Three Thousand Years of Rubbish and Ritual in the Thames: A Long Durée Investigation of Riverine Deposition Powered by Collaborative Partnerships.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Archaeology
Abstract
This pioneering research project will interpret the practice and meaning of river deposition over the long durée from the Bronze Age to the Medieval period, c. 2200 BC to AD 1500, enhanced through cross-sector collaboration. Rivers have had a profound influence on the course of human history as vital axes of communication, rich reservoirs of resources, and arenas for otherworldly veneration (Edgeworth 2011). Some rivers, such as the Thames and the Rhine, were especially valued, receiving the deposition of objects over many centuries, and in some cases millennia. Such objects thus provide a unique archive for unravelling the changing meanings and beliefs that humans attached to watery places over expansive timescales. The long-term persistence of such practices has been highlighted by previous research, but only in generalised terms or as a passing reference in period-specific studies. My project will be the first to implement a genuinely long-term, geographically focused approach to the study of river deposition. It will generate new narratives through novel scales of data, inter-period comparisons and frameworks of interpretation, maximised through non-academic partnerships.
My deep-time exploration will be situated at the heart of The Middle Thames Archaeology Partnership (MTAP), a collaboration between the University of Reading's Archaeology department and a network of stakeholder organisations initiated to promote the archaeological heritage of the Middle Thames as an under-studied region. My research will provide a key vehicle for advancing the aspirations of MTAP and a model for engaged doctoral research working at the interface between academic, commercial, governmental and third-sector organisations. A systematic, long durée investigation of river finds has been identified as a key research priority for the Thames as one richest sources of such objects in north-west Europe (Booth et al. 2007, 209; Naylor 2011; Humphries 2019). Collaboration with MTAP will add substantial value to my research by unlocking hard-to-access data and contextual sources and providing a framework for engaging public audiences across the Thames Valley region.
My research aims to understand the changing relationship between riverscapes and human practice and experience in the past through a long-term investigation of riverine deposition in the Middle Thames from the Bronze Age to the Medieval period, c. 2200 BC to AD 1500
This aim will be met through the following objectives:
To produce a comprehensive multi-period corpus of river finds from the Middle Thames drawing upon a range of existing archaeological and newly exploited archival sources.
To elucidate temporal trends in the range and treatment of river finds based on the analysis of typological variation and biographical details breakage patterns.
To analyse and map the overall spatial distribution of river finds to identify associations with crossing-points, confluences and other fluvial features, and to explore how practice varies across different stretches of the river at different times.
To incorporate data on river dredging to critically evaluate the extent to which the spatial patterning of river finds has been shaped by recovery practices.
To analyse select sites of long-term deposition at a more refined level drawing upon excavated data, place-names and cartographic sources to understand how the development of these locales relates to the changing configuration of the wider cultural landscape.
My deep-time exploration will be situated at the heart of The Middle Thames Archaeology Partnership (MTAP), a collaboration between the University of Reading's Archaeology department and a network of stakeholder organisations initiated to promote the archaeological heritage of the Middle Thames as an under-studied region. My research will provide a key vehicle for advancing the aspirations of MTAP and a model for engaged doctoral research working at the interface between academic, commercial, governmental and third-sector organisations. A systematic, long durée investigation of river finds has been identified as a key research priority for the Thames as one richest sources of such objects in north-west Europe (Booth et al. 2007, 209; Naylor 2011; Humphries 2019). Collaboration with MTAP will add substantial value to my research by unlocking hard-to-access data and contextual sources and providing a framework for engaging public audiences across the Thames Valley region.
My research aims to understand the changing relationship between riverscapes and human practice and experience in the past through a long-term investigation of riverine deposition in the Middle Thames from the Bronze Age to the Medieval period, c. 2200 BC to AD 1500
This aim will be met through the following objectives:
To produce a comprehensive multi-period corpus of river finds from the Middle Thames drawing upon a range of existing archaeological and newly exploited archival sources.
To elucidate temporal trends in the range and treatment of river finds based on the analysis of typological variation and biographical details breakage patterns.
To analyse and map the overall spatial distribution of river finds to identify associations with crossing-points, confluences and other fluvial features, and to explore how practice varies across different stretches of the river at different times.
To incorporate data on river dredging to critically evaluate the extent to which the spatial patterning of river finds has been shaped by recovery practices.
To analyse select sites of long-term deposition at a more refined level drawing upon excavated data, place-names and cartographic sources to understand how the development of these locales relates to the changing configuration of the wider cultural landscape.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Gabor Thomas (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Miles Clifford (Student) |