Profile

Biography

Steve Ashby BSc (Birmingham), MSc Ph.D (York) is a medieval archaeologist with specialism in the archaeology of portable material culture and the use of animal products in craft and industry. He is particularly interested in the relationship between the various regions of Britain and Scandinavia before, during, and after the Viking Age.

Before starting up at York, Steve was employed by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, as Finds Liaison Officer for Northamptonshire, a role that involved working closely with local communities, amateur archaeologists, and metal detectorists in order to preserve by record the vast numbers of chance finds recovered by members of the public. Steve continues his association with the PAS, and is interested in exploiting the potential of the data it produces, particularly regarding early medieval craft, trade, and identity, and battlefield archaeology.

Steve teaches in a range of medieval subjects, as well as in the practical aspects of artefact studies, and is also Chair of the Board of Studies, which means that he oversees all the teaching in the department, and will be one of the members of staff that new students will get to know quite well.

Steve’s blood is Sky Blue, which is as unhealthy as it sounds, because it means he supports Coventry City.

For all Board of Studies business, please contact archaeology@york.ac.uk

To make an appointment to see me:  You can now book a slot online.  Please go to goo.gl/Af8M5

Departmental roles

• Chair of the Board of Studies (2011-)
• Previously (2011-12) Chair of the Archaeology and History Combined Honours Executive Committee
• Previously (2008-10) Chair of the Board of Examiners, Centre for Medieval Studies

University roles

• PGCAP (Staff Training) Supervisor (2012-)

Research

Overview

Steve’s PhD thesis focused on bone and antler hair combs in Britain and Scandinavia between c.AD 800 and 1400. It used novel archaeological and scientific techniques to examine the manufacture, exchange, and use of these often overlooked items, and considered their role as dress accessories in the construction of identity.

His wider research interests include dress and identity, medieval craft and industry, and the articulation of human and animal worlds in the Middle Ages. Steve's work also intersects with the archaeologies of appearance and self-representation, and of the social role of technologies.

In general terms, he is interested in the integration of scientific techniques with contemporary theory, in order to ask questions about society, trade, and identity. He would be interested in supervising research students working in any of these areas.

Current projects

• Combs and Communities in Viking-Age Britain: Biography and Ecology
• Crafting Networks in Viking Towns
• Entrepot
• BoneWorX: Proteomic Analysis and the Comb Trade
• An Atlas of Viking and Medieval Combs from Northern Europe
• Combmaking and mercantile identity in early medieval Europe
• The TASTE Group: Technologies of Adornment, Strategies of Transformation and Enchantment
• The Archaeology of Human-Cervid Relations
• Inhabiting the Viking Age: Travel, Tradition, Technology

Research group(s)

• People and Animals
• CMS Viking Studies Research Group

Grants

 British Academy Small Grant 2010 for Crafting Networks in Viking Towns (with Soren Sindbaek)

Awards

Runner-up  Martyn Jope award 2010 for best paper in Medieval Archaeology

University of York/YUSU Supervisor of the Year 2010.

Collaborators

Joann Fletcher (TASTE)

Soren Sindbaek (CNVT)

Gitte Hansen and Irene Baug, Bergen Museum (Actors and Affordable Crafts)

External activities

Memberships

• Steering Committee Member, 'Researching Ivory' AHRC/EPSRC Research Cluster
• Fellow, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
• Member, ICAZ Worked Bone Research Group
• Member, Viking Society for Northern Research

Editorial duties

• Committee member and Datasheet Editor Finds Research Group

Invited talks and conferences

Session Chair, Early Medieval Archaeological Students Symposium, 2009

Session Chair and Invited Speaker, Researching Ivories workshops 2009.

Invited Speaker, Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2010

Invited Speaker, Early Medieval Finds from the British Isles conference, University of Oxford, 2010

Media coverage

Radio: Appearances on BBC Radio Orkney, BBC Radio Northamptonshire.

TV: BBC 1's 'The One Show' , ITV local news, Channel 4 Time Team special: The Real Vikings.

Teaching

Undergraduate

First year

• Field Archaeology - Lecturer (Metal-detecting)
• Prehistory to Present - Lecturer (Anglo-Saxon and Viking)

Second year

• Themes in Historical Archaeology - Lecturer
• Practical Option (artefacts) - Lecturer
• Team Project (artefacts) - Lecturer
• Research Skills- Module leader

Third year

• Dissertation - Module leader
• Special Topic: Diocletian to Danelaw- Module leader
• Special Topic: Landscape and Community in Viking-Age Britain and Ireland - Module leader
• Assessed Seminar: Viking-Age Britain and Ireland - Module leader
• Assessed Seminar: The Medieval Artisan - Module leader

Postgraduate

• The Vikings - Module leader
• Collection of Field Archaeology Data - Lecturer (Artefacts)
• Skills - Lecturer (Assessed Lecture)
• Using Archaeology (for Medieval Studies) - Lecturer (Artefacts)
• Core Course (for Medieval Studies) - Lecturer (Viking-Age Sculpture and Literature)
• Viking-Age Northumbria (for Medieval Studies) - Lecturer (Artefacts)

Other teaching

Postgraduate, in Centre for Medieval Studies

• Using Archaeology - Lecturer (Artefacts)
• Core Course  - Lecturer (Viking-Age Sculpture and Literature)
• Viking-Age Northumbria - Lecturer (Artefacts)