"research" blog posts
Exploring Historic Mortuary Culture - Part two
This is the second part of Eloise and Naomi Dark's report on their Graduate Internship Scheme placements.
Posted on: 22 December 2022
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Late spring at Khirbet al-Mudayna al-‘Aliya, Jordan - Part 2
In order to tackle some of these questions I organised the fieldwork project we’re currently enjoying. I really wanted to visit the site to take a closer look at its many structures, and pay particular attention to building techniques, potential quarrying locations, and the order the site was built in. Then I got to thinking, how will I be able to address all the questions I’ll have, especially as throughout my PhD I’ll likely come up with more and more questions that I can’t even think of yet? If only there was a way of ‘bringing the site home with me’!
Posted on: 19 May 2022
Late spring at Khirbet al-Mudayna al-‘Aliya, Jordan - Part 1
Hi everyone! I thought I’d write a blog post as we’re currently doing some quite exciting work out in Jordan. First, for those that don’t know me, I’m Diederik Halbertsma, a 2nd year PhD student in archaeology at ACE. I specialise in the Iron Age period (ca. 1200 – 550 BCE) of the Levant, specifically the early Iron Age in the country of Jordan. It is this research which brought me out to Jordan with a small team of colleagues this year. It was originally planned to be done before I started my PhD (which I did in 2020), but due to Covid-19 complicating all forms of travel the past several years our work here was postponed several times. We are very grateful to be out here now, however!
Posted on: 18 May 2022
Introducing: ACE & Creativity
It is my pleasure and honour to write the first short post for our new blog, which aims to bring together academic and creative work in Ancient World Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology.
Posted on: 6 April 2022
To rebury or not to rebury? That is the question...
Professor Harold Mytum shares his experience of working at the Castle Street burial ground in Hull.
Posted on: 19 August 2021
Measuring the World Against the Body: Materialities and Meanings of Magnification and Miniaturization in Religious Communication in Antiquity and Modernity
At the end of February (24-26 Feb. 2021), four colleagues from ACE (Bruce Gibson, Georgia Petridou, Anthony Sinclair, and Alexei Zadorozhny) had the pleasure of collaborating with leading research experts from the Universities of Erfurt (Germany), Graz (Austria), and Aarhus (Denmark; the UrbNet project) at an international 3-day interdisciplinary conference entitled ‘Measuring the World against the Body: Materialities and Meanings of Magnification and Miniaturization in Religious Communication in Antiquity and Modernity’
Posted on: 26 March 2021
Podcast: Uncovering the biology of the past with Professor Keith Dobney
Listen to Professor Keith Dobney talk with Professor Nick Enfield (Director of the University of Sydney’s Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre) about research into past-human-animal relationships.
Posted on: 28 September 2020
Formby Footprints
The footprints at Formby provide an intimate glimpse into the past. Scrutiny of them tells us so much about the activities of ancient coastal communities in the northwest of England. The footprints formed while this region was made up of muddy salt-marshes. These salt-marshes flourished on and off across a period extending some ~8000 years.
Posted on: 1 September 2020
Discovery of an ancient hearth at Formby
Dr Ardern Hulme-Beaman was recently thrilled to discover an ancient hearth hidden in the sands of Formby Beach alongside millennia-old footprints. Learn about the details of the discovery and view the SketchFab scans of the finds.
Posted on: 21 August 2020
Harold Mytum talks about graveyards at the Council for British Archaeology's Festival of Archaeology
With the coronavirus restrictions, the CBA’s annual Festival of Archaeology is a digital event this year, running from the 9th July. Other ‘normal’ activities are to take place, all being well, in November. As part of this event, Professor Harold Mytum has given two lectures on graveyards and cemeteries, and the monuments in these important heritage sites found all across Britain and Ireland.
Posted on: 21 July 2020
The Hunt for Cleopatra's Tomb
Early last year, a TV production company dropped me a line, inviting me to present a documentary on ‘The Hunt for Cleopatra’s Tomb’ (to be aired tonight (Thursday 16th July) at 9pm on Channel 5). The opportunity to get back to Egypt, and pure curiosity, got the better of me, so I decided to get involved.
Posted on: 16 July 2020
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Barking Up the Right Tree - Updates from Deep Roots
Professor Larry Barham provides a fantastic update from the 'Deep Roots' project, and the award of Endangered Material Knowledge Programme funding for research into the archaeological use of bark. Professor Barham and his team's four year project investigates the deep roots of increasingly complex human behaviour in Africa, with excavations at key sites in Zambia.
Posted on: 16 June 2020
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Conversations in Human Evolution
Archaeology PhD student Lucy Timbrell tells us about Conversations in Human Evolution - her new public engagement initiative aimed at highlighting and exploring the diversity of human evolution studies, through fun and educational interview-style blog posts.
