Institute for Medieval Research
 

Image of Gareth Davies

Gareth Davies

Honorary Research Fellow in Medieval Archaeology,

Contact

Biography

  • 1999: BA (Hons) Archaeology, University of Nottingham.
  • 2002: MA in Archaeological Research, University of York.
  • 2010: PhD Archaeology, University of Nottingham.
  • Part-time lecturer (and course convener), University of East Anglia, Norwich (2003-2005), University of Nottingham (2006-2007, 2009-)
  • Member of the Institute for Archaeologists (MCIfA)
  • Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA)

Expertise Summary

I am Director of Archaeology at the York Archaeological Trust, based in its Nottingham, UK office. I undertook my PhD entitled 'Settlement, economy and lifestyle: The changing social identities of the coastal settlements of West Norfolk, 450-1100 AD' at the University of Nottingham, and completed this in 2010/11. I continue to work with the University of Nottingham, Dept. of Archaeology as a visiting lecturer most recently on Professional Archaeology in the UK and Practical Archaeology modules. I am also collaborating on a number of projects with staff members in the department, including those on Southwell vernacular architecture and the Lenton Priory project (see www.tparchaeology.co.uk).

Teaching Summary

I presently contribute teaching on the courses- 'Archaeology in the UK: Research & Professional Practice' , 'Practical Archaeology' (including assessments), 'Presenting Archaeology' and… read more

Research Summary

My main research interest is the development of the societies, settlements and landscapes of early medieval Britain and northwest Europe. I am particularly interested in how the application of… read more

Present Teaching and Research Collaboration with the University of Nottingham, Department of Archaeology

● Guest Lecturer 2012-13 and 2013-14: - 'Archaeology in the UK: Research & Professional Practice' and 'Practical Archaeology' (including assessments). Prior to this I also taught (and convened) Dark Age and Early Medieval Europe, Practical Archaeology (geophysics) and taught on a Carolingians to Crusades MA module and helped supervised MA theses.

● CBA community archaeology training placement manager - Up to September 2014 I provided management of a trainee to work co-ordinating volunteers at among other sites, Southwell and Toton (secured from Connected Communities). Toton is a £59,000 HLF scheme under my management that commenced with a geophysical survey evaluation funded by a £750 geophysical survey under the All Our Stories Connected Communities Hardship Funds.

● Through TPA I am managing specialist work commissioned by departmental members of staff (e.g. analysis of pottery from Southwell) and have brought commissioned work to members of department (e.g. Julian Henderson on glass form excavations at Clifton, Nottingham).

● I presented a Departmental Research Seminar in October 2013 on TPA work on the archaeology of Nottingham's new tram network

● Through my work at TPA, I have been able to provide training opportunities to students at Wollaton Hall, Lenton Priory and Nottingham Castle. For October and November 2014 this included a number of placements on the Lenton Priory excavation project in the City of Nottingham (£73,000 partnership project) with UoN support from Dr. Chris King.

● In 2014 I successfully obtained English Heritage funding (£10,000) with Dr. Chris King for a project entitled 'Pre-1750 The pre- 1750 AD vernacular buildings of Southwell, Nottinghamshire: A survey of their social and historical context' focussing on buildings at risk. This project is ongoing.

Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project, Norfolk (Summer Seasons, 1998-2007) - Independent Charitable Organisation

Project Co-Director

I was involved with a research project investigating the origins of a village at Sedgeford, Norfolk for a number of years. This has primarily involved the excavation of a Mid-Late Anglo-Saxon cemetery/settlement. I have published a number of articles relating to this project (see below).

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I presently contribute teaching on the courses- 'Archaeology in the UK: Research & Professional Practice' , 'Practical Archaeology' (including assessments), 'Presenting Archaeology' and 'Introduction to Medieval Archaeology'.

Prior to this I also taught (and convened) Dark Age and Early Medieval Europe, Practical Archaeology, and taught on a Carolingians to Crusades MA module and helped supervised MA theses.

Current Research

My main research interest is the development of the societies, settlements and landscapes of early medieval Britain and northwest Europe. I am particularly interested in how the application of archaeological methods and stratigraphic analyses can throw new light onto old debates.

I also have research interests in the practice of community and professional archaeology.Future collaborative projects will hopefully include a further stage of the Lenton Priory project. I aim to help facilitate further integration between the Department of Archaeology and Trent & Peak Archaeology in relation to research, community and professional archaeology collaborations, particularly those that can deliver local and regional impact.

Past Research

· Research Interests: The archaeology of early medieval Europe, primarily focussing on rural settlement identities in Middle-Late Anglo-Saxon England, socio-economic connexions within northwest Europe, and the development of settlement complexity and diversity, including urban origins. I am particularly interested in how the application of archaeological methods and stratigraphic analyses can throw new light onto old debates concerning, for example, early medieval economy and society.

· My PhD research looked at better ways of understanding early medieval settlements (450-1086 AD) known previously only from metal-detector finds. To achieve this, I applied integrated survey techniques, consisting of fieldwalking, metal-detecting,geophysical survey (magnetometer) and trial trenching to a series of case-study sites identified by amateur fieldworkers and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

· I published this work in a A- and B- rated international peer reviewed journals. I also contributed to the English Heritage National Maritime and Marine research framework for England, where one of my integrated survey case-studies at an Anglo-Saxon surface-find site is presented as a model of best practice.

· Ongoing collaborative research includes in Flanders, Belgium, with the Free University of Brussels (VUB) and the Flemish Heritage Institute, and Jutland, Denmark, with the Universities of Arhus and Nottingham. I am engaged in ongoing collaboration with Dr. Chris Loveluck and have recently contributed to an article on early medieval settlements in coastal Flanders with him. I was also principle field archaeologist on Dr. Loveluck's AHRC funded Central places, power and identity project in Stavnsager, Jutland, Denmark from 2007-2009.

· Consultee for the East Midlands regional research framework and attending the Trent Valley Geoarchaeology Group standing conference.

· I am heavily involved in presenting my research findings at a number of conferences in Britain, Europe and the USA. In the last five years I have presented papers at:

Recent research in the Anglo-Saxon East of England, CBA East Conference (September 2013)

Early Medieval Settlements in Northwest Europe, AD 400 - 1100, Dublin, UCD (November 2010).

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University, USA (May 2010).

Society for Medieval Archaeology Post Graduate Colloquium, Birmingham University (Feb 2010).

· For my research contribution I was awarded the University of Nottingham Heyman Endowed Scholarship prize for 2009-2010.

Future Research

Future collaborative projects will hopefully include a further stage of the Lenton Priory project with Dr. Chris King and Dr. Chris Loveluck, and further teaching on Professional Archaeology/Medieval Archaeology. I also hope to help facilitate further integration between the Department of Archaeology and Trent & Peak Archaeology in relation to research, community and professional archaeology collaborations, particularly those that can deliver local and regional impact.

Institute for Medieval Research

The University of Nottingham
University Park Campus
Nottingham, NG7 2RD


telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 4845
email:medieval@nottingham.ac.uk