Heritage Partnerships

A research group of the Department of Archaeology.

This research group brings together academics and researchers whose activities focus on applying research to the many challenges facing cultural heritage across the globe. Much of this research is stimulated by the destruction of or damage to heritage through conflict or disaster. Sitting at the intersection of field archaeology and cultural heritage it addresses global challenges, be they economic, political or environmental. Central to the research is the collaborative nature of the research and impact – whether through academic partnership or professional cooperation.

Our members are increasingly engaged around the world, at the cutting edge of cultural heritage research. They share experience and utilise their expertise in policy, protection, engagement and interpretation to reach new global audiences by:

• researching and developing new methods for cultural heritage preservation and interpretation;
• co-producing new agendas to engage people with the care of their heritage in their locality;
• connecting communities with their heritage and fostering local worth and identity
• partnering national and transnational agencies to protect and promote tangible and intangible, built and portable heritage

Aims

• set new interdisciplinary challenges and agendas for the discipline, and with current global challenges in mind ask the big important questions about the past;
• deliver internationally leading and world class scholarship, undertaking primary fieldwork around the world and ground-breaking laboratory research;
• connect communities, locally to globally, with their archaeological heritage;
• make the material evidence of the past matter to the present, informing heritage practice and policy and co-producing ideas of value, care and protection now, and for the future

Key research themes

We have five main themes within our research, although many of the projects listed below cross multiple themes:

Pilgrimage

Understanding, protecting and interpreting living religious heritage:

Resilience

Identifying the archaeological impacts of, and developing responses to, natural hazards such as earthquakes

Stewardship

Providing embedded training and advising on heritage management, preservation and protection

Engagement

Connecting communities with their tangible and intangible heritage:

Advocacy

Using research findings to push new, and update existing, heritage policies and guidelines.

Research Projects

• Ancient Identities: Iron Age and Roman Heritages
• Hadrian's Wall Management Plan Partnership

Staff

Academic Staff

• Professor Ian Bailiff
• Dr Mary Brooks
• UNESCO Professor Robin Coningham
• Dr Marta Diaz-Guardamino
• Professor Chris Gerrard
• Dr Pam Graves
• Professor Richard Hingley
• Dr Derek Kennet
• Dr Dan Lawrence
• Professor Anna Leone
• Dr Karen Milek
• Professor Tom Moore
• Dr David Petts
• Professor Graham Philip
• Dr Benjamin Roberts
• Professor Robin Skeates
• Dr Emily Williams
• Dr Penny Wilson
• Dr Robert Witcher

Research Staff

• Dr Arwa Badran
• Dr Christopher Davis
• Dr Michelle W. de Gruchy
• Dr Paolo Forlin
• Dr Nicky Garland
• Dr Kristen Hopper
• Dr Mark Manuel
• Dr Sayantani Neogi
• Dr Kate Sharpe
• Dr Gemma Tully

Archaeological Services Durham University

• Mr Richard Annis

Research Student

• Mr Pertev Basri
• Miss Ana Fernandes-de-Almeida
• Ms Freya Horsfield
• Ms Eileen Kerhouant
• Mr Paul Kitching
• Ms Jiajing Mo
• Mr Domhnall O'Meara
• Mrs Heidi Richards
• Ms Azadeh Vafadari
• Mr Kai Weise

Publications by staff in this group

Conference Paper

• Wilson, Penelope (2017), Landscapes of the Bashmur – Settlements and Monasteries in the Northern Egyptian Delta from the Seventh to the Ninth Century, in Willems, Harco & Dahms, Jan-Michael eds, Mainzer Historische Kulturwissenschaften, 36 The Nile: Natural and Cultural Landscapes. Mainz, Germany, transcript, Bielefeld, 345-368.

