Six Months In: New Adventures in Geoarchaeology and Heritage Science

It’s hard to believe it’s already been six months since I joined Durham University. The time has absolutely flown by, and I’ve found myself in the midst of a whirlwind of new ideas, collaborations, and opportunities that are making this next chapter of my career incredibly exciting. One of the most rewarding aspects so far has been the chance to work across disciplinary boundaries. There’s a real appetite here for collaboration, and I’ve been lucky to connect with brilliant colleagues in engineering, biosciences, and computer science. Together, we’re developing a cross-department XR-CT centre, bringing together our  complementary facilities in Archaeology and Engineering.

I’ve also been exploring new collaborations with the computer science team, particularly around machine learning for XR-CT segmentation and analysis. There’s huge potential here, not just for streamlining workflows, but for transforming how we interpret complex datasets in archaeology. We’re already thinking about how to embed this into training for PhD students and early career researchers, especially those from humanities backgrounds who might not have had access to this kind of technology before. I am also working hard on upskilling myself - understanding the ins and outs of XR-CT data is a steep learning curve, and over the next academic year I am hoping to undertake my own training in data science. 

Obviously, one of the main areas I’ve been focusing on is NEMCAS, the North East Material Culture Analytical Suite, funded by AHRC’s RICHeS (Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science) programme, which is developing a new heritage science infrastructure in the UK, and linking to Europe as the National Coordinator for the UK National Node of E-RIHS ( European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science).

It’s inspiring to see the breadth and depth of research happening in the Department of Archaeology at Durham. I enjoyed visiting the Auckland Castle excavations over the summer, one of the most extensive investigations of a medieval and later episcopal complex in Europe. Of course, I am really happy to be part of a large team of archaeological scientists. There is lots going on right now, such as the Leverhulme funded Project Ancient Tin, which is using chemical and isotopic fingerprinting to trace the origins of Bronze Age tin across Europe. It's also been great following current work on the Melsonby Hoard, which highlights Durham's leadership in archaeological conservation. The Department of Archaeology is undertaking detailed analysis and conservation of over 900 Iron Age artefacts, to understand their manufacture, use, and significance.

Another thing that has really stood out to me over the past six months is the exceptional quality of technical services at Durham. The leadership and support provided by our technical colleagues are brilliant, and their expertise underpins so much of what we do. Dr Beth Upex is the Technical Manager for Archaeology, and also the university's Head of Technical Skills - she is playing a leading role in getting NEMCAS up and running, and we are in discussions on possible training projects. Historically I think it’s fair to say that technical staff have not always been properly acknowledged in universities. It’s easy to overlook this kind of work because it often happens behind the scenes, but is fundamental to research. I feel incredibly lucky to be in a department which has a really strong technical team, and where their contributions are valued and visible. 

Of course, while there’s so much to be excited about here at Durham, I’m also acutely aware of the broader challenges facing the higher education sector in the UK at the moment, which is facing huge financial pressures. Archaeology is vulnerable to these challenges, being seen as a relatively expensive subject due to field and lab work requirements, and with a relatively small national pool of students. Across the UK, we’ve seen a worrying number of departments facing restructuring, downsizing, or even closure. Added to this, the lack of succession planning over the past decade around highly specialised technical skills such as thin section preparation, and are starting to see worrying bottlenecks and reduced national capacity for key research tools. Hopefully through NEMCAS we can make a small positive change here, having identified one of Durham’s fab technical assistants, Aimee Parker, to undertake training in thin section preparation and become the lead for our new thin section lab (currently being refurbished). But the problem remains that we are seeing shrinkage and concentration of skills in a smaller number of institutions, which is a worry for the long-term sustainability of archaeological research and teaching.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of such a large and resilient department. Durham’s scale and international strength (consistently ranked as one of the top departments in the world) provide a level of stability that many others simply don’t have right now. But the health of the discipline depends on a vibrant, diverse ecosystem of institutions, each contributing in different ways. We need to keep advocating for archaeology’s value, not just in terms of the heritage sector, but as a science-informed, and socially engaged field of research that provides a wide range of transferable skills to our graduates. I have been using the British Academy’s ‘Connected Knowledge’ idea as a way of describing the value of archaeology – a subject that sits of the intersection of humanities and sciences – and the important cross cutting skills that training in this subject provides.