̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Martin Millett

Road radar to reveal York's Roman secrets

ta385 — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Did the Romans alter their legionary fortress at Eboracum in the late Antique period? What was the settlement around it like and how did this change? Did Eboracum receive a makeover when emperors came to town?

These are just some of the questions which Cambridge archaeologist Professor Martin Millett and his colleagues hope to answer without lifting a single spade or trowel.

Over summer 2022, a vehicle equipped with specialist radar equipment will survey 20km of streets around York – the first time a project on this scale has been undertaken in the UK. ̽��ֱ��team behind the scheme are working with City of York Council to access as much of the city centre road network as possible, including some pedestrianised streets, during the survey, with minimal disruption to the public.

Alongside the road surveys, a different radar system will scan the green spaces in the city centre, particularly around the Yorkshire Museum and York Minster.

̽��ֱ��initiative is a joint project between Universities of Cambridge and Reading, York Archaeology and the York Museums Trust funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC). ̽��ֱ��30-month-long project aims to collate everything archaeologists and historians know about the whole of Roman York into a single database which will then be made freely available to the public.

Among many other things, the team will be looking for evidence of Eboracum's architecture and infrastructure being enhanced during periods of imperial residence (AD 208–11 and AD 305-06), or following York’s promotion to colonial status in the early 3rd century. They are also hoping to find evidence for changes in the organization and use of land in the immediate environs of York through the Roman period.

Alongside the research there will be a series of public engagement projects including volunteer-run research projects, an art initiative and a project for schools around the country linking research findings to geography, physics, geology and archaeology.

̽��ֱ��radar mapping exercise will start in the summer, with dry weather being crucial to the success of the scanning, as the radar can only penetrate down to the water table, which is notoriously high for much of the year in York.

Project leader Martin Millett, Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at Cambridge and a trustee of York Archaeological Trust, said: “This is a key initiative where we hope to learn much more about the layout of the Roman city without having to dig a single trench.”

Co-investigator Dr John Creighton of the ̽��ֱ�� of Reading said: “Over many years, various investigations have opened small windows into different parts of the Roman city, but we hope that this scanning will reveal far more about the city including details where the roads and significant buildings in the city were located, particularly around Micklegate.”

̽��ֱ��wider research will bring together not only the results of archaeological excavations over the last 50 years, but also other less formal sources of information, including historic press reports of Roman finds, notebooks and published reports from the 18th century onwards. It is hoped that volunteers from across the community will be involved.

Cllr Darryl Smalley, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Communities at City of York Council, said: “This exciting new project will provide a new basis for understanding of Roman York and will enhance the ways in which the City can assess the impact of planning and future development on this valuable but hidden heritage.”

Updates on the project will be posted on yorkarchaeology.co.uk/romanyork

Professor Millett recently led the team which successfully mapped a complete Roman city, Falerii Novi, in Italy, using the same technology. This research received global media coverage. Find out more here.

̽��ֱ��biggest investigation ever undertaken into Eboracum, the Roman city buried beneath York, is set to begin this summer. Ground penetrating radar will be used to map as much of the influential ancient settlement as possible in a bid to learn more about its evolving layout and use.

We hope to learn much more about the layout of the Roman city

Martin Millett

View of the city of York in England including walls and cathedral

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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̽��ֱ��city rises: Cambridge archaeologists reveal an entire Roman city without digging

ta385 — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 05:30:00 +0000

For the first time, a team of archaeologists has succeeded in mapping a complete Roman city, Falerii Novi in Italy, using advanced ground penetrating radar. Their approach could revolutionise the study of ancient settlements.

Cambridge Legacies of Enslavement Inquiry delivers initial report

plc32 — Fri, 15 May 2020 15:41:26 +0000

̽��ֱ��interim report for the Inquiry, led by Professor Martin Millett, outlines a plan of action from Lent Term 2020 that includes research conducted by two new Research Fellows to be based in the Centre for African Studies working in an interdisciplinary context across the ̽��ֱ��, and information gathered from related work across the Collegiate ̽��ֱ��.

