Archaeology, University of Leicester
Thesis title:
Working in partnership with Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA), my research will characterise the significance and extent of Dartmoor’s prehistoric subsurface archaeology, to inform future landscape management practices and to raise local and national awareness about this valuable heritage.
Dartmoor’s buried prehistoric archaeology faces significant pressures from the growing scale and frequency of landscape-scale conservation initiatives e.g., afforestation, peatland-restoration, natural flood management, as well as post-Brexit land-management schemes.
From the first Homo sapiens hunter-gatherers, (~44,000 years ago), to the earliest agriculturalists, (~4500 years ago), stone tools, (lithics), are the dominant source of archaeological evidence – and these are currently excluded from protection by existing agri-environment schemes which focus on upstanding/visible archaeology.
The transition from hunter-gatherer to farming lifeways has been identified by DNPA as a research priority because so little is known about this period on Dartmoor compared to later prehistoric archaeology.
In addition to informing land management practices on Dartmoor, my thesis will also explore public engagement in prehistory and fieldwork will involve the highly trained and enthusiastic bank of DNPA volunteers, many of whom live and work on the moor.
Balzter, H., Macul, M., Delaney, B., Tansey, K., Espirito-Santo, F., Ofoegbu, C., Petrovskii, S., Forchtner, B., Nicholes, N., Payo, E., Heslop-Harrison, P., Burns, M., Basell, L., Egberts, E., Stockley, E., Desorgher, M., Upton, C., Whelan, M. and Yildiz, A. (2023) 'Loss and Damage from Climate Change: Knowledge Gaps and Interdisciplinary Approaches', Sustainability 15 (5), https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511864
2023
29th European Association of Archaeologists conference, Belfast, 29 August - 3 September, poster presentation
2022
7th Annual School of Archaeology and Ancient History PhD conference, University of Leicester, online, 3 March (speaker)
2021
Hallowed turf, perspectives on the conservation of Dartmoor's blanket peat, Dartmoor Society, Tavistock, Devon, 12 November
2019
Nature on your mind, EUROPARC, Jurmala, Latvia, 24 – 26 September
Moor Medieval, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 29 June (lead conference organiser)
2018
Parishscapes, a celebration, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 10 March (lead conference organiser)
2017
Victorian Dartmoor, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 11 March (lead conference organiser)
2015
Longhouses and hard lives: Medieval life on Dartmoor, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 19 March (conference organiser)
Press
2023
Archaeology, 1 September
Newsweek, 31 August
The Guardian, 30 August
BBC, 30 August
BBC Spotlight news, interviewed about community excavation on Dartmoor, 30 August
BBC, 21 April
2017
BBC Radio Devon, Dartmoor's intangible cultural heritage discussion panel participant
2016
BBC Radio Devon, interviewed about the Reading the Hurlers project
Outreach events
2023
'Time traveller's guide to Mesolithic Dartmoor' - interactive guided walk and talk for national park staff, 26 June
Participation in the 'Looking Up' stakeholders workshop held in the Cairngorms National Park, discussing best-practise in predictive modelling and the management of lithic scatters, 21 - 22 June
'Predicting and protecting lithic landscapes', Dartmoor Local History Groups Day, 17 June
Dartmoor Educator's Forum, 16 March
2022
Dartmoor National Park Heritage Festival, Devon, 16 July
Community archaeology, fieldwork and open days
2023
Sanduck Cross Farm community excavation, Lustleigh, Devon, 21 – 25 August (co-director)
Five weeks of fieldwork for PhD research involving 23 locations, 55 test pits and 36 volunteers who gave over 840 hours of their time, April - May 2023 (director)
2022
Lustleigh community archaeology excavation, 22 - 26 September (co-director)
Bolberry Down community archaeology test-pit weekend, Devon, 13 - 14 May
2019
Sanduck Cross Farm community test-pit weekend, Lustleigh, Devon, 24 – 25 April (project lead)
2018
North Hall Manor community excavation and open day, Widecombe-in-the-moor, Devon, 9 – 21 July (project officer)
Old Court House community test-pit event, North Bovey, Devon, 29 May (joint project lead)
2017
Old Pig House community test-pit event, Widecombe-in-the-moor, Devon, 19 November (joint project lead)
North Hall Manor community test-pit weekend, Widecombe-in-the-moor, Devon, 18 – 19 July (project lead)
Vinnimore Community excavation and open day, Bovey Valley, Devon, 24 – 29 April (project lead)
2016
Reading the Hurlers community excavation and open day, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, 13 – 17 September (project lead)
Moor Medieval test-pit day, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 23 April (project lead)
Teaching
2018 – current
Visiting Lecturer (heritage in practice) at the University of Plymouth.
