̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Christopher Evans

Six Cambridge academics elected to prestigious British Academy fellowship

sjr81 — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 23:57:17 +0000

They are among 76 distinguished scholars to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of their work in the fields of archaeology, history, law, politics and prison reform.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge academics made Fellows of the Academy this year are:

Christopher Evans (Department of Archaeology) is to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of his work on some of the most important archaeological field projects undertaken in this country since the growth of development-led archaeology
Professor Martin Jones (Department of Archaeology) is to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of his work in the field of in the field of archaeobotany
Professor Joya Chatterji (Faculty of History) is to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of her work on South Asian history, specifically the history of the India/Pakistan Partition of 1947
Professor Brian Cheffins (Faculty of Law) is to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of his work on the application of economic analysis to the area of company law
Professor David Runciman (Department of Politics and International Studies) is to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of his work on the history of political thought (from Hobbes through to late nineteenth and twentieth century political thought); theories of the state and political representation; and contemporary politics and political theory
Professor Alison Liebling (Director of the Prisons Research Centre) is to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of her work on studying prisons, specifically the internal social order of prisons.

They join the British Academy, a community of over 1400 of the leading minds that make up the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Current Fellows include the classicist Dame Mary Beard, the historian Sir Simon Schama and philosopher Baroness Onora O’Neill, while previous Fellows include Sir Winston Churchill, C.S Lewis, Seamus Heaney and Beatrice Webb.

Christopher Evans said: “As having something of a renegade academic status, I am only delighted and honoured to be elected to the Academy.”

Professor Martin Jones said: “It is a real privilege to join the Academy at a time when the humanities and social sciences have more to offer society than ever before."

This year marks the largest ever cohort of new Fellows elected to the British Academy for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences.

As well as a fellowship, the British Academy is a funding body for research, nationally and internationally, and a forum for debate and engagement.

Professor Sir David Cannadine, President of the British Academy, said: “I am delighted to welcome this year’s exceptionally talented new Fellows to the Academy. Including historians and economists, neuroscientists and legal theorists, they bring a vast range of expertise, insights and experience to our most distinguished fellowship.

“ ̽��ֱ��election of the largest cohort of Fellows in our history means the British Academy is better placed than ever to help tackle the challenges we all face today. Whether it’s social integration or the ageing society, the future of democracy or climate change, Brexit or the rise of artificial intelligence, the insights of the humanities and social sciences are essential as we navigate our way through an uncertain present into what we hope will be an exciting future.

“I extend to all of our new Fellows my heartiest congratulations and I look forward to working closely with them to build on the Academy’s reputation and achievements.”

Six academics from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have been made Fellows of the prestigious British Academy for the humanities and social sciences.

As having something of a renegade academic status, I am only delighted and honoured to be elected to the Academy.

Christopher Evans

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Earliest church in the tropics unearthed in former heart of Atlantic slave trade

fpjl2 — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 10:32:47 +0000

Archaeologists from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have unearthed the earliest known European Christian church in the tropics on one of the Cabo Verde islands, 500km off the coast of West Africa, where the Portuguese established a stronghold to start the first commerce with Africa south of the Sahara. This turned into a global trade in African slaves from the 16th century, in which Cabo Verde played a central part as a major trans-shipment centre.

̽��ֱ��earliest remains of the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição date from around 1470, with a further larger construction dating from 1500. Extensions and a re-cladding of the church with tiles imported from Lisbon have also been documented.

This church is the oldest formal European colonial building yet discovered in sub-Saharan Africa, say researchers. It was found amongst the ruins of Cidade Velha, the former capital of Cabo Verde, which at its height was the second richest city in the Portuguese empire; a city that channelled slavery for almost 300 years.

“It’s a profound social and political story to which these new archaeological investigations are making an invaluable contribution,” said Cambridge’s Professor Marie Louise Stig Sørensen.

Archaeologists from the ̽��ֱ�� and the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) have just completed the excavation and conservation of this building for public display, and have been working with the Cabo Verde government and local partners on the town’s archaeology since 2007.