In support of this research, the report said the Inquiry will use its website and an email list to provide current information about the project and related activities across the Collegiate ̽��ֱ�� and to serve as a hub for research and engagement around the theme.

A priority over the next two years will be presenting the Inquiry and seeking input on it from a broad audience, both within the ̽��ֱ�� and beyond. In addition to an ongoing series of public forums and seminars, the Inquiry will seek to support research and public-facing engagement on enslavement and its legacies by students, staff, and organisations and institutions throughout the ̽��ֱ��.

Discussions are also progressing with the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Museums about an exhibition in 2022 that will explore aspects of the subject and a plan for the work to culminate in a major international conference in 2022. Other ideas include involvement in ̽��ֱ�� outreach events and programmes.

In all this, the Inquiry welcomes proposals and ideas for collaboration from across the Collegiate ̽��ֱ��.

An external advisory panel comprised of academics from King's College, Warwick ̽��ֱ��, Bristol and the ̽��ֱ�� of Edinburgh has also been added to provide help and advice to the Inquiry.

The Inquiry was convened in April 2019 by Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen J Toope to advise him on the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s historical links with enslavement and on the legacies of those links in light of the growing public interest in the issue of British universities’ historical links to enslavement and the slave trade.

̽��ֱ��two-year inquiry will explore ̽��ֱ�� archives and a wide range of records elsewhere to uncover how the institution may have gained from slavery and the exploitation of coerced labour, through financial and other bequests to departments, libraries and museums.

It will also investigate the extent to which scholarship at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, an established and flourishing seat of learning before and during the period of Empire, might have reinforced and validated race-based thinking between the 18th and early 20th Century.

Professor Millett said: “This will be an evidence-led and thorough piece of research into the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s historical relationship with the slave trade and other forms of coerced labour. We cannot know at this stage what exactly it will find but it is reasonable to assume that, like many large British institutions during the colonial era, the ̽��ֱ�� will have benefited directly or indirectly from, and contributed to, the practices of the time.”

̽��ֱ��Advisory Group is expected to deliver its final report to the Vice-Chancellor in 2022. Alongside its findings on historical links to the slave trade, the report will recommend appropriate ways for the ̽��ֱ�� to publicly acknowledge such links and their modern impact.

Full initial report

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Legacies of Enslavement Inquiry delivered its first report this week outlining its plan of action and initial recommendations.

This will be an evidence-led and thorough piece of research

Professor Martin Millett

Yes

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� launches inquiry into historical links to slavery

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 23:01:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��two-year inquiry will explore ̽��ֱ�� archives and a wide range of records elsewhere to uncover how the institution may have gained from slavery and the exploitation of labour, through financial and other bequests to departments, libraries and museums.

A specially commissioned Advisory Group appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen J Toope, has been asked to recommend appropriate ways to publicly acknowledge past links to slavery and to address its impact.

̽��ֱ��eight-member Advisory Group overseeing the work is being chaired by Professor Martin Millett, the Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology, and draws its membership from relevant academic departments across the ̽��ֱ��. ̽��ֱ��panel will call on further external expertise as necessary.

̽��ֱ��inquiry will be conducted by two full-time postdoctoral researchers, based in the Centre of African Studies, part of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. ̽��ֱ��research will examine specific gifts, bequests and historical connections with the slave trade. Researchers will also look into the ̽��ֱ��’s contribution to scholarship and learning that underpinned slavery and other forms of coerced labour.

“ ̽��ֱ��benefits may have been financial or through other gifts. But the panel is just as interested in the way scholars at the ̽��ֱ�� helped shape public and political opinion, supporting, reinforcing and sometimes contesting racial attitudes which are repugnant in the 21st Century.”

Professor Toope, the Vice-Chancellor, said: “There is growing public and academic interest in the links between the older British universities and the slave trade, and it is only right that Cambridge should look into its own exposure to the profits of coerced labour during the colonial period.

“We cannot change the past, but nor should we seek to hide from it. I hope this process will help the ̽��ֱ�� understand and acknowledge its role during that dark phase of human history.”

̽��ֱ��Advisory Group’s work comes amid a wider reflection taking place in the United States and Britain on the links between universities and slavery. It is among a number of race equality initiatives currently being pursued at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. In February, the Centre of African Studies hosted a round table on 'Slavery and its Legacies at Cambridge'.

