Sophie Gingell

• MPhil in Archaeology, University of Cambridge
• BA (Hons) in Ancient History and Archaeology at University of Manchester

I studied my undergraduate degree in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Manchester, through which I became involved in the research excavations at Star Carr from the years 2009 - 2015. I completed my MPhil at the University of Cambridge in 2014. I have since worked for a number of commercial archaeology companies, including the University of Leicester Archaeological Services and CFA Ltd. My primary research focus has been on Mesolithic and Neolithic hunter-gatherer societies of Northern Europe throughout, as I find it particularly engaging, challenging and exciting.

PhD title

Prehistoric Pots, Peoples and Personhood; Exploring the Role of Ceramics in the Early Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Communities of the East Baltic

Supervisors

Paul Garwood and Dr David Smith

My research centres on investigating the impact of the introduction of pottery on hunter-gatherer-fisher societies in the East Baltic, using settlement and burial data from a number of sites across the region. Pottery was adopted in north-eastern Europe millenia before the introduction and widespread adoption of agricultural practices, thus presenting excellent opportunities to study the role of pottery in hunter-gatherer communities. I am looking primarily at ceramic vessels categorised as belonging to the Narva culture, as these are the earliest pots found in the East Baltic. Using an interdisciplinary, multivalent approach, I am exploring the ways in which the introduction of pottery affected and were incorporated into people's conceptualisations of themselves, each other and the surrounding world.

Member of CIFA