Caitlin Kitchener
Lecturer

Profile

Biography

Caitlin is a historical archaeologist who focuses on the themes of resistance, radicalism, and revolution. Their MA dissertation examined the radical landscapes of the Peterloo massacre, winning the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology’s Postgraduate Dissertation Prize. This research was expanded upon in their PhD which explored the identities and representations of radicals between 1815-1822 in England, particularly Lancashire. The thesis examined mass platform meetings, the emergence of female reform societies, and the punishment of radicals. Caitlin held a Doctoral Fellowship from the Humanities Research Centre in 2019. The focus on early nineteenth century parliamentary reform and radicalism has continued post-PhD, exploring topics such as landscape as an organising agent in protest meetings. 

As well as protest in the modern world, Caitlin is also interested in the methods and theories used in historical archaeology. In particular, Caitlin focuses on the ways in which visual culture can be incorporated into studying the past, with this encompassing a variety of sources, including caricature, newspaper illustrations, and ephemera. Another methodological area is how textual sources can be understood as material culture as well as a type of evidence which can be used to explore material culture with a low surviving rate, such as early nineteenth century protest banners. Caitlin also advocates for the use of queer theory to investigate the lives of marginalised groups and hidden histories. 

Departmental roles

Director of MA Historical Archaeology (2021-present)

Director of Undergraduate Studies (2023-present)

Deputy Graduate Chair (2023-present) 

LGBTQ Network lead (2022-present)

Visiting Student and International Officer (2023-present) 

Research

Overview

I am interested in how people harnessed material culture, spaces, and landscapes to protest, resist, and revolt. So far, this work has largely focused on late eighteenth and early nineteenth century political radicalism in Britain. It has explored important events such as the Peterloo Massacre, the Cato Street Conspiracy, and the Spa Field Riots. As well as examining resistance and radicalism in Britain, my research interests examine how enslaved people rebelled against colonial structures, slavery, and plantations. This includes noteworthy events like the Maroon Wars in Jamaica and the Haitian Revolution. 

Alongside these areas, I also investigate how we - as historical archaeologists - can utilise visual culture as an important and vibrant type of materiality. These can range from ethnographic depictions of colonialism landscapes to bawdy caricature and satirical cartoons. My methodological pursuits aim to enable historical archaeology to engage with textual and visual sources in new and exciting ways.

Available PhD research projects

I am interested in hearing from prospective PhD applicants, in particular about protest and resistance in the past as well as subjects related to marginalised groups in the postmedieval period. 

Supervision

Current PhD researchers

Tom Ellis-Martin - Tom’s research examines prisons in the late 18th to early 19th centuries, exploring how reform movements shaped prison life in Britain and Australia. 

Teaching

Undergraduate

Year 1

Prehistory to the Present

Lecture for Exploring Archaeology

Year 2

World Archaeology: Conflict Archaeology

Interpreting Historical Archaeology (Modern World block)

Lecture for Issues in Archaeology and Heritage

Lecture for World Archaeology: Settlements and Society

Year 3

Dissertation module

Dissertation supervision

Postgraduate

Director of MA Historical Archaeology

Archaeologies of Colonialism in the British Atlantic World

Making the Nation

Dissertation supervision 

Other teaching

Post-excavation workshops

External activities

Overview

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Invited talks and conferences

“They’ll Not Peterloo Us Again this Time”: The Historical Archaeology of Peterloo. 1st April 2017, Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, Hull.

“With Henry Hunt we’ll go my boys”: The Creation of Henry Hunt, the Radical Celebrity, 23rd July 2017, Second International John Thelwall Conference, University of Derby.

“See the Conquering Hero Comes”: The Radical Landscapes of Henry Hunt and Improvement, 28th July 2017, British Association for Romantic Studies, University of York.

“Of course we’re safe, there’s a little shop”: Collecting and Curating Pop Culture. 19th December 2017, Theoretical Archaeology Group, Cardiff.

Material Voices: The Historical Archaeology of Peterloo. 6th June 2018. The Will of the People, Bath Spa University.

“I intend to quit this pestilential atmosphere of this Bastille”: The Historical Archaeology of Post-Peterloo Prisoners. 19th June 2018. CECS Postgraduate Research Forum, University of York.

“Rise, Britons, and assert your rights”: Radical Landscapes of the Late Regency Period. 10th November 2018.The Politics of Sedition in Long Nineteenth Century Britain: A Social and Cultural Discourse, University of Warwick.

“Will you, kind Sir, accept this token of our respect?”: The archaeology of female reformers and radical gender’. 16th March 2019. Protest, Politics, and Poetry: Peterloo at 200, University of York.

Sisters of the Earth: The Identities and Performances of Female Reformers in 1819. 19th July 2019. International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies/ISECS, University of Edinburgh.

Martyrs for the Cause: A radical archaeology built on historical radicalism. 16th December 2019. TAG/Theoretical Archaeology Group, UCL. 