Posted on: 26 May 2020
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Locked Out! - Updates from Deep Roots
Professor Larry Barham provides an update from the 'Deep Roots' project under lock-down, from his lab in the garden. Professor Barham and his team's four year project investigates the deep roots of increasingly complex human behaviour in Africa, with excavations at key sites in Zambia.
Posted on: 19 May 2020
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Free online Egyptology lectures and podcasts to keep you busy
For those of you with an interest in ancient Egypt, Egyptology PhD student Megan Clark has put together a list of free online Egyptology lectures and podcasts to check out.
Posted on: 23 April 2020
Stone Age memories
Professor Larry Barham visits Ormskirk West End Primary School to teach pupils about the Stone Age and the development of early tools.
Posted on: 7 April 2020
Celebrating the research of Professor John Gowlett
When and why did human ancestors begin to master fire? How did we come to have such large brains, or to develop language? Why did handaxes – such a fundamental element of the prehistoric archaeological record – persist for more than a million years? Do they reflect social norms or ‘design rules’ passed on from one individual to another? These questions – and many more – have been central to the research of our very own Prof. John Gowlett during the course of his career. And through John’s research, they have become central issues for understanding human evolution.
Posted on: 2 April 2020
The Ancestral Shape Hypothesis
Dr Kimberly Plomp, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, explores the ancestral source of a problem faced by many people today: back pain.
Posted on: 17 March 2020
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Vindaloo, Victorians, and Ancient Greek Colonisation Part 1: Hybridity
The Ancient Greek Colonisation and British Imperial Thought (ALGY336) module examines how academic understanding of ancient Greek overseas settlements was influenced by Victorian ideas of race, gender, and empire. This happened because British scholars made analogies between the ancient Greeks and the contemporary British Empire that they lived in, projecting their own imperialist values back onto history. Even the Victorian Prime Minister William Gladstone said in the House of Commons that the British Empire should treat its colonies like the Greeks had done theirs. We then applied Postcolonialism to critically consider relationships between ancient Greeks and the Celts, Sikels, and Egyptians that they encountered.
Posted on: 12 February 2020
Exploring The Archaeology and Topography of Greece
Niamh Banner (BA Classical Studies with Spanish) shares her experience at the British School at Athens on their Undergraduate Course: a three-week intensive course exploring ‘The Archaeology and Topography of Greece’ with lectures at dozens of sites, museums and even artefact handling sessions in the BSA fitch laboratory.
Posted on: 10 February 2020
Alumni and Friends Fund for the ACE photogrammetry team — introducing this year’s projects
Ardern Hulme-Beaman, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow with the department, shares the progress of the ACE photogrammetry team and their plans for the future.
Posted on: 11 December 2019
Gallery: Professor Keith Dobney travels inland to further explore Chinese archaeology and culture
After several weeks in Shanghai, spent writing, lecturing and discussing labs and potential projects, I headed northeast and inland to Xi’an where I visited colleagues in the large Department of Archaeology, School of Cultural Heritage, Conservation and Restoration at Northwest University.
Posted on: 28 November 2019
Mapping Jersey’s forgotten military past
Jersey is well known for its World War 2 military remains that are scattered across the island, relics of the Nazi occupation. Many are tourist attractions, and both local inhabitants and visitors are well aware of this aspect of Jersey’s heritage. Much less well known, however, is that Jersey’s contribution to the British war effort in World War 1 included not only sending men and women to join the armed forces, but also housing German prisoners of war.
Posted on: 18 November 2019
Gallery: Professor Keith Dobney invited to Institute of Archaeological Science at Fudan, China
I’m here for the whole of November at the kind invitation of my good friend and colleague (Professor Yuan Jing) who is the Director of a newly established Institute of Archaeological Science at Fudan. I’ll be giving some public lectures, meeting students and staff, attending lab meetings, doing some guest teaching and discussing new facilities, research collaborations and links with ACE.
Posted on: 14 November 2019
Bio: Sydney Hunter, Fulbright Scholar at the University of Liverpool
During the academic year 2019-20 we are very happy to welcome to the department Fulbright scholar Sydney Hunter, who is pursuing an MA in Archaeology. The prestigious Fulbright program allows the exchange of knowledge and cultural experiences between the United States and the other participating countries. It is a life-changing opportunity that helps build stronger career profiles, and provides students with new connections to other scholars in the field and access to different approaches to research.
Posted on: 12 November 2019
SACE Digging Day at the Williamson Tunnels
Following their trip to the Williamson Tunnels Heritage Centre, Megan Clark discusses a successful day spent digging by the Society of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology.
