Institute student wins CBRL’s Undergraduate Dissertation Prize 2019

Congratulations to Marie Middleton who was jointly awarded the 2019 CBRL prize for best Undergraduate Dissertation in Levantine Archaeology and History. Marie's dissertation concerned the medieval occupation at the site of Khirbet Sheikh 'Isa (KSI), and the impact of the introduction of the lucrative sugar industry on the city in the 12th century.  Through an examination of faunal remains from the 9-10th and 12-14th centuries AD, Marie aimed to determine whether the economic specialisation towards sugar production noted was mirrored in the city's provisioning mechanisms. 

Marie's dissertation was written as part of her BA degree in Archaeology and Anthropology. She received a number of prizes during her undergraduate studies: four overall for academic achievement (a 2018 Sessional Prize, the Vere Gordon Childe Prize for best-performing student in the department, the Peter Ucko Prize for best performing student in Archaeology and Anthropology degree, and a place on the Dean's List for Academic Excellence), one for contributions to the department (the Hellyar Prize), and another two for her dissertation (the W.F Grimes Prize for Environmental Archaeology, and the Seton-Lloyd Prize for Western Asiatic Archaeology).

Marie is currently undertaking an MSc in Environmental Archaeology at the Institute, and hopes to continue researching Islamic zooarchaeological material. 

The Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) is the UK's academic hub for the study of the Middle Eastern countries of Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus. Covering the breadth of the social sciences and humanities, it connects UK academia to the Levant. 

Read more

• Winners announced for CBRL's Undergraduate Dissertation Prize 2019