Newsletter 2022

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UCL Institute of Archaeology Annual News Round-Up

Issue 2022

We would like to wish all our UCL Institute of Archaeology (IoA) and Archaeology South-East (ASE) friends and colleagues, past and current staff and students, Season’s Greetings and all best wishes for 2023.

Following some challenging years due to Covid-19 disruption, the central UCL campus, including our Gordon Square building, has been open for business again and a re-establishment of some form of normality while ASE activities continue apace.

Here is a small selection of IoA and ASE news from 2022. For full details of all our news, events and activities, please continue to visit the IoA and ASE websites and follow us on social media.

New Director of the UCL Institute of Archaeology

Bearded man with glasses wearing a College scarf in a park/square with a large building in the background

Kevin MacDonald, Professor of African Archaeology, took over as Director of the IoA in September, for a five year term, saying at that time:

"Our UCL Institute of Archaeology stands as a leading beacon of expertise and best practice in our field. However, it is essential that we project our varied research into social media more effectively and vibrantly. Likewise we have a long-standing relationship with rescue/ contract archaeology which is little heralded. I anticipate more visible and dynamic collaborations with our colleagues at Archaeology South-East in terms of teaching and field activities. We need to open avenues for greater exchange and a shared sense of purpose and collegiality. I look forward to further expanding the diversity and global content of our teaching, while increasing our presence in British archaeology."

Kevin was invited to present a lecture for UK Government Departments as part of Black History Month in October (Read more») and has spoken more recently at Rugby School (Read more»). He has also been interviewed for the latest issue of Archaeology International, due to be published shortly.

40th anniversary of Experimental Archaeology course

Group of people in colourful clothes in front of a reconstructed round house

Archaeo-Tech, hosted by Butser Ancient Farm in September and run by colleagues from the IoA and ASE, marked the 40th anniversary of our Experimental Archaeology course for new undergraduates.
Read more»

Philip Leverhulme Prize success for Corisande Fenwick Corisande Fenwick has been awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize for Archaeology for 2022. Read more»	Ben Cullen Prize for Mike Parker Pearson’s Stonehenge-related research An output from collaborative research has been awarded the Ben Cullen prize from Antiquity for 2022. Read more»
Tim Williams awarded The Sir Richard Burton Medal 2022 Tim Williams has been awarded The Sir Richard Burton Medal 2022 by the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Read more»	Richard Macphail awarded IUSS Kubiëna Medal 2021 Richard Macphail has been awarded the IUSS Kubiëna Medal for Soil Micromorphology for 2021. Read more»
Current Archaeology 2023 award nominations Mike Parker Pearson and Dominic Perring have been nominated for Current Archaeology awards for 2023. Read more»	IoA Alumnus appointed as Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho (BA Archaeology, 2002) has been appointed Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate for 2022-2024. Read more»

ASE News

Seaford Head Project shortlisted for Archaeological Achievement Award ASE were delighted that the Seaford Head Project - a pilot study for how an archaeological site at threat from coastal erosion could be rapidly recorded ahead of loss – was shortlisted for an award in the Archaeological Innovation category. Read more»	The Stiances Archaeology Project wins Youth Engagement Project of the Year ASE were also delighted that The Stiances Archaeology Project was awarded Youth Engagement Project of the Year at the Council for British Archaeology/Marsh Community Archaeology Awards 2022. Read more»
Royal Patron for La Cotte de St Brelade This July, and before ascending to the throne, His Majesty King Charles III became Patron of the restoration project to protect and preserve the ancient site of La Cotte de St Brelade in Jersey. Read more»	Hunting for Neanderthal spear tips under the sea Collaborative research involving ASE and IoA colleagues have uncovered new clues about our Neanderthal past submerged below the waves of the English Channel. Read more»
IoA Placement Students 2022-23 Find out more about Alex, Iris and Neeve who will be gaining experience in all areas of commercial archaeology at ASE this academic year. Read more»	Lorna's Medieval Christmas Listen to ASE’s Lorna Webb on BBC Radio 3 (R3) as she talks about Christmas Carols in the Medieval period. Listen»

Congratulations again...

To the IoA students who received IoA and UCL prizes for their achievements during 2021-22. Read more (U/G)» and Read more (P/G)»
To the IoA staff who were successful in UCL's Senior Academic, Research and Teaching Promotions for 2021-22. Read more»
To Maria Cunningham who received two prizes for her undergraduate dissertation ‘More than Concrete’: Investigating the Preservation of WWII Coastal Defences on the South-East Coast of England. Read more»
To Corisande Fenwick who was the winner of the 2022 UCL Provost Education Award in Assessment and Feedback. Read more»
To Ian Freestone who opened the UN International Year of Glass with a presentation in Geneva in February. Read more»
To Andrew Gardner who has been appointed as co-Chair (with Vicki Cummings) of University Archaeology UK. Read more»
To all the IoA staff and students who were nominated in the UCLU Student Choice Awards this year. Read more»
To Rodney Harrison who was invited to address the Council of Europe’s 11th plenary session of the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape. Read more»
To Alice Stevenson who was invited to give the Sir Charles Nicholson Lecture 2022 at the University of Sydney. Read more»
To IoA students Sakshi Surana and Michael D'Aprix who organised an outreach event as part of London Schools' Climate Kick-Start 2022. Read more»
To David Wengrow who was invited to give the opening Plenary Lecture at TAG43 (Read more») and also the Sigmund H. Danziger Jr. Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities 2022-23. Read more»