century.
Unlocking Cornwall's Bronze Age past
A modern day boat builder is being challenged to recreate the oldest boat ever found in western Europe, dating to around 2000 BC.
Calstock Roman fort
This project was originally investigating the royal silver mines which were worked on the Devon bank of the Tamar between 1292 and the mid 16th century. However, geophysical survey revealed a previously unknown Roman fort which was subsequently studied.
Crandon Bridge Romano-British port
This was a project to write up and disseminate the previously unpublished work (conducted by the M5 Research Committee in 1971) about the Romano-British port at Crandon Bridge, Somerset.
Poltimore Community Landscape Project
Detective work on a Grade II* listed country house and its gardens has begun as part of a two year research project between the University of Exeter and the Poltimore House Trust.
Diachronic study of prehistoric pottery from southwest Britain
This project investigated the distinctive pottery wares of Devon and Cornwall in the prehistoric period and involved the analysis of fabrics and types.
Exmoor Iron
A multi-period project that studied the pre-19th century exploitation of iron ore resources on Exmoor. Various sites were investigated using excavation, geochemical and geophysical surveys.
Greater Exmoor project
Exmoor has a distinctive pattern of settlement, significantly differing from other areas of England previously studied by researchers in this Department. This project investigated the reasons for the development of this characteristic pattern.
Meare: medieval exploitation of wetland resources in the Somerset Levels
This project sought to reconstruct the medieval landscape and settlement of Meare, Somerset and the surrounding area in order to understand the importance of wetlands that are undervalued and drained in current times.
Medieval silver mining in at Bere Ferrers, Devon
Using Devon as a case study, this project has assessed the extent of extractive industry in the medieval countryside, and its impact upon the historic landscape.
North Somerset Levels project
Survey, excavation and palaeoenvironmental analysis formed part of this research into the changing landscape of the North Somerset Levels, a large area of reclaimed wetland.
The rest of the UK
Focusing mostly on landscapes and wetland environments, our research projects around the United Kingdom contribute to our understanding of the prehistoric and historic use of these islands. These projects use a number of archaeological techniques such as excavation and survey and have included significant student involvement.
The beaver in Britain's past
When facets on waterlogged wood from the Somerset Levels were identified as beaver gnaw-marks rather than the marks left by stone or metal blades, this project was started to study the effect that the beaver has on the landscape and the implications of this for past societies.
Castles and landscapes: expressions of power in medieval England
Medieval castles were not just military locations but were also the seats of powerful people who interacted with and influenced the landscapes in their local environs. This project studied the impact of castles and their lords on the landscapes and townscapes of England.
Excavations at the Ballyarnet Bronze Age site, Northern Ireland
Professor Bradley took six Exeter students and eight American volunteers to participate in the excavation of the Bronze Age site of Ballyarnett, just north of L'Derry, Northern Ireland.
The Fields of Britannia: landscape transition in the Roman to medieval periods
The ‘Fields of Britannia’ project uses a range of techniques to systematically explore for the first time how many British fieldscapes originated in the Roman period.
Hen Domen timber castle in its landscape
The investigation and publication of the medieval timber castle that stood at Hen Domen, Montgomery, Powys.
Sutton Common
Sutton Common is an Iron Age double enclosure in South Yorkshire. This site was named a 'marsh fort' as it is similar to the classic Iron Age hill forts but situated in a low-lying, wetland location.
Heritage management of England's wetlands
This project identified wetland sites at risk in the English landscape and provided guidance and training to those archaeologists and organisations that would be responsible for investigating and conserving them.
The Humber wetlands project
This project took a holistic approach to the study of the wetlands of the Humber River, including focuses on settlement, transportation, votive deposition and future conservation.
Medieval urban defences
This project investigated the medieval defended town. These have generally has less attention from archaeologists than castles, but they can reveal much about the economic and social circumstances of urban populations.