Using breakout rooms with students. 17th March 2021. Learning and teaching@York in the Coronavirus Pandemic: Continuing the conversation, University of York. Collaborative presentation with Taryn Bell.

Digging for Diversity: Analysing Diversity in Archaeology Reading Lists. 19th June 2023. Decolonising and Diversifying the Curriculum: Sharing Practice & Next Steps. Inclusive Learning. University of York. 

‘Political Palimpsests: How landscape, memory, and heritage organised mass platform meetings in early nineteenth radicalism’. 21st July 2023. Organise! Organise! Organise! Collective Action, Associational Culture and the Politics of Organisation in Britain and Ireland, c.1790-1914. Durham University. 

Producing, Performing and Curating Radicalism: How was radical material culture produced, used and curated in early 19th century Britain?. 28th January 2025. History of Parliament. History of Parliament. 

Organised Conference Sessions

Where Worlds Meet: Polity, Ethics, and Archaeology. 17th January 2017, Yorkshire Student Research Archaeological Forum, York. Chair and organiser.

Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey… Stuff. 19th December 2017, Theoretical Archaeology Group, Cardiff. Chair and session organiser.

Turn to the self: How autoethnography could help teaching practice and student participation. 22nd June 2018. University of York Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, University of York. Workshop organiser and leader.

The Mayday Dance: Imagining and Watching the Execution of the Cato Street Conspirators’. 2nd August 2019. International Conference on Romanticism, University of Manchester. Session organiser.

Curriculum Wars: Edutainment, Employability, Critical Thinking? New Archaeological Pedagogies of Power, Knowledge and Accessibility. TAG/Theoretical Archaeology Group, UCL. 18th December 2019. Session organiser and speaker.

​​Same tripe, different day: Has archaeological theory stagnated? TAG/Theoretical Archaeology Group, Leicester. Postponed to 2021.

Public Engagement

York and Peterloo: Radical Landscapes, Radical Heritage. 18th January 2017, Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeology Society, York.

Yorkshire’s Radical Past. 21st March 2017. North Duffield Archaeological Society, North Duffield. 

“We Mourn for our Murdered Countrymen”: Historical Archaeology of Peterloo. 11th May 2017. Newcastle University Archaeology Society, Newcastle.

Equal Representation or Death: Creating Political Material Culture. 13th June 2017. Research Bites, University of York.

Seditious Gender: Queering Nineteenth Century Female Reformers. 4th February 2019. LGBT History Month, York.

‘The Mania of Amending the Constitution’: Female Reformers in 1819. 30th March 2019. Women’s Studies Groups 1558-1837, Foundling Museum.

Research Spotlight: Caitlin Kitchener. 1st July 2019. CECS Coffee House, University of York. Available at: https://cecscoffeehouse.wordpress.com/2019/07/01/research-spotlight-caitlin-kitchener/

“The Most Depraved of their Sex”: Studying the Radical Gender of Female Reformers. 21st January 2020. Pints and Postholes (Archaeology Society), University of York.

High Treason Executions. 13th November 2021. ArchSoc Talks (Archaeology Society), University of York,

Radicalisation of objects. 26th January 2023. ArchSoc Talks (Archaeology Society), University of York.

Careers in Archaeology. 29th April 2023. CBA Yorkshire conference, Council for British Archaeology. 

Producing, Performing and Curating Radicalism: How was radical material culture produced, used and curated in early 19th century Britain? 22nd July 2025. History of Parliament. Available at: https://historyofparliament.com/2025/01/22/producing-performing-and-curating-radicalism/

Publications

Selected publications

Kitchener, C. (2018). Back to the future: Autoethnography as a reflexive model for enhancing practice. Forum. Autumn 2018, 20-21.

Kitchener, C. (2020). The Trial of Henry Hunt. London: Mango Books.

Kitchener, C. (2022). Sisters of the Earth: The Landscapes, Radical Identities and Performances of Female Reformers in 1819. Journal for Eighteenth‐Century Studies, 45(1), 77-93.

Kitchener, C. (2023). Cato Street Conspiracy and Consuming Crime: How Radical Politics Fed into the Public's Passion for Violent Media Coverage. Parliamentary History, 42(1), 51-74.

Kitchener, C. (Forthcoming). Political Palimpsests: Landscape as an organising agent in 19th-century radicalism. Parliamentary History, (Feb 2026). 

Kitchener, C. (Forthcoming). Radical Landscapes and Seditious Spaces: Contested meanings in early nineteenth century radical events. In D. Steele (ed.) Sedition in Long Nineteenth-Century Britain – Gender, Space and Protest. 

Kitchener, C. (Forthcoming). 'Britons demand justice': Historical Archaeology of the Response to the Peterloo Massacre. In D. Angelo and A. Zarankin (eds) The Politics of Our Pasts: Archaeological Approaches to Our Political Pasts/Us.