I am an historian of migration, ethnic and cultural identity, gender, and the military and economy in the Later Roman Empire and Early Medieval Western Europe. From January-December 2019 I was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies, “Migration and Mobility in Late Antiquity” at the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, funded by the German Research Foundation. I received my doctorate in 2017 from the Department of History at the University of York. My thesis, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, examined the assumptions and narrative techniques drawn upon by archaeologists when they make interpretations of early Anglo-Saxon material culture in relation to ethnic identity. The general public and the popular media are taking increasing interest in attempts to combine study of material culture with fields such as genetics and stable isotope analysis in study of the migration of pre-modern populations and the relationship of these with modern national identity. My work grapples with some of the unquestioned assumptions which often underpin such research.
More broadly, I work on the history and archaeology of late antique and early medieval Western Europe. My interests are ethnic and gender identity and the interrelation of these with military and economic history, and the philosophical and ethical implications of the study of these fields in the modern day.
I have taught and lectured on a range of subjects, including broad medieval and renaissance survey courses, and dedicated courses concerning late antique and early medieval history and archaeology, as well as historical and archaeological methodology and theory, and am always open to enquiries for lectures, teaching or consultancy. Satisfied consultancy clients have included English Heritage and production studios for Audible books.
Supervisors: Guy Halsall
More broadly, I work on the history and archaeology of late antique and early medieval Western Europe. My interests are ethnic and gender identity and the interrelation of these with military and economic history, and the philosophical and ethical implications of the study of these fields in the modern day.
I have taught and lectured on a range of subjects, including broad medieval and renaissance survey courses, and dedicated courses concerning late antique and early medieval history and archaeology, as well as historical and archaeological methodology and theory, and am always open to enquiries for lectures, teaching or consultancy. Satisfied consultancy clients have included English Heritage and production studios for Audible books.
Supervisors: Guy Halsall
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For centuries, archaeologists have excavated the soils of Britain to uncover finds from the early medieval past. These finds have been used to reconstruct the alleged communities, migration patterns, and expressions of identity of coherent groups who can be regarded as ethnic ‘Anglo-Saxons’. Even in the modern day, when social constructionism has been largely accepted by scholars, this paradigm still persists. This book challenges the ethnic paradigm. As the first historiographical study of approaches to ethnic identity in modern ‘Anglo-Saxon’ archaeology, it reveals these approaches to be incompatible with current scholarly understandings of ethnicity. Drawing upon post-structuralist approaches to self and community, it highlights the empirical difficulties the archaeology of ethnicity in early medieval Britain faces, and proposes steps toward an alternative understanding of the role played by the communities of lowland Britain – both migrants from across the North Sea and those already present – in transforming the Roman world.
Reviews:
"one of the most important volumes published in the twenty-first century ...should be read by all scholars working on the European early Middle Ages." Sehepunkte, May 2021.
The volume can be purchased as an ebook or in hard copy at https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/578712
The full article can be accessed at Cambridge Core first view at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/memories-of-migration-the-anglosaxon-burial-costume-of-the-fifth-century-ad/232BF114F0AB5F90A8493C1212AE3616
The volume can be purchased or accessed via your library at https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/578712
Part III of The Public Medievalist's special series, 'Race, Racism, and the Middle Ages'
INTERSECTIONALITY: DEBATES, PERSPECTIVES AND CASE STUDIES" by Kristina Großmann, Marion Gymnich, James M. Harland, Julia Hillner, Claudia Jarzebowski, Caroline Laske, Eva Lehner, Royce Mahawatte, Danitza Márquez Ramírez, Lisa Phongsavath, Laurie Venters.
For centuries, archaeologists have excavated the soils of Britain to uncover finds from the early medieval past. These finds have been used to reconstruct the alleged communities, migration patterns, and expressions of identity of coherent groups who can be regarded as ethnic ‘Anglo-Saxons’. Even in the modern day, when social constructionism has been largely accepted by scholars, this paradigm still persists. This book challenges the ethnic paradigm. As the first historiographical study of approaches to ethnic identity in modern ‘Anglo-Saxon’ archaeology, it reveals these approaches to be incompatible with current scholarly understandings of ethnicity. Drawing upon post-structuralist approaches to self and community, it highlights the empirical difficulties the archaeology of ethnicity in early medieval Britain faces, and proposes steps toward an alternative understanding of the role played by the communities of lowland Britain – both migrants from across the North Sea and those already present – in transforming the Roman world.
Reviews:
"one of the most important volumes published in the twenty-first century ...should be read by all scholars working on the European early Middle Ages." Sehepunkte, May 2021.
The volume can be purchased as an ebook or in hard copy at https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/578712
The full article can be accessed at Cambridge Core first view at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/memories-of-migration-the-anglosaxon-burial-costume-of-the-fifth-century-ad/232BF114F0AB5F90A8493C1212AE3616
The volume can be purchased or accessed via your library at https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/578712
Part III of The Public Medievalist's special series, 'Race, Racism, and the Middle Ages'
INTERSECTIONALITY: DEBATES, PERSPECTIVES AND CASE STUDIES" by Kristina Großmann, Marion Gymnich, James M. Harland, Julia Hillner, Claudia Jarzebowski, Caroline Laske, Eva Lehner, Royce Mahawatte, Danitza Márquez Ramírez, Lisa Phongsavath, Laurie Venters.