̽��ֱ��Advisory Group is expected to deliver its final report to the Vice-Chancellor in summer 2022. Alongside its findings on historical links to the slave trade, the report will recommend appropriate ways for the ̽��ֱ�� to publicly acknowledge such links and their modern impact.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge will conduct an in-depth academic study into ways in which it contributed to, benefited from or challenged the Atlantic slave trade and other forms of coerced labour during the colonial era.

Emancipation Badge (1787), commissioned by the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade from Josiah Wedgwood, in the Fitzwilliam Museum collection.

Yes

Britain from the Air: 1945-2009

sjr81 — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 17:25:21 +0000

Aerial photographs of Britain from the 1940s to 2009 – dubbed the ‘historical Google Earth’ – have been made freely available online.

Funding announced for almost 400 new doctoral places in arts and humanities

sjr81 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 10:45:43 +0000

̽��ֱ��Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP is a consortium of the three universities for doctoral training and funding in the Humanities. ̽��ֱ��DTP is underpinned by world-class research and training environments, supported by strategic partnerships with the BBC World Service, the National Trust and British Telecom, and is national and international in mindset, and determined to take a leading role in shaping the future of doctoral training in the UK.

̽��ֱ��AHRC is the UK’s largest funder of postgraduate training in the arts and humanities, and plays an essential role in supporting the next generation of highly capable researchers. By working together, the AHRC, the Open ̽��ֱ��, and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are able to commit to investing in this partnership over its lifetime.

Professor David Rechter, incoming Director of the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP, said: “I am pleased by the success of our bid, and look forward to recruiting our first cohort of students next year. Supported by our partners the National Trust, the BBC World Service and British Telecom, the Open-Oxford-Cambridge DTP will offer students a wealth of opportunities to pursue research and engage in training, and to learn from each other as part of a large multi-disciplinary group. These opportunities will equip our DTP students with the research expertise and skills that will allow them to go on to wide range of careers in academia and beyond.”

Professor Martin Millett, Head of the School of Arts and Humanities at Cambridge, said: “ ̽��ֱ��success of this bid is excellent news. ̽��ֱ��unique collaboration between Oxford, Cambridge and the Open ̽��ֱ�� opens up exciting new prospects for the next generation of doctoral research students in the Arts and Humanities.”

Professor Edward Harcourt, the AHRC’s Director of Research, Strategy and Innovation, said: “ ̽��ֱ��AHRC is delighted to announce its renewed commitment to the Doctoral Training Partnerships model. Our support for the next generation of arts and humanities researchers is critical to securing the future of the UK arts and humanities sector, which accounts for nearly a third of all UK academic staff, is renowned the world over for its outstanding quality, and which plays a vital part in our higher education ecosystem as a whole.

“We were extremely pleased with the response to our call, which saw high-quality applications from across the UK from a variety of diverse and innovative consortia, each with a clear strategy and vision for the future support of their doctoral students.”

Professor Kevin Hetherington, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Academic Strategy), ̽��ֱ��Open ̽��ֱ��, said: “ ̽��ֱ��Open ̽��ֱ�� is delighted that the AHRC has chosen to recognise the commitment to innovation and diversity inherent in the Open-Oxford-Cambridge DTP, and looks forward to participating fully in the delivery of an exciting training programme for our PhD students.”

Professor Karen O’Brien, Head of the Humanities Division, ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford, said: “This is good news and an endorsement of our collective commitment to developing the next generation of Humanities scholars. We are looking forward to working with the Open ̽��ֱ��, Cambridge, the AHRC and our strategic partners to deliver a truly exciting opportunity to our consortium students.”

Stephen Cassidy, Chief Researcher, System Science, BT Labs, said: “As a communication company deeply rooted in the interaction between people, communities and businesses, BT sees great benefit in being part of this DTP. Interaction with the students and academics will extend our understanding of ethical, legal and social ramifications of the possible directions the industry as a whole could (and is) embarking on. These are issues of international scale, and we are pleased to link with the DTP and to provide further links with our research collaborations around the UK and the globe.”