Click on images to enlarge

“We’ve managed to recover the entire footprint-plan of the church, including its vestry, side-chapel and porch, and it now presents a really striking monument,” said Christopher Evans, Director of the CAU.

“Evidently constructed around 1500, the most complicated portion is the east-end’s chancel where the main altar stood, and which has seen much rebuilding due to seasonal flash-flood damage. Though the chancel’s sequence proved complicated to disentangle, under it all we exposed a gothic-style chapel,” he said.

“This had been built as a free-standing structure prior to the church itself and is now the earliest known building on the islands – the whole exercise has been a tremendous success.”

During the excavation several tombstones of local dignitaries were recovered. One enormous stone found in the side chapel belonged to Fernão Fiel de Lugo, a slaver and the town’s ‘treasure holder’ between 1542 and 1557. “This is a place of immense cultural and heritage value. This excavation has revealed the tombs and graves of people that we only know from history books and always felt could be fiction,” Cidade Velha’s Mayor, Dr Manuel Monteiro de Pina, said.

̽��ֱ��research team discovered a densely packed cemetery dug into the floor of the church, which they say will be of great importance for future academic investigations. It is estimated that more than 1,000 people were buried here before 1525, providing a capsule of the first 50 years of colonial life on the island.

Preliminary analysis of samples shows that about half the bodies are African, with the rest from various parts of Europe. An excavation is being planned to collect data for isotope analysis of more bodies to learn more about the country’s founding population and its early slave history.

“From historical texts we have learned about the development of a ‘Creole’ society at an early date with land inherited by people of mixed race who could also hold official positions. ̽��ֱ��human remains give us the opportunity to test this representation of the first people in Cabo Verde,” said Evans.

̽��ֱ��significance of the discovery, a central feature of the Cidade Velha UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been widely acknowledged. Hundreds of people have visited the site since work began, and school groups have frequently been brought out to see the church. On his visit, the President Jorge Carlos Fonseca endorsed the contribution made by this project. “I can see the importance the site has for Cabo Verde to understand our history and our identity,” he said.

“ ̽��ֱ��hope is that the work will both encourage much-needed cultural tourism, and help the nation build a more nuanced sense of its notable past,” said Sørensen.

̽��ֱ��ten small islands that make up Cabo Verde are harsh volcanic rock, and were barren of people, mammals and trees until the Portuguese arrived in 1456. ̽��ֱ��Portuguese transformed the islands into one of the major hubs for the transatlantic slave trade, bringing with them crops, livestock and people in the form of traders, missionaries and thousands upon thousands of slaves. ̽��ֱ��slaves were funnelled through the islands where they were ‘sorted’ and sold before being shipped off to plantations across the Atlantic World.

The discovery of Brazil, in particular, and the establishment of plantations there, caused trade through Cabo Verde to explode. “ ̽��ֱ��islands were a focal point for the initial wave of globalisation, all built on the back of the slave trade,” said Sørensen. “ ̽��ֱ��excavation reveals these global connections as the finds include fine ware and faience from Portugal, German stoneware, Chinese porcelain and pottery from different parts of West Africa.”

In addition to the excavated church, there were around 22 other churches in the small river valley where the old town of Cidade Velha sits, including a large cathedral built with imported Portuguese stones. It is clear the church had huge influence here – a mere 15 degrees north of the equator – from the late medieval period onwards, say the researchers.

Centuries later, pirate attacks plagued the islands. French privateer Jacques Cassard launched a devastating attack on Cidade Velha in 1712, from which it would never recover, and, as slavery began to be outlawed during the 19th century, the islands lost their financial basis and were neglected by the Portuguese. ̽��ֱ��islanders were left to the mercy of an inhospitable landscape with erratic rainfall that undermined agricultural activities and caused drinking water to be scarce.

Cabo Verde became a republic in 1975, and as an independent nation it is coming to terms with a heritage and identity rooted in slavery. ̽��ֱ��research team believe the new archaeological discoveries will prove integral to this process.