Improving public access to the countryside: Stonebridge, near Southend-on-Sea, Essex
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has commissioned Stephen Rippon to study the landscape of the Stonebridge area where there are plans to enhance public access to the countryside.
Monuments at risk in England's wetlands (MAREW)
This project investigates how England's wetlands have changed since 1950 and the state of the monuments endangered by modern exploitation of our wetlands.
Whittlewood landscape project
This project explored the origins and development of rural settlements and the landscape in eleven parishes around Whittlewood, Northamptonshire.
Our Wetland Heritage
This collaboration with Essex County Council Historic Environment Service and the RSPB was designed to inform the management of a new nature reserve in the South Essex Marshes and will hopefully provide a model for similar work elsewhere.
Europe
A little farther from home, our staff are involved in researching aspects of archaeology on the European continent from prehistory to the medieval period. The projects use a range of techniques such as aerial survey, experimental archaeology and excavation to uncover information about prehistoric and historic sites and regions.
Contextualizing change on the Lower Danube: Roman impact on Daco-Getic landscapes
This project uses a wealth of aerial reconnaissance data to investigate the social and landscape changes that occurred following the Roman conquest and colonisation of Dacia.
The Doggerland project
Doggerland, now a submerged landmass in the North Sea, was connected to the European continent before rising sea levels at the end of the Ice Age eventually flooded it. Archaeological finds by fishermen trawling the area revealed the archaeological potential for this area and this project was initated to reconstruct and interpret this former landscape.
The Les Maitreaux Palaeolithic project
This project was focused on the analysis of materials from the high-resolution excavations at the Solutrean site of Les Maitreaux, France. It involved experimental flintknapping workshops to test theories derived from the lithic analysis.
Unusual treatment of human and animal remains at Velim Skalka, Czech Republic
The site of Velim Skalka in the Czech Republic has unusual deposition of both animal and human bones, including deliberate fracture and cutting of human bones that was thought to be possible evidence of cannibalism. This project carried out a detailed analysis and comparison of both the human and animal bones to address this hypothesis.
The Americas
One of the Department's research themes is “the Archaeology of the Americas”, so we have a number of projects from North, Central and South America. These projects range in time between the first occupation of the Americas to the study of identity in contemporary indigenous populations.
Coupled human and natural systems: late pre-Hispanic agricultural landscapes of French Guiana
This interdisciplinary international project brings together a team of archaeologists, paleoethnobotanists, soil scientists and biologists to investigate the development of late pre-Hispanic raised field agriculture in the seasonally flooded coastal savannas of French Guiana.
The Gault project: Palaoindian and pre-Clovis archaeology in Texas
Gault is an extraordinary multi-period site in central Texas. Professor Bruce Bradley has been working closely with this project for many years, including taking students from Exeter to excavate the Archaic, Clovis and even pre-Clovis deposits.
Identities as socio-material networks: Past and present configurations in South America and beyond
This project developed an international research network to discuss the processes of indigenous re-emergence around cultural heritage that are currently underway in South America and other areas of the world.
The Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village
The Mitchell Indian Village, South Dakota is an extensive settlement dating to around AD 1000.
Pre-Columbian human impact in the Bolivian Amazon
Archaeological evidence from the Bolivian Amazon suggests that pre-Conquest Amazonia was not a pristine wilderness, as commonly thought, but was instead a densely populated and managed cultural landscape.
Sacred places and funerary rites: southern Jê monumental landscapes of the Southern Brazilian highlands and Argentina
This project is aimed at understanding settlement patterns and the architectural evolution of funerary ceremonial centres that developed during the first half of the second millennium AD that belong to southern Jê groups.
A social landscape without a centre: The circulation of artefacts, materials and skills in NW Argentina (first millennium AD)
This project aims at understanding the role of circulating artefacts in the construction and reproduction of social relationships at the onset of settled life in the area.