Heritage workshops for members of MED Theatre.
Video games
2023
Voiceover artist for Incubus video game, Darkling Room
2019
Heritage advisor and voiceover artist for archaeology video game Blood Circle (in development), Shadow Tor Studios
Exhibitions
2019
In the footsteps of the Victorians, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 2019 – current (project officer)
2018
Parishscapes, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Princetown, Devon, 2018 (project officer)
2017
Dartmoor, a wild and wondrous region, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, Devon, 22 December 2017 – 1 April 2018 (project officer)
Films
Most recent:
2020
Houndtor, a Contested Landscape
2019
Living and dying on Medieval Dartmoor
Talks
Highlights include:
2020
Moor Medieval – bacteria, buboes and beyond, Dartmoor Education Guides, 16 January
The Bronze Age on Dartmoor, MED Theatre, 17 April
2019
Parishscapes, community heritage on Dartmoor, Dartmoor Society Annual General Meeting, 13 April
Trowels, tithe maps and the ten commandments - exploring community heritage on Dartmoor, Plymouth Archaeological Society, 4 February
2018
P is for projects all over the moor. Q is for questions - what's it all for?, Devon Rural Archive Christmas lecture, 9 December
Parishscapes, community heritage on Dartmoor, Dartmoor Trust Annual General Meeting, 19 November
2017
Trowels, tithe maps and the ten commandments - transforming lives through community heritage, Plymouth Soroptimists, 11 July
Member of:
Cornwall Archaeological Society
Devon Archaeological Society
The Lithic Studies Society (Committee member)
The Prehistoric Society
The Ussher Society
The Institute for Environmental Futures
2022
National semi-finalist, Vitae's Three Minute Thesis competition
Winner of the University of Leicester's Three Minute Thesis competition
2021
AHRC M4C Collaborative Doctoral Award studentship (2021 - 2024)
2020
Winner of the Council for British Archaeology's 2020 Archaeological Showreel competition
2019
Winner of 'Best Chief Executive' Award, South West Council's 2019 South West Challenge, (a large-scale role-playing competition for Local Authority staff across the South West of England)
Selected to represent Dartmoor National Park Authority at the 2019 EUROPARC Conference and the Society of National Park Staff's study tour of Latvia, 2019
Moor Medieval project short-listed for the UK National Parks Platinum Award
2018
Parishscapes project short-listed for the UK National Parks Volunteering Awards
2023
M4C Research Development Fund, to attend the EAA conference, £1,207.74 (lead applicant)
2022
M4C Engagement Fund, Flint-knapping training, £573.77 (lead applicant)
M4C Engagement Fund, Mountain first aid training, £529 (lead applicant)
2021
The Prince's Countryside Fund, Dartmoor Community Resilience Project, £10,000 (lead applicant)
iMayflower Masters R&D Studentship Scheme, JUMP Project, £10,000 (lead applicant)
iMayflower Masters R&D Studentship Scheme, Exploring gamification in heritage (Game Design MA), £5000 (lead applicant)
iMayflower Masters R&D Studentship Scheme, Exploring gamification in heritage (Heritage MA), £5000 (lead applicant)
iMayflower Virtual Internship, Economic Recovery intern, £500 (lead applicant)
iMayflower Virtual Internship, Heritage intern, £500 (lead applicant)
iMayflower Virtual Internship, 'Virtual reality in protected landscapes' study, £500 (lead applicant)
iMayflower Virtual Internship, Heritage game design, £500 (lead applicant)
2015
Heritage Lottery Fund grant, Reading the Hurlers, £33,700 (lead applicant)
Cornwall Heritage Trust grant, Reading the Hurlers, £2000 (lead applicant)
Cornwall Archaeological Society grant, Reading the Hurlers, £500 (lead applicant)
Caradon Amateur Geology Club grant, Reading the Hurlers, £618 (joint applicant)
Maga Cornish Language Partnership in-kind funding, Reading the Hurlers, £1500 (lead applicant)
Wayside Folk Museum engagement grant, Reading the Hurlers, £130 (lead applicant)
2013
Cornwall Heritage Trust transport grant to deliver creative heritage workshops at The Hurlers stone circles, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, £1000 (lead applicant)
University of Leicester Institute for Environmental Futures seminar series convenor, May 2022 - June 2023
Dartmoor National Park Authority heritage outreach volunteer, July 2022 - current
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