Early medieval state formation

2012-05-30T17:52:30+01:0031711620http://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/index/format/jsonhttp://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/index/format/xmlhttp://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/index/format/rsshttp://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/index/format/atomhttp://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects331Early medieval state formationMy research broadly speaking is early medieval state formation. I have studied coinage and other artefacts to learn more about the early medieval economy. I want to both continue to look early medieval state formation and branch out to look at Later Prehistoric situations. Previously I have used the PAS and associated databases to look at coin loss patterns from a landscape perspective. I have a PhD from the University of East Anglia.00000000Andy Hutcheson9Personal research projectDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56330Study of Highlands FarmMy research project is a study of Highlands Farm, Brightwell cum Sotwell Oxon, with particular focus on Brightwell Barrow and its role in the surrounding landscape. This is a dissertation project for the MSc in Applied Landscape Archaeology at Oxford University. The project will be completed by October 201200002012Claire Burton2Masters degreeDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56329The Portable Antiquities Scheme in Lincolnshire: A multi-period, cross-period and thematic analysis of the contribution that PAS data makes to our understanding of the archaeology of LincolnshireOver 21,000 archaeological finds from Lincolnshire have been reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) since 2003. Lincolnshire is the second largest county in England and has a diverse landscape that includes coastal, fenland, clay land and upland limestone environments. This diversity of landscape in turn attracted a wide variety of human activity. This thesis explores the ways in which PAS data contributes to our understanding of archaeology in Lincolnshire by comparing it to data recorded on the Historic Environment Record and in grey-literature reports, using macro-regional, micro-regional, cross-period and thematic approaches. This reseach is being supervised by Prof. Colin Haselgrove at the University of Leicester, and Dr. Roger Bland at the British Museum.20122018Adam Daubney32012-05-17 10:03:03PhD level researchDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56Daniel Pett328The economic and social status of Romano-British rural villas in Southern EnglandThe nature of rural settlement patterns and the economy during the Roman occupation of Britain from the Claudian invasion of AD 43 to the end of the fourth century in Hampshire and West Sussex formed the focus of this research. The objective is to define a method of measuring the attributes of Romano-British ceramic assemblages that can be linked to the socio-economic status of the original owners and their villas. It is the hypothesis of this study that domestic ceramic vessels can be used as a reliable indicator of social status. A tenet of this hypothesis is that the higher social and economically wealthy Romano-British villa owners would be in possession of greater amounts of ceramic fine table wares. The pottery assemblages and the architectural features of twenty villas in West Sussex and Hampshire were analysed in order to test this hypothesis. The quantities of fine wares were measured by Estimated Vessel Equivalents (EVEs) and the Romanised architectural features present were quantified by their presence. The economics of the Roman Empire was integrated with wealth and power which in itself was reflected in the fashions of the material culture together with the aspirations to acquire status. Social mobility during the Rome Empire relied on wealth and the consequent display of that wealth. The way a person could demonstrate a change in status was to acquire and display higher quality material culture. This can be seen to be demonstrated in the display of Romanised architectural features present in Romano-British villas coupled with the evidence of high value ceramic fine wares present in the cultural artefacts. This demonstration of wealth can be seen as representing the status of an individual within society and by comparison the fewer high value status symbols would indicate a lower status or class of an individual. The differences in the quantity of these ceramic fine wares obtained by the villa owners can, therefore, be seen as an indicator and a measure of their relative social status. It is this theory that is the basis for the development of the methodology and the creation of a testable model.20122014Jonathan Dicks9Personal research projectDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56327Modelling a spatial and social context for Anglo-Saxon coinage 960-1066 A.DModelling a spatial and social context for Anglo-Saxon coinage 960-1066 A.D, with an aim of studying and representing currency movement and their supporting institutions in the cultural heritage sectors. Using a small (and manageable) dataset within the PAS in exploring ways the spatial content, movement of currency and current locations of Anglo-Saxon coinage can be best represented within the Digital