Staff Profile:Professor Roberta Gilchrist

Name:

Professor Roberta Gilchrist

Job Title:

Head of the School of Human and Environmental Sciences

Responsibilities:

• Head of School

Areas of Interest:

• Medieval and Historical Archaeology
• Gender and Social Archaeology
• Monastic and Church Archaeology
• Burial Archaeology
• Buildings Archaeology

Research groups / Centres:

Social Archaeology Research Group

Key Facts:

My research addresses medieval and social archaeology, with particular focus on gender. I have published widely on the archaeology of religious communities (nunneries, monasteries, hospitals), on medieval and early modern burial, and on the archaeology of medieval and later standing buildings. I held a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2007-10), to consider archaeological approaches to ageing and the life course in medieval England. The resulting book will be published in early 2012 by Boydell and Brewer: 'Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course'.

I am undertaking a major project on Glastonbury Abbey with Dr Cheryl Allum, and in partnership with the Trustees of Glastonbury Abbey, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2009-12). The aim is to fully analyse and publish the archive of antiquarian excavations that took place between 1904 and 1979 (34 seasons). This project builds on the one-year pilot that was funded by the British Academy (2007-8) to assess the quality of the archive and to develop a methodology for its analysis. The post-excavation work will include the development of an Integrated Archaeological Database and specialist study of all excavated finds and materials. A new geophysical survey of the full precinct is being undertaken by GSB Prospection. A complementary project on the presentation of the Abbey ruins has been funded by the AHRC as a collaborative studentship (in partnership with the Trustees of Glastonbury Abbey). This aims to develop an Interpretation Strategy to improve public understanding of the archaeological remains and to offer a multi-vocal approach to interpreting Glastonbury's Arthurian legends.

Postgraduate supervision

I supervise doctoral students engaged in a broad range of research in historical archaeology. Recent completions include: medieval and early modern households in Norwich (King); phenomenological approaches to medieval rural settlement (Altenberg); the medieval Quarr stone industry (Allum); Hampton Court Palace (Foyle); masculinity and the palaces of Henry VIII (Goulding); gender and ethnicity in the convents of early modern Ecuador (Nimmo); Native American burial practices in 17th-century New England (Vitelli) and isotopic analysis of medieval diet (Lakin).

My former PhD students have found employment as university lecturers (King: University of Nottingham; Vitelli: University of Maryland), post-doctoral researchers (Allum) and heritage managers (Foyle: World Monuments Fund; Goulding: National Trust; Altenberg: Swedish Heritage Board).

Esteem

I was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2008 and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2002. I am a Trustee of Glastonbury Abbey and previously served as President of the Society for Medieval Archaeology (2004-7), a member of the Council and Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London and for 12 years was Archaeologist to Norwich Cathedral. I have worked closely with Museum of London Archaeology for the past 20 years, as academic advisor on post-excavation projects on several monasteries; currently I am working with the St Mary Spital Project. I am on the editorial board of the journals 'Social Archaeology' and ‘Current Swedish Archaeology': from 1997-2006, I was an editor of the journal 'World Archaeology'. I was on the Archaeology sub-panel for RAE 2008 and have been reappointed for REF 2014. In 2011, I held the Dalrymple Lectureship at the University of Glasgow.

My major publications include:

• "Magic for the dead? The archaeology of magic in later medieval burials" in 'Medieval Archaeology' 52 (2008), which was winner of the Martyn Jope Prize;
• 'Requiem: the Medieval Monastic Cemetery in Britain' (with B. Sloane, 2005), which won the British Archaeological Award for Best Scholarly Publication (2004-6);
•  'Norwich Cathedral Close: the Evolution of the English Cathedral Landscape' (2005), which was selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice USA,
• 'Gender and Archaeology: Contesting the Past' (1999), 'Gender and Material Culture: the archaeology of religious women' (1994), and
• 'Contemplation and Action: the other monasticism' (1995).

 

Publications:

Y

Jump to: 2012 | 2011 | 2009 | 2008 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

Number of items: 22.