Posted on: 17 October 2019
Before Egypt app launch — bringing the Garstang collection to life
Dr Ardern Hulme-Beaman and the ACE photogrammetry team introduce the Before Egypt app — a new augmented reality app from the University of Liverpool's Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology created to bring objects from the Garstang Museum's collection to life.
Posted on: 9 October 2019
Introducing the 2019/20 Work in Progress seminar series
The Work in Progress seminar series is a weekly selection of papers presented by postgraduate researchers to an audience of specialists and non-specialists alike.
Posted on: 2 October 2019
The crunch – and a time for dancing
Larry Barham, Professor of African Archaeology at the University of Liverpool, is Principal Investigator of the AHRC-funded Deep Roots research project, which seeks to gain a greater understanding into the origins of human technology by excavating areas of interest in Zambia. Read an excerpt from his blog following an excavation that took place in the summer, and watch as an Early Stone Age artefact is uncovered at the site of Kalambo Falls.
Posted on: 30 September 2019
Meet the Lecturer: Dr Frederick Jones ARBSA
Dr Frederick Jones is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool. A specialist in Classic languages, Dr Jones is also an accomplished artist and is an Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA). Find out how his work in Classics is intertwined with his art.
Posted on: 10 September 2019
Hafting and the development of combinatorial technology
Professor Larry Barham of the University of Liverpool's Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology explains how the use of experimental archaeology can be used to uncover the history of hafting, which gave rise to the combinatorial technology we rely on today.
Posted on: 10 July 2019
Guest speaker: Exploring evolution and entanglement
Two of our graduate students in Archaeology, Emily Prtak and Eleanor de Spretter Yates, reflect on our recent Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology (ACE) flagship seminar, on the theme of 'Evolution and Entanglement' featuring guest speaker Professor Ian Hodder (Stanford University):
Posted on: 8 March 2019
Classics and Ancient History seminars this semester: Sicily and rhetoric
The Classics and Ancient History seminars this semester have got off to a great start, with the emergence of a surprise emphasis on Sicily in our first two seminars.
Posted on: 4 March 2019
LGBT History Month - Homosexuality in Ancient Greece
This February in the department we have been reflecting about LGBT history, not least following the wonderful lecture by Prof Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones on Alexander the Great. In this post, Dr Ben Cartlidge dwells on a puzzling feature of the ancient Greek evidence for male homosexuality.
Posted on: 27 February 2019
Alexander the Great or Alexander the Gay?
For LGBT history month, guest blogger Prof Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (Chair of Ancient History, Cardiff University) asks: 'Alexander the Great or Alexander the Gay?' before his talk this week, exploring Alexander's sexuality and popular culture.
Posted on: 19 February 2019
End of an era: ACE’s Penycloddiau field school comes to a natural close
With the ACE field school now moved to Norton Priory, a small but perfectly-formed team completed the former field school site at the Penycloddiau Hillfort between 15 July - 11 August. The excavations worked to train eight students, in partnership with the Institute for Field Research (IFR Global), alongside onward employability training for recent graduates.
Posted on: 25 October 2018
Vandals and fragments: what to expect from our classics and ancient history seminars
Research Fellow, Ben Cartlidge, gives us the inside track on the varied themes covered in our Classics and Ancient History seminars at Liverpool - from ancient religion to music and poetry.
Posted on: 19 October 2018
New texts from an old site: discoveries from the September 2018 season at the Hatnub alabaster quarries
Roland Enmarch is Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool and co-director of the Anglo-French Hatnub Survey / Mission de Hatnoub, along with Dr. Yannis Gourdon (IFAO). In this blog, Roland provides an overview of his visit to Hatnub, Egypt, examining the ancient inscriptions in the site's alabaster quarries.
Posted on: 9 October 2018
Georgia's Archaeological Adventures in Alaska
Georgia Hetherington, second-year BSc Archaeology student, recently had the trip of a lifetime during a three week excavation in Alaska. Read her blog and discover some of her amazing experiences.
Posted on: 24 September 2018
Mary Beard comes to Liverpool!
This summer, Prof Mary Beard came to Liverpool to give two lectures on the Meroë head of Augustus from the British Museum - which was temporarily on display at the Victoria Gallery & Museum on campus.
Posted on: 17 August 2018
University Archaeology Day and London Anthropology Day 2018
This year, the University of Liverpool's Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology was represented at the British Museum as part of University Archaeology Day 2018 and London Anthropology Day 2018.
Posted on: 10 August 2018
Five things to do in Merseyside for anyone interested in Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology this summer
With summer now upon us, you might be looking for things to do in Merseyside before the start of the new term (trust us, this will come around very quickly!). While teaching may be over until September, there’s still plenty of things to do and see in the area that relate to Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology: from Neolithic monuments to Egyptian treasures…
Posted on: 7 June 2018
Studying the past for success in the future: tips and tricks to get the most out of your degree
Finishing university is daunting, especially when you’re not 100% sure which path you wish to take through life. For this reason, as a third year Evolutionary Anthropology student, I am always looking for new ways to improve my CV and ‘stand out from the crowd’. I have found plenty of opportunities through our Department, and so I have compiled some of the most crucial which have dramatically improved my applications.