Jamie Angus, Director, BBC World Service Group, said: “ ̽��ֱ��objectives of the Consortium and the Doctoral Training partnership fit very well with the BBC World Service’s objectives; ̽��ֱ��BBC World Service Group provides independent impartial journalism to nearly 350 million people around the world each week, across cultural, linguistic and national boundaries. We look forward to working with world-class doctoral students in the Humanities drawing on their research skills and subject expertise, as well as making the most of the huge range of languages studied at Oxford, Cambridge and the OU. Working together we will play our part so that the Consortium can provide DTP-funded students with skills and experience they need to communicate their ideas beyond academia so that they may be better able to reach a wider audience.”

Nino Strachey, Head of Research and Specialist Advice at the National Trust, said: “ ̽��ֱ��National Trust is delighted at the success of the bid and excited to work with students and staff from these internationally recognised universities and partners. With a long history of hosting and co-supervising PhDs, we look forward to offering opportunities for students to gain experience of the heritage sector and to work with Europe’s largest conservation charity.”

Information on how to apply for scholarships via the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership for entry in 2019/20 will be available from www.oocdtp.ac.uk from 1 September 2018.

̽��ֱ��Open ̽��ֱ��, the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford and the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge are pleased to announce the success of their bid for funding for the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Arts and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership, which will create nearly 400 new doctoral places in the arts and humanities.

̽��ֱ��unique collaboration between Oxford, Cambridge and the Open ̽��ֱ�� opens up exciting new prospects for the next generation of doctoral research students in the Arts and Humanities

Martin Millett

Sir Cam

Faculty of English on the ̽��ֱ��'s Sidgwick Site, home to many of the faculties and departments from the School of Arts and Humanities.

Yes

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Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike

Archaeologists uncover rare 2,000-year-old sundial during Roman theatre excavation

sjr81 — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 11:56:09 +0000

Not only has the sundial survived largely undamaged for more than two millennia, but the presence of two Latin texts means researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have been able to glean precise information about the man who commissioned it.

̽��ֱ��sundial was found lying face down by students of the Faculty of Classics as they were excavating the front of one of the theatre’s entrances along a secondary street. It was probably left behind at a time when the theatre and town was being scavenged for building materials during the Medieval to post-Medieval period. In all likelihood it did not belong to the theatre, but was removed from a prominent spot, possibly on top of a pillar in the nearby forum.

“Less than a hundred examples of this specific type of sundial have survived and of those, only a handful bear any kind of inscription at all – so this really is a special find,” said Dr Alessandro Launaro, a lecturer at the Faculty of Classics at Cambridge and a Fellow of Gonville & Caius College.

“Not only have we been able to identify the individual who commissioned the sundial, we have also been able to determine the specific public office he held in relation to the likely date of the inscription.”

̽��ֱ��base prominently features the name of M(arcus) NOVIUS M(arci) F(ilius) TUBULA [Marcus Novius Tubula, son of Marcus], whilst the engraving on the curved rim of the dial surface records that he held the office of TR(ibunus) PL(ebis) [Plebeian Tribune] and paid for the sundial D(e) S(ua) PEC(unia) (with his own money).

̽��ֱ��nomen Novius was quite common in Central Italy. On the other hand, the cognomen Tubula (literally ‘small trumpet’) is only attested at Interamna Lirenas.

But even more striking is the specific public office Tubula held in relation to the likely date of the inscription. Various considerations about the name of the individual and the lettering style comfortably place the sundial’s inscription at a time (mid 1st c. BC onwards) by which the inhabitants of Interamna had already been granted full Roman citizenship.

“That being the case, Marcus Novius Tubula, hailing from Interamna Lirenas, would be a hitherto unknown Plebeian Tribune of Rome,” added Launaro. “ ̽��ֱ��sundial would have represented his way of celebrating his election in his own hometown.”

Carved out from a limestone block (54 x 35 x 25 cm), the sundial features a concave face, engraved with 11 hour lines (demarcating the twelve horae of daylight) intersecting three day curves (giving an indication of the season with respect to the time of the winter solstice, equinox and summer solstice). Although the iron gnomon (the needle casting the shadow) is essentially lost, part of it is still preserved under the surviving lead fixing. This type of ‘spherical’ sundial was relatively common in the Roman period and was known as hemicyclium.

