Lindsay Banfield
I am currently working as the Engagement Officer for Canterbury Archaeological Trust, communicating and sharing archaeology with a wider audience. This includes working on a variety of engagement activities as part of their East Wear Bay excavation project in Folkestone.
Previously, I was employed as a Project Manager for York Archaeology and was responsible for a number of commercial excavation and post-excavation projects. These included excavations at the National Railway Museum and at York Minster ahead of planned development works.
I completed my PhD at the University of Reading, having also completed an MA in Archaeology there, with a BA in Archaeology from UCL. At UCL I was the recipient of the Bryan Clauson Prize for Roman Archaeology.
My research interests focus on detailed analysis of Roman period finds to explore themes of identity. For my PhD, I achieved this by examining a dataset of over 2000 lava quern and mill stones imported into Britain from the Mayen region of Germany. My Masters dissertation looked at the socio-economic significance of hones form Roman London.
As a result of my post-graduate studies, I have developed a specialism in worked stone artefacts, but I am also able assess other Roman period small finds and coins.
I am a passionate advocate for community archaeology and have worked in a leadership role on a number of volunteer projects including the Culver Archaeological Project. I have also worked for a number of years as a supervisor or assistant director at archaeological field schools to train undergraduate students field work skills.
Previously, I was employed as a Project Manager for York Archaeology and was responsible for a number of commercial excavation and post-excavation projects. These included excavations at the National Railway Museum and at York Minster ahead of planned development works.
I completed my PhD at the University of Reading, having also completed an MA in Archaeology there, with a BA in Archaeology from UCL. At UCL I was the recipient of the Bryan Clauson Prize for Roman Archaeology.
My research interests focus on detailed analysis of Roman period finds to explore themes of identity. For my PhD, I achieved this by examining a dataset of over 2000 lava quern and mill stones imported into Britain from the Mayen region of Germany. My Masters dissertation looked at the socio-economic significance of hones form Roman London.
As a result of my post-graduate studies, I have developed a specialism in worked stone artefacts, but I am also able assess other Roman period small finds and coins.
I am a passionate advocate for community archaeology and have worked in a leadership role on a number of volunteer projects including the Culver Archaeological Project. I have also worked for a number of years as a supervisor or assistant director at archaeological field schools to train undergraduate students field work skills.
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Quarrying and manufacture of lava milling tools at Mayen, Germany, was examined in detail, and distribution analysis was undertaken to explore spatial, chronological, and social distribution. This has demonstrated that lava consumption was limited geographically and socially, with regions in the south-east and east of England, alongside military and urban sites being most likely to use lava milling tools. Lava millstones were most common in southern urban and northern military contexts, showing that access and use of centralised food processing technology was unequal. Chronological analysis of lava distribution has shown that the earliest lava imports occurred in the first century, with a peak in deposition during the second to third centuries.
Evidence for the modification of lava querns has provided insight into innovation and specific modes of lava quern use, while varying use wear prior to deposition points to privileged access to imported lava at urban and military sites compared to rural ones. Analysis of deposition suggests that lava querns were ritually deposited in pits in urban contexts, and that reuse in construction and road surfaces was common at military sites.
Overall, this study has generated a large corpus of new data, the analysis of which has delivered previously unknown detail of the role of lava milling tools in Roman Britain. The dataset also creates the potential for future analysis to help build a more complete view the complex biographies of these significant objects and their relationship with past peoples.
Quarrying and manufacture of lava milling tools at Mayen, Germany, was examined in detail, and distribution analysis was undertaken to explore spatial, chronological, and social distribution. This has demonstrated that lava consumption was limited geographically and socially, with regions in the south-east and east of England, alongside military and urban sites being most likely to use lava milling tools. Lava millstones were most common in southern urban and northern military contexts, showing that access and use of centralised food processing technology was unequal. Chronological analysis of lava distribution has shown that the earliest lava imports occurred in the first century, with a peak in deposition during the second to third centuries.
Evidence for the modification of lava querns has provided insight into innovation and specific modes of lava quern use, while varying use wear prior to deposition points to privileged access to imported lava at urban and military sites compared to rural ones. Analysis of deposition suggests that lava querns were ritually deposited in pits in urban contexts, and that reuse in construction and road surfaces was common at military sites.
Overall, this study has generated a large corpus of new data, the analysis of which has delivered previously unknown detail of the role of lava milling tools in Roman Britain. The dataset also creates the potential for future analysis to help build a more complete view the complex biographies of these significant objects and their relationship with past peoples.