Posted on: 19 April 2018
Using modern technology to model ancient worlds
Would 3D digital objects help your project? Could you analyse aspects of your sites or objects in a new way by quantifying it in 3D space? Could you draw more people to interact with your work by engaging with them through a digital medium? Ardern Hulme-Beaman discusses how photogrammetry is revolutionising the work of our academics, and how you can learn more about this innovative technique.
Posted on: 12 March 2018
Fall of Troy: the legend and the facts
The legendary ancient city of Troy is very much in the limelight this year. A big budget co-production between the BBC and Netflix 'Troy: Fall of a City' recently launched, while Turkey designated 2018 the “Year of Troy” and plans a year of celebration, including the opening of a new museum on the presumed site.
Posted on: 6 March 2018
ACE researcher in the spotlight: Dr. Shirley Curtis-Summers
I am currently an honorary research associate in ACE and since completing my PhD in 2015, I have held posts in ACE, History, Anatomy, Continuing Education and Public Health and Policy. I am also a consultant human osteologist, working with heritage companies and museums to provide human osteology assessments/reports and deliver public engagement events.
Posted on: 11 December 2017
Early Village Societies research group seminar series
The first seminar of the Early Village Societies research group for this academic year recently took place, where two of our PhD students presented on the first stages of their research.
Posted on: 1 December 2017
Spotlight: Professor Keith Dobney, Head of Department for ACE
As the (relatively) new Head of Department for ACE, I’m extremely happy to contribute another blog post here, to help celebrate and promote our great department. Make no mistake, we do have a lot to shout about; our long and colourful heritage of over 100 years, the distinctive combination of related disciplines, our newly refurbished facilities, a dynamic and world-class profile for teaching and research and, of course, a great staff and student body.
Posted on: 29 November 2017
Spotlight: Covering Neolithic botany to human skeletal anatomy - meet four of our researchers
This year we had a number of researchers land prestigious grants for their interesting and important work at ACE. Among these researchers, we have a few new postdocs who have written a brief introduction to the research they will be undertaking at ACE!
Posted on: 13 November 2017
Pets, Pests, & People: an evening of science and wine, discovering what animals have done for us
Thank you to everyone who attended the public event, Pets, Pests, and People held at the VG&M on Friday, October 13. We had over 80 people present for the talks and the drinks reception. I’d call that a success!
Posted on: 12 October 2017
Excavations, new skills and adventures in Halkidiki
In its time, Olynthos was an ancient classical Greek city in the Halkidiki region of modern-day Greece. The city sprawled across the two massive hills that dominate the surrounding landscape until its destruction in 348 BC by Philip II (Alexander the Great’s dad).
Posted on: 9 October 2017
Deep Roots: Day four of seven. Time to head out into the field
My first blog about preparing for the 'Deep Roots' research project looked at our initial work examining museum collections and locating key sites for excavation. This time, I'll be giving an insight into the ups and downs we encountered as we went out into the field...
Posted on: 26 June 2017
Deep Roots: An old jigsaw puzzle...with some key pieces missing
The ‘Deep Roots’ research project will begin in earnest in July 2017 with the first of four seasons of excavation. In the first of two blogs, I'll be giving you a behind the scenes look at the work we've been doing in preparation.
Posted on: 16 June 2017
Lost in the sand - investigating early humans and their tools in Zambia
Prof Larry Barham gives us a taste of what it's like to excavate in Zambia, as he heads off to begin new research into early humans and how they made tools.
Posted on: 4 May 2017
Student experience - discovering ancient and modern Greece
Archaeology student Jake Morley-Stone gives us the lowdown on his research in Greece and how The Chris Mee Mediterranean Travel Award enabled him to make the trip. Find out how this experience has transformed his research on Ancient Greece.
Posted on: 20 April 2017
A new way of exploring the past
Professor Keith Dobney was part of a team of researchers who recently made the exciting discovery of ancient DNA found in the dental plaque of Neandertals from Belgium and Spain.
Posted on: 17 March 2017
On this day in history: Julius Caesar assassination
Our Roman history expert, Fred Hirt, looks back on this pivotal moment in ancient history and the unusual way he was first introduced to Shakespeare's version of events.
Posted on: 15 March 2017
A passion for LEGO and archaeology
My latest research project has been inspired by my interest in digital humanities research, teaching methods - and a love of LEGO.
Posted on: 18 January 2017