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Outreach

outreach at kibworthOur Outreach team takes archaeology workshops and talks out to schools and colleges in the county. It also runs Masterclasses and workshops on campus and in the department. We've also worked with the army on Project Nightingale at Caerwent. Find out more on what we do! And hear about the places we have visited last year, read some testimonials, and see what we can bring to your school to help bring the past alive!

University of Leicester Archaeological Services

ULAS is an independent professional unit whose expertise covers urban, rural and buildings archaeology of all periods across the Midlands. Find out more...

collapsed Roman basilica wall at Leicester

Read about the city's archaeology in the new publication Visions of Ancient Leicester

Contact the School

School of Archaeology and Ancient History,
University of Leicester, University Road,
Leicester, LE1 7RH

Key Contacts

Archaeology and Ancient History top 10 league tables 2012 badge

Ranked 9th in the Guardian University Guide 2013

 

Research interests

Neil Res 2 My principal research interests have focussed on the history and archaeology of Italy and the Western Mediterranean between c. AD 300-1000, examining in particular the transition period from Roman to medieval and the evolution of settlement patterns. Central to this was my in-depth analysis of the Lombard tribe, whilst a major survey of the period (From Constantine to Charlemagne: An Archaeology of Italy, AD 300-850) was published in 2006. Core themes in this research include the evolution of towns and the role of defence. An additional research field relates to castle origins and growth, with Italy again the main zone of interest. 

Archaeological fieldwork forms an important component in my research profile. I directed the Cicolano Castles Project in central Italy (1991-94) centring on excavation and survey work on medieval castles and villages in the high Appennines. I co-directed the Sangro Valley Research Project (1995-2000), assessing evolving settlement patterns in eastern central Italy and excavating a medieval watchtower site. I also co-directed a project in eastern Spain (1994-96), examining post-medieval and early modern upland rural exploitation. I have maintained fieldwork in Italy in the last few years with excavations at Classe (San Severo church and monastery - see image below), Ravenna, and CesenMedieval burials excavated at San Severo, Classe, N Italyatico.

My current project is centred on the study of the town and setting of Wallingford in south Oxfordshire and its transition from Saxon burh to Norman town. This includes geophysical and topographic survey, targeted excavations and re-evaluations of previous watching briefs and unpublished excavations to build an image of urban emergence and development from c. AD 800-1300. ahrcA pilot project ran in 2001-4; major AHRC funding enabled an extended three-year project (organised with Exeter and Oxford Universities) from 2008-10. We continued excavation and test-pitting work in 2011 and with other work planned for 2012. In preparation at the moment is the monograph resulting from the AHRC project, to be published by the Society for Medieval Archaeology.

 

Research Projects

 

Topics available for PhD Supervision

  • Late Roman archaeology
  • Early medieval and medieval archaeology
  • Urbanism
  • Defence
  • Late Roman and early medieval Christianity