Humanities and cultural heritage sectors. Access to the PAS and the more detailed geo-referenced data allows for greater accuracy and coherency in these representations. The period for this MA dissertation falls within the Viking Danelaw up until the 1066 conquest of England.20122013James Atkins2Masters degreeDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56325Approaches to the Study of Communication around the European Atlantic Seaboard and Islands in the Early Medieval PeriodMy PhD project involves using artefactual information, specifically common types of artefacts, to study communication and trade links between Early Medieval sites in Britain and the North West coast of Europe. In order to accomplish this I am building a database containing information about artefact finds of a variety of types and their associated sites from a number of locations. Therfore I am consolidating information from different sources such as site reports, and where available on-line databases and I believe that the information held in the PAS database would make an extremely valuable contribution to my data collection. My intention is to use the methods of network analysis in order to investigate the nature of the links between the sites. To this end the data held in my database can be extracted in a format suitable for use in some of the software developed to visualise and undertake statistical analysis on networks. I anticipate that these analyses when taken in conjunction with othjer contextual information will provide an insight into the nature of trade and other contacts during the Early Medieval period. <a href="http://www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/research/research-students/keith-scholes/">http://www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/research/research-students/keith-scholes/</a> I am currently in the data gathering phase of the project, and am in the second year of my PhD, I intend to complete and submit my PhD in late 2013/early 2014.00000000Keith Scholes3PhD level researchDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56324A study of the brooch assemblages in Roman Hampshire and BerkshireI am currently writing my Undergraduate Dissertation at Cambridge University. I am conducting a study of the brooch assemblages in Roman Hampshire and Berkshire. My study is trying to determine the distribution of wealth throughout the area based on the complexity and level of decoration of the brooches. My focus is on comparing the rural and urban settlements (Calleva Atrebatum and the surrounding villas and farmsteads etc.) I have used PAS extensively to build up my dataset for the rural assemblages and am now on the final stages of writing up my observations. I hope to use PAS again in the future as I move onto Master's and PhD research.00000000Ben Paites1UndergraduateDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56323Bronze age metalwork and occupation areas in southwest EnglandI would like to become a research level user as I am currently writing a dissertation on bronze age metalwork and occupation areas in southwest England (Devon and Cornwall). In this work I intend on compiling a catalogue to advance on Susan Pearce's 1983 catalogue and discuss the implications of discoveries in the last 29 years with particular attention paid to the distribution against the occupation areas. I intend on using the PAS as one of my prime sources for metalwork uncovered in recent years. For these reasons I hope you will consider upgrading my account.00000000Matt Knight2Masters degreeDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56322A complete military history of the war as fought in ShropshireI am now entering the 2nd year of my full-time Mphil/PhD project at the University of Chester, researching the means - in terms of leadership, finance, recruitment, arms supplies and logistics, fortification and the nature and type of combat - used by both sides to prosecute the First English Civil War, 1642-46, in, and around, my home county of Shropshire. Through this I intend (for the first time) to establish a complete military history of the war as fought in Shropshire, and, by extension, further national understanding of how the war was conducted and resourced by both Royalists and Parliamentarians at the local/regional level. A working (if not, as yet, particularly snappy) title for the project at this stage would be 'The Parliamentarian and Royalist War Effort in Shropshire and environs, 1642-46'). Whilst, as I outlined above, my research is focused more on the 'means' of the war, nevertheless as a military historian I am inevitably drawn to the battlefields themselves. Whilst none of the war's most well-known battles were fought on Shropshire soil, nevertheless the county witnessed much small-scale skirmishing and several small-scale battles involving in excess of 1000 combatants, and a larger number of assaults and sieges against strongholds. There is a reasonable amount of documentary evidence for these actions (although with minimal detail in many cases), but very little work has been done - and even less published - on Civil War military operations within Shropshire. These 'battlefields' (using that word here as a generic to encompass all sites of armed conflict) remain little known and understood; indeed, for many actions