Research Projects in the Department of Archaeology

Displaying 41 - 48 of 48 projects

Science @ Tarquinia

The project Science @ Tarquinia aims to provide the complementary scientific support for the long-standing study of the ancient Etruscan city of Tarquinia by the University of Milan. This Unesco World Heritage site is well known for its magnificent painted tombs, its city walls, the Temple of Ara Regina and the monumental zone where the University of Milan has worked for over 30 years. The collaborative work (which started in September 2019) includes flotation, micromorphology, AMS dating, isotopic analysis and aDNA.

Shanidar Cave Project

Shanidar cave viewed from the south (Photograph: Graeme Barker)

The Shanidar Cave Project

SILKGLASS: Production and Dispersion of Silk Road Glass in Central Asia

SILKGLASS is a Horizon Europe MSCA-PF fellowship funded by UKRI and hosted by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge.

STEPS: Biomechanical simulations of hominin locomotion across complex terrains

Human bipedalism is a rare and distinct form of locomotion, unlike that of any other animal. Despite its uniqueness, its evolutionary origins and ecological significance remain elusive. By walking on two legs, early hominins not only freed their hands to hold, manufacture, and use stone tools, but also gained the ability to interact with the environment in new ways, driving innovations in social structure, diet, and survival strategies. This ultimately led to the success of Homo, our genus.

The Contemporary Archaeology of Agriculture in Elgeyo-Marakwet Kenya

Agriculture in Africa faces multiple challenges. Climate extremes, ecosystem degradation and population growth continually prompt calls for the urgent transformation of food systems. Mainstream attempts remain focused on modernising paradigms in ways that overlook historic and contemporary smallholder practice as primary sources of innovation. This project challenges this narrative, adopting an archaeological framework to reconceptualise smallholder innovation as an iterative historic process harnessable as a mechanism for future agricultural design.

The Socio-Technics of Painted Pottery: From Microscopic Evidence to Macroscopic Histories

This project presents a comparative study of two major Neolithic painted pottery traditions situated at opposite ends of Eurasia: the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture in southeastern Europe and the Yangshao-Majiayao cultural sequence in northwest China. While their remarkably similar decorative repertoires have long been noted, this research moves beyond typological comparison to interrogate the technological practices and organisational structures underlying their production systems.

Tracking the Roadways Across Iranian Lands: A Geospatial Reconstruction of the Persian Royal Road(s) and the cross-cultural link between East and West during the Achaemenid Era (6th-4th century BCE)

PersianTRAIL is a research project using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and historical-archaeological data to reconstruct the Persian Royal Road (PRR), a key infrastructure of the Achaemenid Empire (6th–4th century BCE). The project examines factors like topography, resource distribution, economy, military logistics, and environmental constraints to understand the empire’s strategic planning.

Transitions in early stone tool technologies: a computer vision and machine learning approach

The transition from Oldowan to Acheulean technologies are hypothesised to be concomitant with advances in cognition and behaviour. However, the nature of these shifts, and their cultural and evolutionary implications are poorly defined and understood. While extensive literature exists on these technologies, significant differences in research methods and traditions make comparative and comprehensive analyses problematic.

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Research Projects in the Department of Archaeology

Science @ Tarquinia

Shanidar Cave Project

SILKGLASS: Production and Dispersion of Silk Road Glass in Central Asia

STEPS: Biomechanical simulations of hominin locomotion across complex terrains

The Contemporary Archaeology of Agriculture in Elgeyo-Marakwet Kenya

The Socio-Technics of Painted Pottery: From Microscopic Evidence to Macroscopic Histories

Tracking the Roadways Across Iranian Lands: A Geospatial Reconstruction of the Persian Royal Road(s) and the cross-cultural link between East and West during the Achaemenid Era (6th-4th century BCE)

Transitions in early stone tool technologies: a computer vision and machine learning approach

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