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Archaeology, Page 4

New archaeological evidence throws light on efforts to resist ‘the living dead’

A new scientific study of medieval human bones, excavated from a deserted English village, suggests the corpses they came from were burnt and mutilated.  Researchers from the University of Southampton and Historic England believe this was carried out by villagers who believed that it would stop the corpses arising from their graves and menacing the living. Continue reading →

Mobile Location Analytics in a Heritage Site

Just a quick post today. Last week some colleagues and I visited Kensington Palace, to see the latest Princess Diana exhibition. We were on the look out for new display and interpretation techniques, and one of my colleagues proved an excellent guide because she had prepared the mounts for many of the dresses, when she had worked at Historic Royal Palaces (HRP). But the thing that grabbed my attention was this: I’ve drawn on it so you can see the important bit. Continue reading →

An Ocean without History? CMA and SMMI Annual Lecture 24th March 17.45

This year the CMA turns 20, and as such we thought it a good time to take stock and think about what we do well and what we could improve on.  Out of this discussion came the desire to shine a brighter light on the research being conducted on maritime heritage (both within the  CMA and beyond) and to offer a space within which significant developments can be discussed. Continue reading →

Geophysical Survey at Baelo Claudia, Andalucia, Spain May 2016

As part of the ERC funded RoMP/Portuslimen project a season of geophysical survey was undertaken at the city of Baelo Claudia, in Andalusia, Spain. Work was undertaken by a team of surveyors from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Southampton in collaboration with staff from the Junta de Andalucia and the University of Cadiz. The survey team comprised the author, Peter Wheeler, Stephen Guy-Gibbens, Christopher Oakes, Ferreol Salomon, Quentin Drillat and Nicolas Carayon. Continue reading →

CMA on the Road

IKUWA 2016 conference marked a special event for Southampton’s Centre for Maritime Archaeology. Over twenty of us attended the event in Fremantle, at the Western Australia Maritime Museum, held for four days, November 28 till December 2nd, 2016. The conference began with a UNESCO roundtable on the first day. Regional underwater cultural heritage issues were brought to light, and general concerns were expressed. Continue reading →

Ethics approval – a word to the wise

I’m doing my ERGO application today. That’s the University’s Ethics risk and approval system, and they’ve worked hard to make it as simple as possible, but it does take time. And so its time to pass on a useful tip to those starting out on their PhD studies. This is the third approval I will have got (and I’m pretty sure to get it, its low risk ethics-wise), during my time here. Continue reading →

THaWS 2016. A Late Start and Sediments Beyond the Temple of Ay and Horemheb

So another season of survey and augering is under way at Thebes. The Theban Harbours and Waterscapes Survey has, for the past 5 years, been using geoarchaeological and geophysical survey to study the changing floodplain of the river Nile, and the dynamics between the ancient harbours and waterways and the Theban temple complexes on the West Bank and Luxor and Karnak temples. Continue reading →