Julian D Richards
Professor, Head of Department

Profile

Biography

Prof. Julian Richards, is Head of the Department of Archaeology, Director of the Archaeology Data Service, and Co-Director of the ejounral Internet Archaeology. He is not to be confused with Julian "Meet the Ancestors" Richards.

Julian originally intended to study History at University but claims that swtiching to Archaeology and Anthropology (which he studied at Cambridge) was one of the best decisions he ever made. He first came to York to take part in the Coppergate Viking excavations, but after a brief spell at the University of Leeds he returned to York in 1986 to lecture on Anglo-Saxon and Viking archaeology. The Department has grown tremendously from when he first joined, when he was only one of 5 staff members with around a dozen students. It now has over 60 staff, with over 300 undergraduates and 100 graduate students. Nonetheless it has managed to retain a small community feel.

Julian's involvement in archaeological computing began in 1980 when he started his PhD research studying pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon burial ritual using the computing power of an ICL mainframe and an early Z80 micro-computer. In 1985 he co-authored the first textbook in archaeological computing for Cambridge University Press, and has subsequently written numerous papers and edited a number of books on the applications of information technology in archaeology, as well as on Anglo-Saxon and Viking archaeology.

Research

Overview

Julian specialises in the archaeology of Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age England, especially mortuary behaviour and settlement evolution. He has directed excavations of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian settlements at Cottam, Cowlam, Burdale, and Wharram Percy. He has also excavated the only Viking cremation cemetery in the British Isles at Heath Wood, Ingleby. He recently directed an AHRC-funded research project investigating the Viking and Anglo-Saxon Landscape and Economy of England, and he is no embarking on a collaboration with the British Museum and the University of Sheffied to investigate the winter camp of the Viking Great Army at Torksey.

Julian is also a leading expert on computer applications in archaeology and has authored and edited numerous books and papers on computer applications. He is Co-Director of Internet Archaeology, an electronic journal developed in York, and Director of the Archaeology Data Service, the national digital data archive for archaeological research.

Current projects

Research group(s)

Supervision

Holly Wright
Darryl Okey
James Taylor
Tim Evans

Publications

Selected publications

2010

with Haldenby, D. 'Charting the effects of plough damage using metal-detected assemblages' Antiquity 84, 1151-62

2009

‘From anarchy to good practice: the evolution of standards in archaeological computing’ Archaeologia e Calcolatori 20, 27-35
with Jeffrey, S., Ciravegna, F., Waller, S., Chapman,S., and Zhang, Z. ‘The Archaeotools project: faceted classification and natural language processing in an archaeological context’ in P. Coveney (ed) Crossing Boundaries: Computational Science, E-Science and Global E-Infrastructures, Special Themed Issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 367, 2507-19
with J.Naylor,and C.Holas-Clark. “Anglo-Saxon landscape and economy: using portable antiquities to study Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age England”, Internet Archaeology 25
with Haldenby, D. “Settlement shift at Cottam, East Riding of Yorkshire, and the chronology of Anglo-Saxon copper alloy pins”, Medieval Archaeology 53, 309-14
“The Scandinavian presence” in J.Hunter and I.Ralston (eds.) The Archaeology of Britain, second edition, Routledge, 265-283
with J. Naylor “The real value of buried treasure. VASLE: The Viking and Anglo-Saxon landscape and economy project”, in P.Stone and S.Thomas (eds.) Metal Detecting and Archaeology: the relationships between archaeologists and metal detector users, Heritage Marketing Publications, 167-80

2008

“Managing digital preservation and access: The Archaeology Data Service”, in F.P.McManamon, A.Stout and J.A.Barnes (eds.) Managing Archaeological Resources: Global context, national programs, local actions. One World Archaeology 58, Left Coast Press, 173-94
with Hardman, C. “Stepping back from the trench edge: An archaeological perspective on the development of standards for recording and publication” in M.Greengrass and L.Hughes (eds.) The virtual representation of the past. Digital Research in the Arts & Humanities. Ashgate, 101-12
“Viking settlement in England”, in S.Brink and N.Price (eds.) The Viking World, Routledge, 368-74

2006

“Archaeology, e-publication and the semantic web”, Antiquity 80, 970-9, 2006.
"Electronic publication in archaeology", in T.L.Evans and P.Daly, (eds.) Digital Archaeology: bridging method and theory, Routledge, 2006, 213-25
with Hills, C.M. “The dissemination of information”, in J.Hunter and I.Ralston (eds.) Archaeological Resource Management in the United Kingdom, 2nd edition, Sutton Publishing, 304-15

2005

A Very Short Introduction to Vikings, Oxford University Press

2004

"The Viking barrow cemetery at Heath Wood, Ingleby", Antiquaries Journal 84, 23-116
Viking Age England, new edition, Tempus

2003

"When does the term 'Productive' Site become Unproductive? When It's Excavated. Investigations at the Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian Sites at Cottam, East Yorkshire", in T. Pestell and K. Ulmschneider (eds.) Markets in Early Medieval Europe, Windgather Press, 155-66
"Pagans and Christians at a Frontier: Viking Burial in the Danelaw" in M.O.H. Carver (ed.) The Cross goes North: Processes of Conversion in Northern Europe, AD 300-1300, York Medieval Press, 383-95.
"Online archives" Internet Archaeology 15
with Fernie, K. M. (eds.) Creating and Using Virtual Reality: A Guide for the Arts and Humanities. AHDS, Oxbow Books.

2002

"Digital Preservation and Access", European Journal of Archaeology 5(3), 343-367.
"The case of the missing Vikings: Scandinavian burial in the Danelaw" in S. Lucy and A. Reynolds (eds.) Burial in Early Medieval England and Wales, Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph 17, 156-70.
with Austin, A., Pinto, F., and Ryan, N. "Joined up writing: an Internet portal for research into the Historic Environment" in G. Burenhult (ed.) Archaeological Informatics: Pushing the Envelope CAA2001, BAR International Series 1016, 243-51.

2001

"Boundaries and cult centres: Viking burial in Derbyshire" in J.Jesch et al (eds.) Vikings and the Danelaw: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Viking Congress
"Finding the Vikings: The hunt for Scandinavian rural settlement in the Northern Danelaw" in J.Jesch et al (eds.) Vikings and the Danelaw: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Viking Congress
The Vicars Choral of York Minster: The College at Bedern. The Archaeology of York 10/5. Council for British Archaeology
"Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian Cottam: linking digital publication and archive", Internet Archaeology 10

2000

(ed. with D.Hadley) : Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. Studies in the Early Middle Ages, Brepols

Teaching

Undergraduate

Viking Age England

Postgraduate

External activities

Memberships

Director, Archaeology Data Service, 1996-
Co-Director, Internet Archaeology, 1995-
Member, AHRC Peer Review College, 2007-
Member, Viking Congress, 2001-
Member, Archaeological Archives Forum, 2002-
Member, Institute of Archaeologists, 1988-
Fellow, Society of Antiquaries, 1991-
Board Member, Digital Antiquity, University of Arizona, 2009-

Editorial duties

Editorial Board of Antiquity, Studies in the Early Middle Ages, Archaeologia Islandica, and Internet Archaeology

Invited talks and conferences

Guest lecturer, University of Brno, Czech Republic, Sept 2011
Invited keynote speaker, CAA Sweden, Uppsala, Nov 2011

Department of Archaeology

Julian D Richards Professor, Head of Department