the precise location remains unidentified. By attaining researcher status with the PAS, and therefore gaining access to details of potential Civil War-period chance archaeological finds, I hope to be able to create a fuller picture of the 'battlefield landscape' of Shropshire by comparing finds and find spots against the documentary record (of which by now I have a very full understanding). To this end I have contacted Peter Reavil, the local PAS officer, who appears most interested in my research and feels it may be a mutually beneficial exercise to link my knowledge of the documentary sources to the archaeological record. In terms of geographical remit, my work is centred on Shropshire, but I have allowed for an 'environ' of 12 or so miles extending into adjacent counties, to incorporate military events which had an influence, directly or indirectly, on the war as fought in Shropshire. Jonathan Worton3PhD level researchDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56321Numismatic distribution of the West MidlandsI am studying for an MA in Artefact Studies at UCL. For my dissertation I would like to study the distribution of Roman coins using PAS data from Shropshire, Staffordshire, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. This will enable me to complete a regional survey of the distribution similar to previous research such as Sam Moorhead's work in Wiltshire and Philippa Walton's work on the Isle of Wight. I will be specifically examining the change in distribution across the Fosse Way and also assessing whether previously unidentified Roman forts can be identified from the coin profiles. The access to data will also allow me to identify patterns in the distribution that have been previously missed. This research paper will be 10, 000 words and needs to be submitted by September 2012.20122012Sarah Deacon2Masters degreeDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56320Development of landscapes and territories of the middle and late Anglo-Saxon periodsResearch on the development of landscapes and territories of the middle and late Anglo-Saxon periods in the upper Thames area in particular, and in other areas such as Wiltshire, London area, Sussex, Essex. Length of time - ongoing, though should see some publications in the next 18 months or so.00000000Jeremy Haslam5Major publicationDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56319Long-term exploration of the minster town of Southwell (Notts) and its hinterlandI am co-ordinating a long-term exploration of the minster town of Southwell (Notts) and its hinterland, seeking in particular to define more closely the relationship between Roman Southwell and its early medieval successor. The project takes in the whole of what becomes the archiepiscopal peculiar centred on Southwell, and inner core of a dozen satellite estates, and a further dozen or so more peripheral estates.00000000Richard Jones5Major publicationDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56318Anglo-Saxon village of DadsleyI am currently studing for an MA in Landscape Archaeology at the Univeristy of Sheffield. My dissertation is centred around locating the Anglo-Saxon village of Dadsley which is recorded in the Domesday book, but disapeared shortly after, following the establishment of the village of Tickhill, in South Yorkshire. I have currently undertaken a geophysical survey on the remains of the church which is associated with the village of Dadsley (with permision of English Heritage as it is a scheduled monument) and am now looking to expand my survey beyond the known area to try and locate the village. I would therefore like permisiion to upgrade to research level so that I can use the find location data to try and narrow down my search area.00000000Phil Taylor2Masters degreeDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56317The Don Valley in Prehistory: Upland and Lowland Interactions and DevelopmentsMy post-graduate research project is called "The Don Valley in Prehistory: Upland and Lowland Interactions and Developments". By using a holistic comparative methodology, contextually, informed by an approach combining landscapes and social based routines and activities, I ask the question "is it possible to detect senses of regional identity in the study area during prehistory, and how those senses of identity ebb and flow over time. This research is being conducted part-time, and is likely to continue for another 4 years.00000000Tim Cockrell 3PhD level researchDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56316An examination of portable artefacts from the British Mid-Late Saxon periods in light of their social landscapeMy research aims to examine portable artefacts from the British Mid-Late Saxon periods in light of their social landscape, contextualising them within their local cultural milieu as well as within the wider natural environment. By using a 'nested' case study approach I will analyse the relationship between artefacts and their archaeological contexts at increasingly detailed levels. To accomplish this, I would require research-level access to the PAS database which will form my primary dataset. I am in my first year of a 3-year PhD at the University of York.00000000Alison Leonard32012-03-06 11:07:03PhD level researchDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56Daniel