“Cabo Verde is a young nation in many ways, and it needs its history to be unearthed and accessed so it can continue to build its national identity,” said Sørensen.

Evans added: “ ̽��ֱ��finds so far clearly demonstrate the fantastic potentials of Cabo Verde’s archaeology and the contribution they can make to the future of these Atlantic islands.”

Remains of a church on Cabo Verde’s Santiago Island, off the West African coast, dates back to late 15th century – when Portugal first colonised the islands that played a central role in the global African slave trade. Archaeological excavations are helping Cabo Verdeans gain new insight into their remarkable and long-obscured history.

̽��ֱ��hope is that the work will both encourage much-needed cultural tourism, and help the nation build a more nuanced sense of its notable past

Marie Louise Stig Sørensen

Cabo Verde: Africa's meeting place with the world

Marie Louise Stig Sørensen

Christopher Evans of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit shows local schoolchildren around the excavation site.

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Inside Britain’s biggest Iron Age fortress

ns480 — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:03:25 +0000

Stretching across a vast area measuring more than 80 hectares, Ham Hill dominates the landscape a few miles west of Yeovil. It is by far and away the largest hill-fort in the country, dwarfing better-known sites from the same period such as Maiden Castle, in Dorset, or Danebury in Hampshire.

Its sheer scale, however, also presents an historical puzzle. No Iron Age society could possibly have mustered enough people to defend such a huge site. Yet while it is therefore unlikely that Ham Hill functioned as a serviceable fort, nobody has to date been able to explain what it was used for.

Now a plan to expand a local quarry that harvests the site for its distinctive "hamstone", used in listed buildings around the south of England, has given archaeologists the chance to find out more. ̽��ֱ��researchers, a joint team from the Universities of Cambridge and Cardiff, will spend three seasons digging a hectare of Ham Hill's interior to try to understand more about its layout and use. This Saturday (September 3rd), they will also be holding an open day at the hill-fort, giving members of the public a chance to come and find out about what they have discovered so far.

"It's a bit of an enigma," Niall Sharples, from the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff ̽��ֱ��, said. "Ham Hill is so big that no archaeologist has ever really been able to get a handle on it. As a result there has never been a thorough campaign of excavations and nobody knows how the settlement was organised inside."

"People think of these places as defensive structures, but it is inconceivable that such a place could have been defended. Thousands of people would have been required; militarily it would have been a nightmare. Clearly it was a special place for people in the Iron Age - but when did it become special, why, and how long did it stay that way?"

Researchers believe that the site may have functioned as a monument and was somehow meant to create a sense of community, collective identity, or prestige. Establishing this remains difficult, however, while so little is known about Ham Hill in more general terms. Although tentative excavations were carried out in the early 20th century, researchers are still unclear about fundamental issues, including when it was built. One of the key aims of the current excavation will be to try to pin down the rough date of the so-called hill-fort's construction.

This may prove easier said than done. Stone axe and arrow-heads, as well as an old field system, attest to some sort of use in the Neolithic period, and Bronze Age finds which would normally be found in hoards or burials have also been unearthed. As an Iron Age structure, Ham Hill may have been occupied during the first century BCE, before being taken over by the Romans some 200 years later.

It was the Romans who also started to quarry the site's distinctive, honey-coloured limestone. Initially this was used to make sarcophagi (Roman coffins), but later it was used for monuments and medieval houses which can still be found in parts of the south-west and along the south coast. Quarrying continued almost uninterrupted until the present day and the stone is still needed, not least for what are now historically valuable listed buildings. As a result, permission has been given for the quarry to expand, enabling the archaeological survey to take place.

̽��ֱ��current excavation has already thrown up a number of finds. ̽��ֱ��initial dig uncovered human remains - one full skeleton and the partial remnants of perhaps two others - as well as the skeleton of a dog. All are still being studied and dated. ̽��ֱ��team also found more signs of domestic life - the remains of a house, pottery, iron sickles, quern stones, bill hooks and other objects dating back to before the Roman invasion.