Asia
Our research in this region focuses on a range of time periods and topics, including a search for the earliest evidence of pastoralism on the steppes and investigating the floodwater farming in the arid areas of the Asian Mediterranean.
Pioneering Metallurgy: the origins of iron and steel making in the Southern Indian subcontinent
The early development of ferrous metallurgy, in particular high-carbon steel technologies, in South Asia is recognised as a significant milestone in the global history of science and technology. This is epitomised by popular and often romantic histories surrounding wootz or crucible steel, the raw material of edged weapons across Asia and the Islamic world.
Early stone tools in Pakistan
This project focused on the Pabbi Hills and Riwat, Pakistan, where stone tools were found in sediments more than 1 million years old.
Extreme archaeology in Polar Siberia: The Zhokhov Mesolithic project
Professor Bruce Bradley was involved in the excavation of the Zhokhov Mesolithic site in Siberia and has published on the distinctive technology that was uncovered there.
Horse domestication in the Botai Culture, Eneolithic Kazakhstan
This project investigated the earliest known evidence of horses being domesticated by humans, finding indications that horses were both ridden and milked in Eneolithic Kazahkstan.
The origins of pastoralism in prehistoric Kazakhstan
This project investigated the domestication and exploitation of animals such as horses and cattle in Neolithic and Bronze Age Kazakhstan.
The Sri Lankan iron smelting industry
The Samanalawewa Archaeological Project investigated the iron smelting industry of Sri Lanka. It culminated in an experimental reconstruction of the unusual furnaces that had been uncovered by excavation and showed that high quality steel could be produced using these structures.
Wadi Faynan landscape project, Jordan
The landscape of the Wadi Faynan, Jordan was surveyed by an interdisciplinary team from multiple institutions. A complex field system was revealed, as well as many archaeological sites.
Mons Claudianus and Mons Porphyrites
Mons Claudianus and Mons Porphyrites were Roman Imperial stone quarries in Egypt. This project involved the survey, excavation, analysis and publication of these two sites.
Theoretical and not location specific
The rest of our projects are independent of a location, being focused either on theoretical or broad topics. These can often be applied to a number of different contexts.
Bone fat exploitation and the importance of fat as a resource
It is only relatively recently that fat, whether on people or in food, has become deeply unfashionable, but this was an extremely important food resource in past societies.
Experimental investigation of heat damage characteristics for interpreting lithic artefacts
An experimental investigation of heat damage characteristics as a means of interpreting the cultural life and deposition of lithic artefacts.
From materials to material culture
This project studied the transformation of raw plant materials into material culture.
Gender: Perceptions and material culture
This project studied the ways in which modern society projects our current gender perceptions back into the past. This project culminated in a set of three volumes including papers written by authors from many disciplines.
Investigating Neolithic and Bronze Age basketry and cordage
The project studied the evidence of prehistoric basketry and cordage by looking at inorganic evidence that more frequently survives in the archaeological record.
Lithic analysis: use-wear, experimental work and cultural choice
Use-wear analysis of stone tools can reveal how they were used and enable interpretations about individuals' actions and cultural choice.
Rubbish and archaeology
‘Rubbish and Archaeology’ was an outreach project for school children in the area around the archaeological site of Sutton Common. It taught children about the decomposition of modern waste and archaeological artefacts.
Touching the untouchable: increasing access to archaeological artefacts by virtual handling
Archaeological textiles are extremely fragile and not usually suitable for handling in museum exhibits. New virtual reality technologies that can simulate the sense-of-touch are now being developed that may allow future museum visitors to manipulate virtual replicas of these delicate textiles.
Understanding prehistoric hunters' economic choices
Human hunters who take down prey too large to carry whole must decide which parts of the animal to take home. Their choices can reveal much about that societies exploitation of wild animals.
Wetland management and conservation
Wetland areas are very important archaeologically as they have good preservation of organic material and were often used in many diverse ways, however they and the sites they contain are often under threat from modern exploitation.