“Even though the recent archaeological fieldwork has profoundly affected our understanding of Interamna Lirenas, dispelling long-held views about its precocious decline and considerable marginality, this was not a town of remarkable prestige or notable influence,” added Launaro. “It remained an average, middle-sized settlement, and this is exactly what makes it a potentially very informative case-study about conditions in the majority of Roman cities in Italy at the time”.

“In this sense, the discovery of the inscribed sundial not only casts new light on the place Interamna Lirenas occupied within a broader network of political relationships across Roman Italy, but it is also a more general indicator of the level of involvement in Rome’s own affairs that individuals hailing from this and other relatively secondary communities could aspire to.”

̽��ֱ��ongoing archaeological project at Interamna Lirenas continues to add new evidence about important aspects of the Roman civilization, stressing the high levels of connectivity and integration (political, social, economic and cultural) which it featured.

̽��ֱ��2017 excavation, directed by Dr Launaro (Gonville & Caius College) and Professor Martin Millett (Fitzwilliam College), both from the Faculty of Classics, in partnership with Dr Giovanna Rita Bellini of the Italian Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Frosinone, Latina e Rieti, is part of a long-standing collaboration with the British School at Rome and the Comune of Pignataro Interamna and has benefitted from the generous support of the Isaac Newton Trust and Mr Antonio Silvestro Evangelista.

Inset image: ̽��ֱ��find spot near the former roofed theatre in Interamna Lirenas

A 2,000-year-old intact and inscribed sundial – one of only a handful known to have survived – has been recovered during the excavation of a roofed theatre in the Roman town of Interamna Lirenas, near Monte Cassino, in Italy.

Alessandro Launaro

̽��ֱ��sundial pictured after excavation

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Cambridge to launch Polish Studies programme

ag236 — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 09:54:26 +0000

̽��ֱ��signing will mark the grant of 15 million złotys (approximately £3.1 million), allocated to the ̽��ֱ�� of Warsaw by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, to endow in perpetuity a Polish Studies Programme at Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��programme will provide opportunities for research collaboration, as well as teaching in Polish language, literature and culture.

̽��ֱ��programme’s research output will be complemented by a series of high-profile public events that will aim to stimulate research in Polish culture and society, and promote greater understanding of Poland’s role in European history as well as its position as a rising economic power.
̽��ֱ��new initiative will build on the success of the existing four-year pilot programme in Polish Studies at the ̽��ֱ��, led by Dr Stanley Bill of Cambridge’s Department of Slavonic Studies and supported by the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP), the M.B. Grabowski Fund, the Zdanowich Fund and Cambridge’s School of Arts and Humanities.

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, signed the agreement with the Rector of the ̽��ֱ�� of Warsaw, Professor Marcin Pałys.

Professor Martin Millett, Head of the School of Arts and Humanities at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said: “We are delighted to be strengthening this relationship with our colleagues in Poland, which is not only of strategic importance to the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, but of significant import at this time in the history of Europe.”

“ ̽��ֱ��continuity of Polish Studies at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is an opportunity for both parties to develop teaching and research cooperation,” said Assistant Professor Maciej Duszczyk, Vice Rector for Research at the ̽��ֱ�� of Warsaw. He added: “An Advisory Board for the new Polish Studies programme at Cambridge –consisting of representatives from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, the ̽��ֱ�� of Warsaw, and the Foundation for Polish Science—will be tasked with setting the framework for our collaboration.”

̽��ֱ��agreement was concluded with the support of Poland’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

In the autumn, representatives of both universities will meet in Warsaw to take part in an event to mark the enhanced collaboration.

Polish language, literature and culture will be a permanent feature of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s research and teaching following the signing, today, of an agreement with the ̽��ֱ�� of Warsaw.

We are delighted to be strengthening this relationship with our colleagues in Poland, which is not only of strategic importance to the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, but of significant import at this time in the history of Europe.

Prof Martin Millett

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes