Ellie at Exeter Graduation in 2015
Humanities alumna wins prestigious archaeology research prize
Recent Archaeology alumna, Ellie March, has won the prestigious Geoff Egan Prize of the Finds Research Group (FRG). It is a national prize that is awarded annually to an individual in recognition of extraordinary potential in the field of finds research in the post-Roman to modern periods.
Undergraduate, postgraduate and external work are considered for the prize, open to up-and-coming researchers with no track record of publication in finds research, archaeology or related subjects. According to the FRG website, the winning submission must “show evidence of originality of thought, professionalism of approach and presentation … the researcher’s exceptional talent and potential for further work in finds research.” The prize consists of £100, one year’s free membership of the FRG, one of the Museum of London Archaeology’s (MOLA) publications, and a copy of the Datasheet volumes.
Ellie won the Geoff Egan Prize for her dissertation, 'Pagan apotropaic objects and their incorporation into the Christian world in conversion-period England.' She was chosen as the winner by a panel of judges from the FRG committee. Earlier this year, Ellie’s dissertation was shortlisted for the 2015 John Hurst Prize of the Society for Medieval Archaeology for the best Undergraduate Dissertation in Medieval Archaeology in the UK.
Ellie said, “I was incredibly excited to find out this news. For many a dissertation represents the culmination of their undergraduate degree, so to receive national recognition for this, with an award that also considers postgraduate work, is an unbelievable, great surprise. I am extremely grateful to the department for all of their support which has not ceased to continue since graduating, and I look forward to building upon this with my future postgraduate study.”
Dr Hajnalka Herold, Lecturer in Historical Archaeology, was Ellie’s supervisor, and she said on her success, "I am very pleased that Ellie's excellent work receives this recognition. This is a national prize for which both undergraduate and postgraduate work is considered, so it is especially great that Ellie won this prize with her undergraduate dissertation. We are very proud of Ellie's success and hope that many future students of archaeology at Exeter will follow her example."
Ellie is currently employed as a Graduate Business Partner in the College of Humanities as an Education Development Intern. She will be continuing her academic studies in September at the University of York, studying for an MA in Medieval Archaeology.
Date: 9 May 2016