Pett315Developing tool use during the Bronze Age and the environment and settlement of upland landscapesI wish to become a research level user to support my research for my MSc Dissertation which explores the relationship between developing tool use during the Bronze Age and the environment and settlement of upland landscapes, particularly Dartmoor, during this period. The work brings together a literary synthesis of existing environmental and settlement studies and aims to introduce new information into the argument through a scientific analysis of changing material culture throughout the period. GIS will also be employed to map changes in distribution of settlements and artifacts throughout the period. The research deadline is the end of September 201200000000Richard Paxford2Masters degreeDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56314Polygonize the township and parish boundaries of WirralI have a GIS-based project that I wish to complete by May. I am planning to map out and polygonize the township and parish boundaries of Wirral, differentiating between natural boundaries (streams, coastlines, etc) and straight, man-made boundaries such as road-ways. I aim to use this as base-map to plot Roman and EM finds on this map, and also look at a topographic least-cost analysis of potential routeways from Chester to Meols. Overall, my aim is to consider the extent of Early Medieval settlement in Wirral and this project will play a part in this overall plan.00000000Dean Paton2Masters degreeDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56313Changing patterns of activity in the environs around documented and place-name attested assembly sites of the early medieval period in the northeast of EnglandMy PhD thesis examines changing patterns of activity in the environs around documented and place-name attested assembly sites of the early medieval period in the northeast of England, such as the later Hundreds of Domesday or earlier attestations such as Bede's Yeavering. This intends to remove existing emphases from meeting places as point sources on the map to integrated and dynamic elements of the landscape. The study itself involves integrating documentary and place-name data with HER and (where possible) National Mapping Programme material in order to generate maps of zones of activity (c.400-1300) within which to contextualise the form, function and development of known sites. I would be keen to integrate the corpus of data from the PAS into the mapping currently underway in Yorkshire, especially considering the recent attention given the early medieval 'productive sites', both providing detail on those sites already known as well as highlighting focused but less ephemeral activity at others. It may also be valuable in the analysis of the aerial transcriptions available in the study area. Further details of my thesis can be found at: <a href="http://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/postgraduate/currentpg/?id=8349">http://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/postgraduate/currentpg/?id=8349</a>00000000Tudor Skinner3PhD level researchDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56312Palace sites of King EdwinI am attempting to identify possible palace sites of King Edwin in Deira using various forms of both archaeological and historical data. I hoped to use the Portable Antiquity scheme to identify physical remains that could be linked to Edwin in the area. Combining this with other information in ArcGIS I hope to look for correlations within my findings.00000000Will Burnham2Masters degreeDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56311Depiction of animal heads on cruciform broochesMy project explores how ideas, social customs, and social tastes spread during times of migration and social transition. I am exploring how the depiction of animal heads on cruciform brooches from the 5th and 6th centuries AD were employed in Britain, Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlands to see how people living in different regions adopted and adapted the same idea. Using a semiotic approach I plan to explore how objects of similar appearance could have been used to create connections between individuals living in different communities and the extent to which these differences may have been involved in the creation of larger categorical identities during the period in which Germanic speaking peoples came to dominate the lands around the North Sea Basin. My research involves coding the presence and absence of certain attributes in the depiction of animal heads. Artists and consumers had choices when it came to the depiction of the various features commonly found on an animal's head in nature (e.g., the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth). By examining how often similar choices are paired geographically and temporally I hope to understand how connected or disconnected the tastes of artists and patrons were in different regions around the North Sea basin. Thus, my research will be narrowly focused on cruciform brooches that possess an animal head terminal (often called horse-heads in English). I have collected a dataset of several hundred examples but I would like to include as many new finds as possible.00000000Chris Roberts3PhD level researchDaniel Pettdpett@britishmuseum.org56