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Theory, representation and cultural politics

Archaeology of Portus course – second run

The Archaeology of Portus Massive Open Online Course has just started again. There is still time for you to join the many thousands of people on this free course focused on our work at Portus. The port of Imperial Rome. Sign up via the FutureLearn Archaeology of Portus page. We have had an even greater number of learners enrolling than last year and have made modifications throughout the course. Continue reading →

Archaeo-Politics in Macedonia

On Friday I wrote a post on the London Review of Books blog about Alexandromania. It begins as follows: "On Monday, six days before the general election, the Greek Ministry of Culture published a preliminary report by the osteo-archaeological team studying the skeletal remains found in the mound of Amphipolis in northern Greece. The bones were found in November, since when there had been a lot of speculation about who they might have belonged to. Continue reading →

Postcard from Hungary

Greetings from Hungary! Students from the University of Southampton have begun excavating for 3 weeks at the important Bronze Age tell settlement at Százhalombatta, 30km south of Budapest on the River Danube. They form part of an Anglo-Hungarian project directed by Magdolna Vicze (Director of the Matrica Museum), Joanna Sofaer (University of Southampton) and Marie Louise Stig Sørensen (University of Cambridge). Continue reading →

Material seas and political acts

Monday was wonderfully watery at the British Water and Beyond symposium. Our session was truly interdisciplinary, with papers from an artist, literary scholar, archaeologist and anthropologist all converging on questions of maritime space, modernity and material seas. John Hartley discussed Deleuze, DeLanda and his own Contingency Research Platform, an absolutely amazing piece of marine hacking/boat building art. Continue reading →

Material seas

    In the last week I’ve spent an improbably large amount of time thinking about various philosophical conceptions of maritime space. This is due partly to Monday’s British Waters and Beyond: The cultural significance of the sea since 1800 at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol, and partly to my increasing obsession with sailing directions. Continue reading →

Maritime Bus

Last week the Maritime Bus came to the Avenue Campus on a University Open Day to provide an insight into maritime archaeology for prospective undergraduate students, and to give current postgraduate students training and experience in outreach activities. The Maritime Bus is the only archaeology-themed exhibition of its kind in the UK. Continue reading →

Conservation Project at Maori Meeting House

Recording Hinemihi using Computational Photography On Sunday the 23rd June 2013, a team from the University of Southampton took part in Hinemihi’s annual Maintenance Day. Using cameras, combined with new computational photography techniques, the team recorded some interesting details of Hinemihi. Hinemihi is a Maori Meeting House, one of only four outside of New Zealand. Hinemihi is situated in the grounds of Clandon Park, a National Trust managed site. Continue reading →

Outstanding Biographies: The Forgotten Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Europe

Next Friday, 6 September 2013, we will be running a very special session at the 19th Annual Meeting of the EAA in Pilsen (Czech Republic), a session dedicated to the lives of prehistoric monuments in Iron Age, Roman and Medieval Europe. Leading scholars in the field will be gathered to present the outstanding biographies of some megalithic monuments, stelae, statue-menhirs and rock art sites in various European and Mediterranean regions. Continue reading →

Meetings make History

At the end of May I visited Florø, western Norway as part of the scientific/steering committee for the 'Meetings make History' project run by Ingrid Fuglestvedt at Oslo University. The 'Meetings make History' project is based on Ingrid's analysis and interpretation of the Stone Age rock art of Scandinavia, characterised by animal motifs. Continue reading →