Castles and Coprolites

I’m excited to share some great work that is happening at Durham University, using X-ray computed tomography (XR-CT) to investigate the remarkable Melsonby hoard , which was discovered in North Yorkshire in 2021. The hoard includes a collection ironwork and copper alloy items, most of which are associated with horse harnesses and Iron Age vehicle parts. The hoard was sent to the University of Southampton’s μ-VIS X-Ray Imaging Centre for XR-CT analysis due to the exceptional size of one of the soil blocks recovered during excavation. Weighing approximately 250 kg, the block contained a dense concentration of artefacts including iron tyres and harness fittings, cemented in compacted soil. This posed a significant challenge for conventional scanning systems, and is rather beyond the scale of what we can scan in our NEMCAS XR-CT facility! Southampton’s μ-VIS centre operates the largest high-energy micro-focus CT scanner of any UK university, capable of imaging very large, dense materials....

Have you come across the term Research Culture? This refers to the values, behaviours, and working practices that shape how research is done and experienced. It includes things like collaboration, fairness, recognition, support for career development, and how inclusive and respectful the research environment is. A positive research culture helps everyone involved in research to thrive and do their best work. I’m delighted to be joining the Research Culture Committee at Durham University, as representative of the Faculty of Social Sciences. I genuinely believe that a positive research culture improves the quality of our research, but also the wellbeing, recognition, and development of everyone involved in the research process. Durham’s Flourish@Durham initiative, is leading the way in creating a research environment that is fair, transparent, and inclusive. This means valuing the how as much as the what, ensuring that Durham's research strategy is delivered with care for the people...

Blog readers may be familiar with the botanical terms monocots and dicots. Dicots include many woody species, and monocots include important cereal crops such as wheat and barley (i.e. grasses). These are basics of plant biology that I teach my students in environmental archaeology. Monocots such as cereals of course are central in archaeological research around the origins of agriculture and domestication, whilst dicots feature in studies of ancient fuel use.  One of the major differences between monocots and dicots is the organisation of the stem. Dicot stems, or cambium, have radial growth, that forms the distinct rings that we use for dendrochronology. This growth is controlled by the interaction of two proteins, TDIF and PXY. Monocots do not have a cambium, but they do have the genes for TDIF and PXY. What then, is the function of these genes in monocots, if not to produce cambium? This question is the basis of a major BBSRC funded project I've been involved in for t...