Using Archaeology for Recovery

On Friday 5 July 2024, BU will be holding a seminar and training event on 鈥楿sing Archaeology for Recovery鈥.听听

Speakers with a wide knowledge of running projects that assist those who have suffered from trauma, especially on the battlefield, will be sharing their experiences with those who are looking to run similar projects.

Case studies from both the UK and Europe will include Operation Nightingale, Waterloo Uncovered, Breaking Ground Heritage and Ukraine, alongside discussion of the use of the AMPHORA guidelines. We are particularly looking forward to welcoming two contributors from Kyiv, who will share their experiences of running extensive programmes for veterans of the current conflict.

The seminar has been approved by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists as Continuing Professional Development (CPD). We welcome those from the archeological profession to who wish to learn more about how archaeology can be used in this way and to share experiences with a view to establishing best practice in this expanding area of archaeology and wellbeing.


Pitt Rivers Lectures听

Christopher Evans, University of Cambridge听

The annual Pitt Rivers Lecture was established in 2017 as part of the celebrations marking 50 years of archaeological听and anthropological teaching and research at 成人直播 and its predecessor institutions. It is organized by听staff and students, and presented in association with the Prehistoric Society. The lecture celebrates the achievements of听General Pitt Rivers (1827鈥1900), a distinguished Dorset-based archaeologist and anthropologist whose descendants still听live in the area and have close connections with 成人直播.


Sixth Annual Pitt Rivers Lecture 2022

Excavation as Experiment: Prehistoric communities and monuments on the Fenland Ouse听 听听Information Sheet 358.15KB

For recordings of previous Pitt Rivers lectures, please follow this .


Research Seminars

Our Department of Archaeology & Anthropology places great value on working collaboratively. Our Research Seminars form an important part of this work and we are pleased to share some of these seminars with you on this page.

We are grateful for the new perspectives our guest speakers can offer our students and they share our common goal of inspiring them and creating new discussions to develop their minds and knowledge.

Professor Claire Warwick

Biography

Claire Warwick is a Professor of Digital Humanities in the Department of English at Durham University,鈥痺here she was Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Research from 2014-2019. Her research is concerned with the use of鈥痙igital resources in the humanities and cultural heritage; in digital reading; how physical and digital鈥痠nformation spaces are used; and on the history of cyberspace. She was the founding Director of the UCL鈥疌entre for Digital Humanities and Head of UCL Department of Information Studies. Her PhD, from鈥疌ambridge, was in English Literature and she began her career in digital humanities with a postdoctoral鈥痯osition at Oxford University鈥檚 Humanities Computing Unit.鈥 View听.

Summary

The museum and cultural heritage sector听has听been pioneering in its use digital technologies, including social media; digitised collections; online exhibitions; 3D scanning and printing of artefacts; and the use web-based exhibitions and digital art installations in gallery. Yet, despite predictions in the early days of digitisation, we now know that such content does not replace the experience of visiting a museum or heritage site. Visitors may learn from, and enjoy digital exhibits and interactives, but only experience emotions such as wonder and delight when they encounter the aura of physical objects or heritage sites. We still know relatively little about how visitors process disturbing or shocking artistic content or cultural artefacts, whether in physical or digital form. In my talk I will discuss research on the use of physical and digital information, and its implications for the use of digital technologies, such as augmented reality, in a cultural heritage setting.听

Please watch Professor Claire Warwick's guest seminar听below: Shock and Aura: digital methods and the experience of physical heritage听


Dr Duncan Wright

Biography

Duncan Wright is a鈥 Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University鈥檚 School of Archaeology 鈥痑nd Anthropology with a听research interest in mythology. Wright practices 鈥痯artnership archaeology, involving collaborations with Torres Strait听Islander 鈥痑nd Australian Aboriginal communities who seek to historicise (through 鈥痑rchaeology and oral history) practices and听places of social, political and/鈥痮r spiritual significance. Currently he has active projects in Torres Strait, 鈥疉rnhem Land and听Czech Republic.听View听.