Journal Article

• Davis, C.E., Coningham, R.A.E., Acharya, K.P., Kunwar, R.B., Forlin, P., Weise, K., Maskey, P.N., Joshi, A., Simpson, I.A., Toll, D., Wilkinson, S., Hughes, P., Sarhosis, V., Kumar, A. & Schmidt, A. (2020). Identifying archaeological evidence of past earthquakes in a contemporary disaster scenario: Case-studies of damage, resilience and risk reduction from the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and past seismic events within the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Property (Nepal). Journal of Seismology 24(4): 729-751.
• Geyer, B., Braemer, F., Davtian, G. & Philip, G. (2019). A geo-archaeological approach to the study of hydro-agricultural systems in arid areas of Western Syria. Journal of Arid Environments 163: 99-113.
• Davis, C.E., Coningham, R.A.E., Gunawardhana, P., Pushparatnam, P., Schmidt, A. & Manuel, M.J. (2019). The antiquity of Jaffna Fort: new evidence from post-disaster archaeological investigations in northern Sri Lanka. Antiquity 93(368): e13.
• Wilson, Penelope (2018). Human and Deltaic Environments in Northern Egypt in Late Antiquity. Late Antique Archaeology 12(1): 42-62.
• Davis, C.E. & Coningham, R.A.E. (2018). Pilgrimage and Procession: Temporary gatherings and journeys between the tangible and intangible through the archaeology of South Asia. World Archaeology 50(2): 347-363.
• Jansen van Rensburg, Julian & Hopper, Kristen (2017). Incense and imagery: mapping agricultural and water management systems on the island of Socotra, Yemen. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 47: 129-138.
• Forlin, P. & Gerrard, C. M. (2017). The archaeology of earthquakes: The application of adaptive cycles to seismically-affected communities in late medieval Europe. Quaternary International 446: 95-108.
• Forlin, P., Gerrard, C. M. & Petley, D. (2016). Exploring representativeness and reliability for late medieval earthquakes in Europe. Natural Hazards 84(3): 1625-1636.
• Nebbia, N., Leone, A., Bockmann, R., Hddad, M., Abdouli, H., Masoud, A. M., Elkendi, N., Hamoud, H., Adam, S. & Khatab, M. (2016). Developing a Collaborative Strategy to Manage and Preserve Cultural Heritage During the Libyan Conflict. The Case of the Gebel Nāfusa. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 23(4): 971-988.
• Bailiff, I.K., Lacey, H.R., Coningham, R.A.E., Gunawardhana, P., Adikari, G., Davis, C.E., Manuel, M.J. & Strickland, K.M. (2013). Luminescence dating of brick stupas: an application to the hinterland of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Antiquity 87(335): 189-201.
• Petts, D. (2013). Expanding the archaeology of Holy Island (Lindisfarne). Medieval Archaeology 57: 302-307.
• Petts, DA (2011). Landscapes of Belief: Non-conformist mission in the North Pennines. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 15(3): 461-480.

Report

• Bailiff I.K. , Bayliss, A. Bridge, M C., Bronk Ramsey, C. Cattell, J. Dunbar, E. & Tyers, C. (2017). St Giles House and the ‘Riding House’, Wimborne St Giles, Dorset: Scientific Dating and Bayesian Chronological Modelling. Historic England.

