James H. Barrett
Deputy Director, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research
Office: Courtyard Building
Phone: +44 (0)1223 339287
Fax: +44 (0)1223 333536
Email: jhb41@cam.ac.uk
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Current research interests
I specialise in medieval archaeology and historical ecology, with particular interests in the Viking Age, early medieval economy, migration and the comparative study of maritime societies. Much of my past research involved the application of archaeological science to Medieval Archaeology, with the ultimate aim of reconciling archaeology's divergent scientific, theoretical and historical paradigms. My new work is more humanistic in focus, including studies of power and ideology in the context of the Viking Age diaspora.
Current research projects
Having recently completed excavations at the Viking Age and medieval settlement of Quoygrew, Orkney, I am now preparing the results for publication as a McDonald Institute Monograph. Concurrently, I am finalising a three-year research project on the Medieval Origins of Commercial Sea Fishing using zooarchaeological and biomolecular methods (funded by the Leverhulme Trust). I have also started a new excavation at a Viking Age chieftain's stronghold in Orkney known as the Brough of Deerness.