Archaeology
project: Island of the dead? The buried Neolithic landscape of Herm (Channel Islands)
Grant Holder: Prof Chris Scarre
This project seeks to study the relationship between the cluster of megalithic tombs (5th-3rd millennium BC) at the northern end of the small Channel Island of Herm, in the Guernsey archipelago. The tombs came to light during quarrying activity in the 19th century, and several of them were excavated at that period. Those excavations made [read more]
project: The Beaker isotope project: mobility, migration and diet in the British Early Bronze Age
Grant Holder: Prof M. Parker Pearson
Were the `Beaker people´ immigrants or indigenous to prehistoric Britain? Nineteenth century antiquarian barrow-diggers observed that the wide-headed (brachycephalic) skulls of Beaker burials were distinguishable from the narrow (dolichocephalic) skulls within Neolithic long barrows, and attributed these to different populations. Since then, theories of a migrant `Beaker folk´ have been contested by alternative theories which interpret the distinctive material culture as part of a Europe-wide `Beaker package´ or cultural pattern adopted by local communities. [read more]