2012

• Phillips, T. J. and Gilchrist, R. (2012) Inclusive, accessible, archaeology. In: Skeates, R., McDavid, C. and Carman, J. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Public Archaeology. Oxford Handbooks in Archaeology . Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 673-693. ISBN 9780199237821
• Gilchrist, R. (2012) Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course. Boydell and Brewer, Woodbridge. (In Press)
• Gilchrist, R. (2012) Transforming Medieval beliefs: the significance of bodily resurrection to Medieval burial rituals. In: Prusac, M.. and Brandt, R. (eds.) Ritual Changes and Changing Rituals: Function and Meaning in Ancient Funerary Practices. Exeter University Press, Exeter. (In Press)

2011

• Gilchrist, R. (2011) The intimacy of death: interpreting gender and the life course in medieval and early modern burials. In: Beaudry, M. C. and Symonds, J. (eds.) Interpreting the early modern world: transatlantic perspectives. Springer, New York, USA, pp. 159-173. ISBN 9780387707587

2009

• Gilchrist, R. and Reynolds, A. (2009) ‘The Elephant in the Room’ and other tales of medieval archaeology. In: Gilchrist, R. and Reynolds, A. (eds.) Reflections: 50 Years of Medieval Archaeology, 1957-2007. Society for Medieval Archaeology Monographs (30). Maney, Leeds, pp. 1-7. ISBN 978 1 906540 71 5
• Gilchrist, R. (2009) Medieval archaeology and theory: a disciplinary leap of faith. In: Gilchrist, R. and Reynolds, A. (eds.) Reflections: 50 Years of Medieval Archaeology, 1957-2007. Society for Medieval Archaeology Monographs (30). Maney, Leeds, pp. 385-408. ISBN 9781906540715
• Gilchrist, R. and Reynolds, A., eds. (2009) Reflections: 50 Years of Medieval Archaeology, 1957-2007. Society for Medieval Archaeology Monographs, 30. Maney, Leeds, pp518. ISBN 978 1 906540 71 5
• Gilchrist, R. (2009) Rethinking later medieval masculinity: the male body in death. In: Sayer, D. and Williams, H. (eds.) Mortuary Practices and Social Identities in the Middle Ages. Exeter University Press, Exeter, pp. 236-252. ISBN 9780859898317
• Gilchrist, R. (2009) Sex and gender. In: Cunliffe, B., Gosden, C. and Joyce, R.A. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Archaeology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 1029-1047. ISBN 9780199271016

2008

• Gilchrist, R., Allum, C. and Astin, T. (2008) Glastonbury Abbey chapter house. Medieval Archaeology, 52. pp. 358-363. ISSN 0076-6097
• Gilchrist, R. (2008) Magic for the Dead? The Archaeology of Magic in Later Medieval Burials. Medieval Archaeology, 52. pp. 119-159. ISSN 0076-6097 doi: 10.1179/174581708x335468
• Gilchrist, R. (2008) Nurturing the dead: medieval women as family undertakers. In: Monton-Subias, S. and Sanchez-Romero, M. (eds.) Engendering Social Dynamics: the Archaeology of Maintenance Activities. British Archaeological Report International Series, Oxford, pp. 41-47. ISBN 1407303457

2006

• Gilchrist, R. (2006) Fornleifafræði og lífshlaup: Tími, aldur og kyngervi. In: Kristjánsdóttir, S. (ed.) Kynjafornleifafræði. Ólafía Rit Fornleifafræðingafélags Íslands I, Reykjavik, pp. 77-96.

2005

• Gilchrist, R. (2005) Cuidando a los muertos: las mujeres medievales en las pampa fúnebres familiares (Taking care to the Dead: the medieval women in the family funeral Pompas ). Treballs d'Arqueologie, 11. pp. 51-72. ISSN 1134-9263
• Gilchrist, R. (2005) Introduction: scales and voices in world historical archaeology. World Archaeology, 37 (3). pp. 329-336. ISSN 0043-8243 doi: 10.1080/00438240500168335
• Gilchrist, R. (2005) Norwich Cathedral Close: the Evolution of the English Cathedral Landscape. Boydell and Brewer, Woodbridge, pp294.
• Gilchrist, R. (2005) Requiem for a lost age. British Archaeology, 84. pp. 28-33.
• Gilchrist, R. and Sloane, B. (2005) Requiem: the Medieval Monastic Cemetery in Britain. Museum of London Archaeological Service, London.
• Gilchrist, R. (2005) Scales and voices in World Historical Archaeology. World Archaeology, 37 (3). pp. 329-36. ISSN 0043-8243 doi: 10.1080/00438240500168335

2004

• Gilchrist, R. (2004) Archaeology and the life course: a time and age for gender. In: Meskell, L. and Preucel, R.W. (eds.) A Companion to Social Archaeology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 142-160.

2003

• Gilchrist, R. (2003) 'Dust to Dust': revealing the Reformation dead. In: Gaimster, D. and Gilchrist, R. (eds.) The Archaeology of Reformation 1480-1580. Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, Maneys, pp. 399-414.
• Gilchrist, R. (2003) Introduction: towards a social archaeology of warfare. World Archaeology, 35 (1). pp. 1-6. ISSN 0043-8243 doi: 10.1080/0043824032000078045

This list was generated on Wed May 23 00:06:37 2012 BST.

Qualifications:

BA, D Phil (York); FBA, FSA, MIFA