Landscape, nature and the environment

We are interested in the ways in which humans have engaged with, changed, reacted to and violated nature and the environment. Examples include depositing human bodies in bogs, the creation of monumental structures across landscapes such as at Stonehenge or in ancient Egypt, the lived experience in rural communities and mental engagement with landscape, or the ecology of ancient religion. We use a range of methodologies to understand this engagement, from analysis of written texts and objects to digital mapping and geophysical surveys.

Researchers

• Leslie Brubaker works on the intersection between humans and nature, and has strong interests in all aspects of iconoclastic intervention.
• Henry Chapman’s research covers the Stonehenge landscape, peatlands, wetlands and bog bodies, and causeway enclosures across prehistoric Europe.
• Archie Dunn focuses on archaeologies of settlement, landscape and material culture in the Byzantine and neighbouring periods.
• Paul Garwood is a specialist in the archaeology and landscapes of prehistoric Europe, in particular at Stonehenge.
• Jessica Lightfoot is an expert in the ancient geographer, Strabo, and her research explores the way in which ancient authors engaged with the wonders of the natural world.
• Maeve McHugh works on the archaeology of the ancient rural landscapes and its inhabitants.
• Leire Olabarria’s research includes the landscape of monuments in ancient Egypt.
• Dan Reynolds focuses on the archaeology of Christian communities in the Byzantine and early Medieval periods.
• David Smith has for decades studied the remains of insect (and other biological material) within their archaeological and landscape environments, and what these remains can tell us about human habitation and its development. He is also working on wetland landscapes and bog bodies.
• Diana Spencer is a specialist in the landscapes (physical and mental) of the ancient Romans.

Major publications

• De Smedt, P, Garwood, P, Chapman, H, Deforce, K, De Grave, J, Hanssens, D & Vandenberghe, D 2022, 'Novel insights into prehistoric land use at Stonehenge by combining electromagnetic and invasive methods with a semi-automated interpretation scheme', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 143, 105557. 
• Gaffney, V. et al. (incl. H. Chapman, P. Garwood) 2020 A Massive, Late Neolithic Pit Structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge, Internet Archaeology 55.
• Chapman, H, Van Beek, R, Jennings, B, Smith, D, Helt Nielson, N & Zein - Elabdin, Z 2019, 'Bog bodies in context: developing a best practice approach', European Journal of Archaeology.
• Chapman, H 2018, Iconoclasm and later prehistory Routledge. 246 p.
• Gearey, B, Chapman, H & Howard, A 2016, Down by the River: Archaeological, palaeoenvironmental and geoarchaeological investigations of the Suffolk river valleys. Jan 2016, Oxford: Oxbow. 226 p.
• Paul, P & Chapman, H 2015, Living with the Flood: Mesolithic to post-medieval archaeological remains at Mill Lane, Sawston, Cambridgeshire- A wetland/dryland interface. Oxford: Oxbow. 128 p.
• Gaffney, V, Neubauer, W, Garwood, P, Gaffney, C, Löcker, K, Bates, R, De Smedt, P, Baldwin, E, Chapman, H, Hinterlietner, A, Wallner, M, Nau, E, Filzwieser, R, Kainz, J, Trausmuth, T, Schneidhofer, P, Zotti, G, Lugmayer, A, Trinks, I & Corkum, A 2018, 'Durrington Walls and the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project 2010-2016', Archaeological Prospection, pp. 1-15.
• Smith, O, Momber, G, Bates, R, Garwood, P, Garwood, P, Fitch, S, Pallen, M, Gaffney, V & Allaby, RG 2015, 'Sedimentary DNA from a submerge site reveals wheat in the British Isles 8000 years ago', Science, vol. 347, no. 6225, pp. 998-1001.
• Lightfoot, J 2020, 'Tacitus' Germania and the Limits of Fantastic Geography', Histos.
• Lightfoot, J 2021, Wonder and the Marvellous from Homer to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge Classical Studies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 
• McHugh, M. 2017. The Ancient Greek Farmstead. Oxbow.
• Olabarria, L 2019, 'Coming to terms with stelae: a performative approach to memorial stelae and chapels of Abydos in the Middle Kingdom', Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur (SAK).
• Woodbridge, J, Fyfe, R, Smith, D, de Vareilles, A, Pelling, R, Grant, MJ, Batchelor, R, Scaife, R, Greig, J, Dark, P, Druce, D, Garbett, G, Parker, A, Hill, T, Schofield, JE, Simmonds, M, Chamber, F, Barnett, C & Waller, M 2023, 'Agricultural systems regulate plant and insect (beetle) diversity and induce ecosystem novelty', Anthropocene. 
• Smith, D, Hill, G, Kenward, H & Allison, E 2020, 'Development of synanthropic beetle faunas over the last 9000 years in the British Isles', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 115, 105075.
• Smith, D 2020, 'Pondering privies: construction, use, reuse and other speculations about cesspits in the archaeological record', Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.
• Smith, D, Hill, G & Kenward, H 2018, 'The Development of Late Holocene Farmed Landscapes: Analysis of Insect Assemblages using a Multi-period Dataset', The Holocene.
• Smith, D 2017, 'Locating where archaeological sites occur in intertidal sequences: The use of archaeoentomological data as a proxy for tidal regime', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 82, pp. 1-19.
• Spencer, D 2017, Aesthetic, sociological and exploitative attitudes to landscape in Greco-Roman literature, art and culture. Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research Reviews. Williams, G. (ed.). Oxford University Press
• Spencer, D 2015, Vitruvius, Landscape and Heterotopias: How ‘otherspaces’ enrich Roman identity. The Routledge Handbook of Identity and the Environment in the Classical and Early Medieval Worlds. Kennedy, R. & Jones-Lewis, M. (eds.). London: Routledge, p. 171-191

Projects

• Forging the Christian Holy Land c.300-c. 1099 AD (led by Daniel Reynolds, funded by the British Academy)
• Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes and Stonehenge Landscape EMI(Henry Chapman and Paul Garwood)
• Wildscapes project (Henry Chapman)
• Building Online Guidance for Wetland Landscapes, Archaeology and Natural Deposits (David Smith)
• Bog Bodies project (David Smith, Henry Chapman)