2012-05-30T17:53:18+01:00241120http://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/suggested/format/jsonhttp://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/suggested/format/xmlhttp://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/suggested/format/rsshttp://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/suggested/format/atomhttp://www.finds.org.uk/research/projects/suggested1The landscape contexts of Bronze Age hoards would help to shed light on hoarding behaviour, in the same way that Natasha Hutcheson (University of East Anglia) has established for Iron Age hoards in Norfolk. Richard Bradley (University of Reading) is planning a study looking at south-eastern England.2009-10-28 12:50:522011-03-16 12:43:32PhD level researchDaniel PettHelen GeakeBRONZE AGE2Links between flint objects and early metal objects could profitably be explored using metal skeuomorphs of flint objects. There are several arrowheads with noticeably ‘lithic' tendencies on the PAS database, and daggers could be brought into the argument too. Records to start you off might include SF6680, ESS-A41D75, NMS-F982A3 and WMID-CE6A76.2009-10-28 12:58:242011-03-16 12:41:54Masters degreeDaniel PettHelen GeakeBRONZE AGE3Regional patterning in the use and deposition of Bronze Age dress accessories could be looked at using both PAS and excavated data. Dress accessories are relatively rare, but using both sources should provide enough information.2009-10-28 13:20:00Masters degreeDaniel PettBRONZE AGE4A remarkable resource of drawings exists in Norfolk. Every Bronze Age metal artefact found in the county has been drawn, from a total of 2,225 sites; but as yet no research project has been formulated to use it. For comparison, the Bronze Age metal items on the PAS database (as of March 2011) number roughly 3,200.2009-10-28 13:21:002011-03-16 13:24:56Masters degreeDaniel PettHelen GeakeBRONZE AGE5There is still no generally accepted typology of Roman brooches. Computer analysis of the 13,500 brooches on the PAS database (as of March 2011) should be able to suggest some broad principles.2009-10-28 13:22:002011-03-16 12:48:31Masters degreeDaniel PettHelen GeakeROMAN6Although Iron Age and early-medieval studies are strongly regionalised, Roman Britain tends to be seen as a continuum. Is this a real picture, or could we find evidence of regional variation to link the Iron Age to the early Anglo-Saxon period? Artefacts to do with personal adornment might be expected to show regional variation, and these might include bracelets, finger rings, nail cleaners, cosmetic sets and mirrors as well as brooches. Undergraduate dissertations could choose a single artefact type and compare the dataset in two counties.2009-10-28 13:24:002011-03-16 12:37:03UndergraduateDaniel PettHelen GeakeROMAN7The establishment of ‘normal' British brooch loss patterns, along the lines of Reece for coins, could follow on from the construction of a typology, and new and old assemblages could be compared to produce ‘brooch signatures' for different types of site.2009-10-28 13:25:00Masters degreeDaniel PettROMAN8Roman military equipment is well understood from the first century AD, but 2nd- and 3rd-century material could be used to improve our knowledge of military activity at that time.2009-10-28 13:26:00Masters degreeDaniel PettROMAN9Keith Parfitt (Canterbury Archaeological Trust) and Andrew Richardson (formerly the Kent FLO ) have discovered that brooch types in Kent differ between excavated and metal-detected assemblages . There are various possible reasons behind this (see paper in 'A Decade of Discovery') but one might be that the excavated evidence comes from graves – the costume of the dead – and that PAS data includes a substantial element of casual loss from the costume of the living. Andrew Richardson and Laura McLean (Essex FLO) are comparing brooch type proportions from cemeteries and from PAS records in selected southern counties of England, but there is scope at undergraduate or master's level to look at eastern and midland counties too. To establish differences between funerary and living costume would revolutionise early Anglo-Saxon studies, which are traditionally heavily costume-based.2009-10-28 13:45:002011-03-16 13:04:10Masters degreeDaniel PettHelen GeakeEARLY MEDIEVAL10Seal matrices are hugely under-researched but have the capacity to change our minds about medieval literacy. The PAS database currently (March 2011) has over 2,800 examples, and adds about 300 per year. By comparison, the largest list of seal matrices known before the Portable Antiquities Scheme began – Tonnochy's catalogue of the British Museum collection which was published in 1952 – contains just 408 medieval examples. The PAS seal matrices are not only more numerous, but also different to the kind of seal matrices that have survived in museum collections or on manuscripts; the vast majority are personal non-heraldic seal matrices. Women’s use of seals is an obvious topic, but there are plenty of other ideas, particularly for an interdisciplinary historical archaeology or medieval studies MA. Pointed-oval seals are more equally divided between men and women than the