One of the things that I really love about archaeology is that there is always something to learn. We might develop areas of specialty, but a single person could never learn it all (in fact, we could never learn it all because so much of archaeology is based on interpretations of evidence and our ideas … Continue reading The Late Bronze Age in County Durham
By Jo Zalea Matias Boudica (d. AD 60 or 61), rebel queen of the Iceni (Image 1) is stereotypically depicted in the present day with a mane of long, fiery hair - one could even say that this is one of her defining features. This is true in both academically produced images in books to … Continue reading Guest Post: Boudica the Redhead? The Difficulty in Translating Ancient Colour Words
When you get down to it, archaeology is a bit of a funny subject. We make use of specialised tools like magnetometers to do geophysical surveys and we use scientific instruments like XRF and LA-ICP-MS for materials analysis. Yet, the field archaeologist usually uses tools like the iconic trowel, shovels, mattocks and often a digger … Continue reading Tools of the artefact specialist
For the last twelve months I was lucky enough to work as an Assistant Finds Liaison Officer in the Durham Portable Antiquities Scheme office. This was a part-time role supported by the Headley Trust for the first six months and I am grateful that it was extended for another 6 months for one day a … Continue reading Researching Roman Dividers
Freddie and I are artefact specialists and we both followed similar paths. I did a PhD that allowed me to study Iron Age glass beads and other artefacts, which allowed me to gain an in depth understanding about how dress was constructed during the Iron Age and Roman period. I did my research by reading … Continue reading Becoming a finds specialist
After much deliberation I have decided to resurrect my blog. I have moved all of my previous blog posts from prehistoricglass.wordpress.com (which will be shut down) to this website to get us going. The previous posts were on Iron Age glass beads from Britain, but rest assured I will be writing about other archaeological topics … Continue reading Welcome (again!)
The following is an extract from my book Dress and Identity in Iron Age Britain: a study of glass beads and other objects of personal adornment published by Archaeopress (ISBN: 9781784915261). It is a guide that I put together on how to measure and describe glass beads, but particularly those from the Iron Age. If you … Continue reading So you found a glass bead…
I struggled for a long time trying to decide on an image or compilation of images for the front cover of my book. When I say 'struggled' what I really mean is that I had a lot of ideas, but I was completely limited by my own artistic talent! But, then I had an idea... … Continue reading Dress and Identity front cover art
The key to any good research is a solid backbone from which to build your ideas. For my research on glass beads, I built a substantial database with information about each individual bead. I then used this to explore regional trends. Building the database took hours and hours of time. I was lucky in that … Continue reading Backbones…
It has taken a long time and a lot of hard work, but I have finally finished my book. It is largely the same as my doctoral thesis, in fact very little of the actual text has changed. However, I took more time over the images, made the typology clearer, and re-arranged some of the … Continue reading It’s finally done!