At the moment archaeologists are focusing on a rectangular enclosure which was surrounded by a ditch, measuring about 100m by 60m. Several such paddocks appear to have existed, as well as at least one main thoroughfare and a scattering of roundhouses and grain storage pits. It is still unclear what the rectangular spaces were meant for. "Enclosures are not normally found inside hill forts of the Iron Age and it may be that this has a special place in its layout," Sharples said.

Work will continue until September 2013, by which time the team will also have examined some of the fort's massive ramparts and have a clearer map of its interior. A study of earlier finds from Ham Hill, many of which are now exhibited in Taunton Castle Museum, will also be carried out with a view to building up a picture of what life was like there more than 2,000 years ago.

"This is the first time we have been able to address Ham Hill's staggering size," Christopher Evans, from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, added. "We don't know if the site's development was prompted by trade, defence or communal identity needs. Equally, should we be thinking of it as a great, centralised settlement place - almost proto-urban in its layout and community size? These are big issues to address and it is rare to have the time and resources to tackle them on the scale they deserve."

̽��ֱ��open day at Ham Hill will run from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, 3 September. Site tours will also be held every Sunday to Thursday at 2.30pm.

A major excavation at Britain’s biggest Iron Age hill-fort has begun in Somerset, in the hope that it will at last enable historians to explain the meaning and purpose of the enigmatic site.

We don't know if the site's development was prompted by trade, defence or communal identity needs.

Christopher Evans

Ham Hill Archaeology.

Digging at Ham Hill.

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Revolutionising the understanding of the early social fabric of Cambridge

bjb42 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��focus of this lavishly illustrated book is the 3 hectare excavation site in the grounds of Addenbrooke's Hospital, which was dug over a six month period in 2002-2003. ̽��ֱ��occupation of the site ranged from the later Bronze Age to the Middle Saxon Times and finds included a cemetery and a pottery kiln complex.

̽��ֱ��book is entitled Borderlands: the Archaeology of the Addenbrooke's Environs, South Cambridge, with 'Borderlands' relating to the sites situation at the northern limits of the Late Iron Age, Gaulish-influence 'Aylesford-Swarling' zone.

One of the key findings of the researches is that the density of population may have been much higher than previously thought, with settlements lying around 300-500 meters apart. ̽��ֱ��book argues that acknowledging these densities should revolutionise the understanding of the early social fabric of the land.

" ̽��ֱ��evidence from the huge-scale trench-survey projects that the Unit has undertaken on both the adjacent Addenbrooke's / Clay Farm Lands and other such projects in South-Central Cambridgeshire indicate that the later prehistoric / Roman landscapes were much more densely settled than previously thought," says Christopher Evans, from CAU who put the book together - "They could have probably waved to their neighbours".

̽��ֱ��book also covers themes relating to the social dynamics of South Cambridge and its 'forgotten' landscapes according to Christopher:

"Under the pleasantly green and rolling landscape of the area there are multiple landscapes, and in the past the area has hosted a lot of activity; this is both in terms of the scale of its WWII defences and also the density of its later prehistoric and Roman settlement, which included considerable industrial activity."

̽��ֱ��new book is the first in a series to be published by CAU entitled 'New Archaeologies of the Cambridge Region', this title relates to Cyril Fox's renowned ̽��ֱ��Archaeology of the Cambridge Region published in 1923.

̽��ֱ��book is available through Oxbow Books. ̽��ֱ��next in the series, Hinterlands: the Archaeology of West Cambridge is currently in preparation and will be available late in 2009.

A new book published by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) suggests that population density in the later prehistoric / Roman Cambridge area may have been much higher than previously thought.

Under the pleasantly green and rolling landscape of the area there are multiple landscapes, and in the past the area has hosted a lot of activity; this is both in terms of the scale of its WWII defences and also the density of its later prehistoric and Roman settlement, which included considerable industrial activity.

Christopher Evans

Paulio Geordio from Flickr

Iron AgeD

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