more common circular seals; is there something interesting about the men (e.g. are they clerics)? What links are there between central motif and the identity of the owner? Do seals show any form of regionalism – for example, do the East Anglian seals show differences which could be interpreted as the result of the region having a larger number of free landholders? Can we use seal matrices to trace the development of various types of byname and surname?2009-10-28 13:46:002011-03-16 13:15:48Masters degreeDaniel PettHelen GeakeMEDIEVAL19Papal bullae are the seals from papal documents; there are currently (March 2011) nearly 150 on the PAS database. Some will have been attached to land grants, but many will be from indulgences. In theory these should become more and more common just before being swept away by the Reformation, but instead they seem to get less common throughout the fifteenth century. The doctrinal history of indulgences is well understood, but their actual use within popular religion has been hard to study until now. The main source of information on popular religion has hitherto been wills, but very few (less than a hundred) survive from before 1400, making bullae a useful additional source. This might make a good theology, history, archaeology or medieval studies dissertation.2011-03-16 13:24:12Masters degreeHelen GeakeMEDIEVAL16The distribution of early Anglo-Saxon wrist-clasps within the county of Suffolk shows a very strong boundary within the county, with hardly any found south of the modern A14. There are several questions that can be asked of this pattern. Does it represent a division between the ‘Anglian’ north and the ‘Saxon’ south? Can it be related to the Iron Age tribal background? What happens to the boundary in the neighbouring counties of Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire? Are the most southerly wrist-clasps of the same types as those in the heartland of the distributions?2011-03-16 12:35:352011-03-16 12:36:10UndergraduateHelen GeakeHelen GeakeEARLY MEDIEVAL17Classical Greek coins are found in surprising numbers in England and Wales. Are they all post-Renaissance collectors' losses, or could any of them be real Iron Age imports?2011-03-16 12:58:04UndergraduateHelen GeakeIRON AGE18Several of the MA dissertation ideas could be piloted using data from a single county or region.2011-03-16 12:59:12UndergraduateHelen Geake20Several of the PhD dissertation ideas could be piloted using data from a single county or region.2011-03-16 13:26:48Masters degreeHelen Geake21A Geographical Information System would allow PAS material to be sorted so that coastal finds can be separated out. Are there, for example, Anglo-Saxon trading places – ‘productive sites’ – to be found around the coast, just as there are inland? Is there a difference in artefacts between coastal and inland sites? Is trading happening simply at landfall, or are the goods being transported to places with more amenities, such as royal palaces or major monasteries?2011-03-16 13:31:50Masters degreeHelen GeakeEARLY MEDIEVAL22The early-medieval ansate brooches from France and from England appear to differ in style and in date. There are over 170 ansate brooches on the PAS database (March 2011) which give a good sample of types; the excavated contexts would allow a date-range to be assigned. Can we work out which brooches have been made in England, and which imported from France? Kevin Leahy (Finds Adviser) and Faye Minter (Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service, former FLO for Suffolk) both have a particular interest in ansate brooches.2011-03-16 13:36:56Masters degreeHelen GeakeEARLY MEDIEVAL23John Hines drew attention to a lead model of a great square-headed brooch found in Geneva many years ago (Hines 1997). Since then, the PAS has recorded 16 examples on the database (as of March 2011). Kevin Leahy (Finds Adviser) has pointed out that lead brooches do not appear to have been found in graves. Is their distribution (Anglian areas only at present) meaningful? Do they contain enough information to work out if they are cheap copies of brooches intended as jewellery, or just models for casting copper-alloy versions?2011-03-16 14:34:282011-03-16 15:02:06UndergraduateHelen GeakeHelen GeakeEARLY MEDIEVAL24John Hines’s monumental corpus of these early Anglo-Saxon brooches was published in 1997. Since then, the PAS has recorded fragments of over a hundred more examples. How do Hines’s conclusions work when tested against the PAS examples?2011-03-16 14:38:30UndergraduateHelen GeakeEARLY MEDIEVAL25What happened to the sites of early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries when graves stopped being dug there? Numerous plough-damaged cemeteries can be identified by the number of early Anglo-Saxon metal finds in a small area; are there patterns to be found in the middle and later Anglo-Saxon finds, compared to other places? Roman settlement sites could perhaps be used as a control. Norfolk’s cemeteries have received most work (Chester-Kadwell 2009) so this might be a good place to start.2011-03-16 14:44:062011-03-16 15:11:19PhD level researchHelen GeakeHelen GeakeEARLY MEDIEVAL