Biography
My field of research explores the use of the Stonehenge landscape in the Mesolithic period (8500BC-4000BC). Since 2005 I have been the Project Director of an internationally significant Mesolithic archaeological site, one mile from Stonehenge. My team has discovered the oldest occupation site in the Stonehenge area, the likely place where the communities who built the first monuments at Stonehenge lived. These discoveries have contributed significantly to a new understanding of the initial settlement patterns and practices in the Stonehenge landscape. In 2013 I was elected a Fellow of the Society of the Antiquaries (FSA) in recognition of the importance of these discoveries.
In 2010 I won an Open University Teaching Prize for my work at Vespasian’s Camp and the ways I involved that with my students learning. My project at Stonehenge was nominated ‘Research Project of the Year 2013’ by Current Archaeology Magazine, and was runner-up to Leicester University’s discovery of Richard III. Under my direction, the team’s work has also featured on BBC 4’s ‘Flying Archaeologist’ series, regional BBC and ITV output, and has been extensively reported in the press.
As a Fulbright alumnus, I have worked extensively to improve the education system of the Republic of Georgia, setting up and running a charity which stimulated an investment of $12 million into the Georgian education system between 2005-08. In 2011, I was chosen as one of two ‘Outstanding’ British Fulbright Teacher Program alumni of the past 60 years.