University of Exeter, Department of Archaeology (UK)

Member of EXARC

Yes

Member of EXARC since

2012

Copyright: University of Exeter, Department of Archaeology

Exeter is a top UK university which combines world leading research with very high levels of student satisfaction. It is one of the UK’s most popular and successful universities with campuses in Exeter, Devon, and near Falmouth in Cornwall. The University also has Project Offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Bangalore.

The Department of Archaeology runs an MA in Experimental Archaeology and many of the staff and postgraduates in the department use experimental archaeology within their research.
Currently, there are two large staff research projects involving experiments. Learning to be Human (Bruce Bradley) explores the way in which individuals develop expertise in flintknapping and how these skills change the brain, and ‘Cornwall and the Sea in the Bronze Age’ (Robert van de Noort, Linda Hurcombe, Anthony Harding) combines research and presentation by building an Early Bronze Age sewn plank boat as part of a living exhibition.
Other research involves experiments moving large stones, tanning hides, processing bones to obtain fat, working plants for basketry and textile production, metalworking, working amber and projectile technologies.

Era(s)

50.737436, -3.533639

People Behind

Professor Linda Hurcombe

Function:

Scientific Researcher

E-mail:

L.M.Hurcombe [at] exeter.ac.uk

Linda Hurcombe has broad interests in artefacts and material culture studies. She is especially interested in ethnographies of craft traditions, the sensory worlds of prehistoric societies and the manner in which archaeologists and anthropologists approach artefact studies. She has also worked on gender and material culture, and explored function as a concept as well as conducting functional analysis of stone tools via wear traces. Her research is characterised by the extensive use of experimental archaeology and ethnographies, providing a detailed practical understanding of how materials can be transformed into material culture. She was the founder and first director of the MA in Experimental Archaeology and has been the Head of the Department of Archaeology and is now the Director of Research Postgraduates. Fieldwork projects have been undertaken in Europe and Pakistan and in recent years she has worked with a variety of craftspeople. In association with the National Museums Scotland and a network of colleagues she led a study on touch experiences in museums using traditional and digital technologies to provide haptic experiences. She is currently writing a book on organic material culture - the 'missing majority' of prehistoric material culture – and her current research projects include working with Prof Robert van de Noort and the National Maritime Museum (Cornwall) to build a full size sewn plank boat based on archaeological finds from the Early Bronze Age.

Professor Alan Outram

Function:

Scientific Researcher

E-mail:

A.K.Outram [at] exeter.ac.uk

Alan Outram is an environmental archaeologist and palaeoeconomist who specialises in zooarchaeology (the analysis of archaeological animal bones and understanding past human/animal relations). His most recent work has been on tracing the domestication of the horse in Central Asia, and studying the development of pastoral societies in Kazakhstan. As well as covering many aspects of archaeological science he also teaches modules on hunter-gatherers and early farmers where he combines anthropological and archaeological approaches. He also leads many of our students on regular training excavations in South Dakota, to excavate on an early agricultural village site. His interests in experimental archaeology include the exploitation and extraction of animal fats and oils, and the role of experiments within the discipline. He has served on the board of EuroREA and is currently executive editor of World Archaeology and edited the issue devoted to experimental archaeology.

University of Exeter, Department of Archaeology (UK)

50.737436, -3.533639

People Behind

EXARC

Social Media

Creative Commons Licence

University of Exeter, Department of Archaeology (UK)

50.737436, -3.533639

People Behind

EXARC

Social Media

Creative Commons Licence

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