Summary

Sagas featuring鈥 Viking era voyages, migrations and family feuds may be familiar to this 鈥痑udience but how much is known听about the epic narratives of Torres Strait 鈥疘slanders? In this seminar we explore a 'Culture Hero' story that spans Papua 鈥疦ew听Guinea, western, central and Eastern Torres Strait. Archaeological鈥 excavations at Waiat's 'Lodges', places associated with听initiation and 鈥痜unerary ceremonies brought by this Culture Hero, provide insights into 鈥痶ransitioning ritual across the Coral Sea听corridor. Archaeological and 鈥痚thnographic data further allow us to reassess, from an Australian 鈥痯erspective, the role and听relevance of mythology for understanding human 鈥痟istories.鈥

Please watch Dr Duncan Wright's guest seminar听below:听The Archaeology of听Waiat's听Saga in Torres Strait, far north Australia


Dr Chiara听Bonacchi听

Biography

Chiara听Bonacchi听is a Senior Lecturer in the鈥疍ivision of History, Heritage and Politics at the University of Stirling, where she鈥痵pecialises in Public Archaeology and Heritage, with a focus鈥痮n Digital Heritage. She has designed, participated in and coordinated a broad portfolio of collaborative research鈥痯rojects in the UK, Europe and the Middle East, focussing on the study of public鈥痯erceptions and experience of the past, digital co-production and public engagement,鈥痙ata science and digital ethnographies in heritage studies, heritage values and the鈥痯olitics of the past.

Summary

This鈥痯resentation examines uses of the Iron Age, Roman and Early Medieval past of鈥疎urope to support or oppose populist nationalist narratives in the UK, Italy鈥痑nd the US, drawing on social media data. It will discuss the myths that are鈥痩everaged and their international circulation as well as the ways in which鈥'expert' interpretations feed into exclusionary discourses.听

Please watch Dr Chiara Bonacchi's guest seminar听below:听Heritage and鈥疦ationalism: Using big(ger) data to deconstruct populist discourse


Dr Miles Russell听

Biography

Dr Miles Russell is听Senior听Lecturer in听Prehistoric and Roman archaeology.听He graduated from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London in 1988 and worked as a field officer for the UCL Field Archaeology Unit and as a project manager for the Oxford Archaeological Unit, joining 成人直播 in 1993. He has conducted fieldwork across the UK as well as in Germany, Sicily and Russia. He is currently director of Regnum and co-director of the听Durotriges听Project, both investigating the transition from the Iron Age to Roman period across SE and SW Britain and co-director of 成人直播's archaeological field school.听He gained his doctorate, on Neolithic monumental architecture, in 2000 and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2006. View .

Summary

The idea that an invading Roman army violently brought about the end of hillforts in south\west Britain in AD 43, conquering the local tribes and imposing a new administrative order to the land, is one of the most powerful narratives in British archaeology. Recent discoveries by students and staff of 成人直播, however, have prompted a re-evaluation of the archaeological evidence, suggesting that everything we thought we knew about this period is fundamentally wrong.听

Please watch Dr Miles Russell's guest seminar听below:听In the Footsteps of Vespasian: rethinking the Iron Age / Roman transition in Dorset鈥


Dr Sara Perry听

Biography

Dr Sara Perry鈥痠s Director of Research and Engagement at MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology), and formerly Senior Lecturer in Cultural Heritage鈥疢anagement at the University of York, UK. She was a lead on the EU-funded EMOTIVE Project () and has published widely on鈥痑rchaeological interpretation, public engagement and the participatory development of interactive experiences, as well as evaluating responses to鈥痑rchaeological and heritage media. View .

Summary听

Although many have called for 鈥 and attempted to enact 鈥 forms of practice that aim to repair or reconfigure our discipline along lines that are just, sustainable and equitable, these efforts often fail to fundamentally alter archaeology鈥檚 underlying structures and pernicious rote methodologies. Here, I argue that unless we consciously adopt and consistently apply a framework of design justice (Costanza-Chock 2020), long-standing disciplinary oppressions will persist. I review a number of recent propositions around nurturing care, hope, emotion, and enchantment in archaeology. I then make the case that such seemingly ephemeral concepts can be consistently actualised in our methods, in our programmes, in our training, and across our professional and academic institutions through a purposeful engagement with design justice theory and method, borne in part of the fields of information technology and human-computer interactions. I highlight some simple examples of what a听justly-designed听archaeology could look like, and I conclude by pointing our eyes towards emerging initiatives that take seriously the design process, and in so doing provide archaeologists with a framework that can truly hold us to account.听

Pleasse watch Dr Sara Perry's guest seminar听below:听Designing affect into archaeology: structural and methodological reparations for a more responsive and responsible discipline听