In recent years, molecular genetics has opened up an entirely new approach to human histo- ry. DNA evidence is now being used not only in studies of early human evolution (molecular anthropology), but is increasingly helping to solve the puzzles of history. This emergent re- search field has become known as »genetic history«.

The paper gives a…[Read more]

Historical and archaeological topics have been very popular for many years. This is witnessed by a variety of events and developments: well- attended exhibitions, so-called “medieval mar- kets”, an ongoing success of historical documentaries, a booming market of specialised books and magazines, as well as star-studded historical movies. The pap…[Read more]

Evidence for some ephemeral, Roman, ritual practices, particularly using organic materials, is lost to us. This paper will introduce a case study which has not been previously considered as a platform to explore the material relationships between invertebrates and their use in magical or medicinal practices. Through a combination of discussing the…[Read more]

This article is the product of a collaboration between a folklorist researching the global phenomenon of love-locks (padlocks attached to public structures in declaration of romantic commitment) and an archaeologist who also happens to be a player of ‘Geocaching’ (a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices). A chance dis…[Read more]

This is the first page only. Full article is available at https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.124.4.0523 (JSTOR subscription required) or https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/310940 (open access).

Abstract:
A wide variety of edits can be identified in the Linear B administrative documents from Mycenaean Greece. The writers of these documents…[Read more]

A three-page paper on the artistry of a bronze age ring whose discovery was reported in 2019.

A piece on the archaeology and social context for home in the 21st century Bakken oil patch.

Digital practices have increasingly come to influence discussions of archaeological work in the 21st century. As a result, many archaeologists use the concept of workflow to describe the relationship between the various phases of the knowledge making process from fieldwork to analysis, interpretation, research, and writing. This paper extends this…[Read more]

I wrote the first version of this guide in the summer of 2018. For the first time in my career I had received a multi-year fellowship, and I had been told that the position had a good chance of continuing beyond the initial fellowship period, if not of becoming permanent. So, since I did not expect to have to search for employment again, it seemed…[Read more]

Aus historischer Sicht sind genauere Definitionen, Abgrenzungen und ethnische Zuweisungen der
Bevölkerung des Alpengebiets in vorrömischer Zeit ausgesprochen schwierig, umstritten und problematisch.
Die einschlägigen Diskussionen drehen sich meist um die Kategorien „Kelten“ oder „Räter“
3. Beide Zuordnungen sind jedoch seit der Antike unsc…[Read more]

Dieser Text soll auf drei Ebenen Fragen an die Quellen tragen. Erstens will ich versuchen, exemplarisch
Entwicklungslinien zwischen der antiken Provinzstruktur und dem bairischen Dukat
– einer militärisch-politischen Organisation nach spätantikem Muster – bis in karolingische Zeit
herauszuarbeiten. Zweitens soll die Frage gestellt werden, wie u…[Read more]

This chapter examines the ways in which the Linear B ‘extra’ signs – syllabograms which can in certain circumstances replace the ‘core’ signs of the Linear B syllabary – are often used as evidence for the process by which this writing system was created from its parent writing system, Linear A, and thus, by extension, for reconstructing aspects of…[Read more]

Transport stirrup jars – so-called because of the shape formed by their handles and false neck – are a common type of Mycenaean pottery: used to transport and store liquid commodities, usually assumed to be olive oil, they are found throughout the central and eastern Mediterranean. A small sub-group of these carry painted inscriptions in the Lin…[Read more]

Review of the most recent edition of Linear B inscriptions painted onto transport stirrup jars.

It is often claimed that the mortuary traditions that appeared in lowland Britain in the fifth century AD are an expression of new forms of ethnic identity, based on the putative memorialisation of a ‘Germanic’ heritage. This article considers the empirical basis for this assertion and evaluates it in the light of previously proposed ethnic con…[Read more]

This chapter explains the process by which the Linear B writing system was deciphered and shown to record a form of the Greek language, discussing the contributions of Emmett L Bennett, Alice E. Kober, Michael Ventris, and John Chadwick.

More than 60 years after Michael Ventris’ decipherment of Linear B, 14 of its syllabic signs remain ‘undeciphered’: despite many proposals to assign sound-values to these signs, none has yet been officially accepted. This paper is based on part of a study investigating new approaches to these undeciphered signs: as signs which cannot yet be read…[Read more]

This article re-examines the evidence for the value of the Linear B sign pu2, in particular its appearance in the term da-pu2-ri-to- ‘labyrinth’, and demonstrates that it stands specifically for the value /phu/ (contrary to the usual assumption that it represents both /phu/ and /bu/). It then discusses the further implications of this con…[Read more]

This is the accepted version of the paper; the published version is available at doi.org/10.1075/wll.00025.jud (or by contacting me). This paper investigates the issue of orthographic variation in the Linear B writing system in order to explore ways in which studying a writing system’s orthographic conventions may shed light on the history of i…[Read more]

This is the paper I gave at the Public Archaeology Twitter Conference 5 (2020). The conference theme was public archaeology in lockdown. The paper is about my digital landscape archaeology intervention called #DailySarsen which began on 6 April 2020 during the Covid-19 emergency. It focusses on one specific sarsen stone in Wiltshire (UK) and takes…[Read more]