I studied history and archaeology at Exeter and worked as an archaeologist and heritage manager for commercial and research institutions across Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia before completing an MSc in digital heritage at York and a DPhil in archaeology at Oxford. My research has focussed on the archaeology and heritage of complex urban sites, with my doctoral thesis examining evidence for the Mongol Conquest of the 13th century and subsequent urban change at cities in Central Asia and the Caucasus. I am now a research fellow at King's College investigating broader changes in these urban sites from the 11th to 15th centuries, a period when Turco-Mongol groups moved into the area. I have worked extensively in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan and currently lead a field project with colleagues from the Otrar State Archaeological Museum and Archeoservice at the urban site of Otrar in southern Kazakhstan. 

Currently, I am working with the Rivers of the Silk Roads Project, based at the University of Lincoln, which is investigating how water shaped societies and empires in Central Asia over the past two millennia. This involves conducting fieldwork on palaeochannels, canals and other infrastructure for water management along the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and integrating this with legacy data on settlement patterns, flooding and irrigation from the region.

Publications:

Campbell K (2023) The Impact of the Mongol Conquests on Earthen Cities in Central Asia. International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 12:2, pp. 389-410 https://doi.org/10.1386/ijia_00118_1  https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.93282

Campbell K, Seraliyev A, Naskidashvili D, Akylbek S (2022) Urbanism Under Turco-Mongol Rule: Excavations in Otrar, Kazakhstan. TSU-TI: The International Scientific Journal of Humanities, 1, pp. 9-23 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55804/TSU-ti-1/Campbell

Kabora, T & Campbell, K (2022) Archival Photography, UAV Surveys and Structure-from-Motion Techniques for Local Heritage Management in Visual Heritage: Digital Approaches in Heritage Science (eds. Ch`ng, E, Gaffney, V & Chapman, H) Springer Nature: Switzerland, pp.351-374 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77028-0_17  https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.84489

Campbell, K (2022) Presenting Al Zubarah Archaeological Site in Al Zubarah: Qatar’s World Heritage City (eds. Muhesen, S, Walmsley, A, Hassan al-Sulaiti, F, Rosendahl, S & Thuesen, I), pp. 195-206. Qatar University Press: Doha

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.91791

Campbell K (2022) Al Zubarah in Contemporary Society in Al Zubarah: Qatar’s World Heritage City (eds. Muhesen, S, Walmsley, A, Hassan al-Sulaiti, F, Rosendahl, S & Thuesen, I), pp. 207-214. Qatar University Press: Doha

Campbell, K (2020) The City of Otrar, Kazakhstan: Using Archaeology to Better Understand the Impact of the Mongol Conquest of Central Asia. Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Ancient Near East (ICAANE) Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Munich 2018, pp. 597-606 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.87960 

Williams T, Campbell, K, Jorayev, G, Wordsworth, P, Jepbarov, R & Morisset, S (2018) Semi-fortified Palatial Complexes in Central Asia: New Work at the Great Kyz Kala, Merv, Turkmenistan. Archaeology International, 21(1), pp. 153-169 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ai-395