Chapter in book

• Hopper, Kristen & Omrani Rekavandi, Hamid (2020). Investigating Mobile Pastoralist Landscapes in North East Iran: The Contribution of Remote Sensing. In New Agendas in Remote Sensing and Landscape Archaeology: Studies in Honor of Tony J. Wilkinson. Lawrence, Dan, Altaweel, Mark & Philip, Graham Oxford Archaeopress. 94-108.
• Bhaddamanika, S., Bidari, B., Choegyal, L., Coningham, R.A.E., Cuppers, C. & Rai, G. (2019). Balancing competing requirements of faith and preservation. In The Sacred Garden of Lumbini. UNESCO UNESCO. 210-223.
• Coningham, R.A.E., Acharya, K.P., Manuel, M.J. & Tremblay, J. (2019). Sites of the Greater Lumbini Area. In The Sacred Garden of Lumbini. UNESCO UNESCO. 223-259.
• Manuel, M.J., Gunawardhana, P., Coningham, R.A.E., Davis, C.E., Namalgamuwa, H., Senanayaka, J, Rammungoda, U.R. & Bandara, K.G.Y. (2018). Ritual and economy reconsidered at Siva Devale No. 2, Polonnaruva. In Buddha Rashmi: Vesak Volume: essays in Buddhism and Buddhist monastic archaeology. Gunawardhana, P. & Coningham, R.A.E. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Central Cultural Fund. 33-44.
• Davis, C.E., Gunawardhana, P., Coningham, R.A.E., Pushparatnam, P., Schmidt, A., Manuel, M.J., Namalgamuwa, H., Senanayaka, J. & Bandara, K.G.Y. (2018). Recent excavations and survey at Jaffna Fort in 2017 and reflections on the antiquity of Indian Ocean trade. In Buddha Rashmi Vesak Volume 2018: Essays in Buddhism and Buddhist Monastic Archaeology. Gunawardhana, P. & Coningham, R.A.E. Colombo, Sri Lanka Central Cultural Fund, Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka. 67-78.
• Lafortune-Bernard, A., Coningham, R.A.E. & Acharya, K.P. (2018). Recording the social and economic contribution of local heritage at Tilaurakot: a pilot study. In The Cultural Heritage of Nepal, before, during and after the 2015 Earthquakes: Current and Future Challenges. The Oriental Cultural Heritage Sites Protection Alliance (OCHSPA). Kathmandu: Vajra Publications. 170-179.
• Witcher, R.E. (2017). The globalized Roman world. In The Routledge Handbook of Globalization and Archaeology. Hodos, T. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 634-651.
• Witcher, R.E. (2017). The global Roman countryside: connectivity and community. In The Economic Integration of Roman Italy: Rural Communities in a Globalising World. de Haas, T.C.A. & Tol, G.W. Leiden: Brill. 28-50.
• Coningham, R.A.E., Acharya, K.P., Kunwar, R.B., Manuel. M.J., Davis, C.E. & Lafortune-Bernard, A. (2017). Promoting the Protection, Preservation and Presentation of the Natal Landscape of the Buddha in Nepal. In Buddha Rashmi Vesak Volume: Essays in Buddhism and Buddhist Monastic Archaeology. Gunawardhana, P., Coningham, R.A.E. & Nampoothiri, K. Central Cultural Fund of Sri Lanka. 13-26.
• Bradbury, J. & Philip, G. (2016). The Invisible Dead Project: A Methodology for "Coping" with the Dead. In How to Cope with Death: Mourning and Funerary Practices in the Ancient Near East. Felli, C. Pisa: Edizioni ETS. 5: 309-336.
• Hingley, Richard (2016). Constructing the Nation and Empire: Victorian and Edwardian Images of the Building of Roman Fortifications. In Graeco-Roman Antiquity and the idea of nationalism in the 19th century: case studies. Fögen, Thorsten & Warren, Richard Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. 153-174.
• Hingley, Richard (2015). The Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site and Transnational Heritage. In Identity and Heritage: Contemporary Challenges in a Globalized World. Biehl, P.F., Comer, D.C., Prescott, C. & Soderland, H.A. Springer. Springer Briefs in Archaeology: 55-64.
• Hingley, Richard (2015). Working with Descendant Communities in the Study of Roman Britain: Fragments of an Ethnographic Project Design. In Rethinking Colonialism: Comparative Archaeological Approaches. Cipolla, Craig & Howlett Hayes, Katherine University Press of Florida. 161-189.
• Sharpe, K. (2014). Pride and Prejudice. The challenges of conserving and managing rock art in the landscape of Northern England through public participation. In Open-air rock-art conservation and management: state of the art and future perspectives Edited by. Darvill, T. & Fernandes, A.B.F.
• Witcher, R.E. (2014). Globalisation and Roman Cultural Heritage. In Globalisation and the Roman World: World History, Connectivity and Material Culture. Pitts, M. & Versluys, M.J. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 198-222.