Dr Elaine Jamieson
Associate Lecturer in Landscape Archaeology
Profile
Biography
Elaine is a specialist in landscape archaeology, with a focus on medieval settlement, landscapes and elite culture. She is particularly interested in how people in the past perceived natural and cultural landscapes, and the importance of place in constructing and maintaining collective and personal identities. She is an active field archaeologist with an extensive background in earthwork survey and landscape investigation and has worked on research projects both in Britain and abroad.
Career
After completing an MA in Archaeology at Durham University in 1996, Elaine worked briefly in commercial archaeology before moving across to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland to work on their landscape characterisation project. In 2000 she joined the Research Department of what was then English Heritage and worked as an Archaeological Investigator for over 15 years, specialising in landscape archaeology and analytical earthwork survey, latterly managing a small team of archaeological and architectural investigators. During her time with English Heritage Elaine was involved in several large landscape projects, undertaking fieldwork on the Quantock Hills, Dartmoor, Stonehenge and elsewhere, and between 2006 and 2010 was responsible for the delivery of a major multi-disciplinary project on the Mendip Hills.
In 2015 Elaine joined the University of Reading and worked on funded research projects while at the same time undertaking a PhD in Archaeology. She first joined the University of York in 2022 as their Fieldwork Project Manager and was responsible for the Archaeology Field School, conducting major excavations in East Yorkshire.
Research
Overview
Elaine’s research is focussed on medieval settlement and landscapes, with a particular interest in the expression of elite power in England. Her PhD considered the values attached to natural and cultural landscapes, with a focus on Norman castles. Her wider interests include how monuments from the past were re-used in the past, a research theme that stems from her work on the ‘Round Mounds’ project (funded by the Leverhulme Trust) which between 2015 and 2017 explored the origins of numerous castle mottes up and down the country. More broadly, she is interested in the theory and application of methodologies for the recording of archaeological landscapes and monuments, and the ways in which traditional and digital technologies can be combined to best capture, analyse and present archaeological field remains.
Projects
- The Skipsea Landscape Project (Funded by the University of York)
- 2022, Inhabiting the Inner Hebrides: exploring the archaeology of settlement on Islay (Funded by Medieval Settlement Research Group and Society of Antiquaries of Scotland)
- 2019-2020, Our Past, Our Future, All Together in Faynan (funded by AHRC/Newton Khalidi Fund)
- 2017, The Skipsea Castle Archaeological Research Pilot Project (funded by University of Reading and the Yorkshire Archaeological Society)
- 2015-2017 , Vale of Pewsey (funded by AHRC, Historic England and University of Reading).
- 2015-2017, Round Mounds project (funded by Leverhulme Trust).
- 2006-2011, The Mendip Hills AONB landscape project (funded by English Heritage)
Research group(s)
- Roman, Medieval and Historical Archaeology
- Fieldwork
Grants
- Society of Antiquaries of London 2024. ‘The Skipsea Landscape Project’. Applicant
- Medieval Settlement Research Group Research Grant 2022. ‘Inhabiting the Inner Hebrides: exploring the archaeology of settlement on Islay’. Applicant
- Council of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 2022. ‘Inhabiting the Inner Hebrides: exploring the archaeology of settlement on Islay’. Applicant
- SAGES Research fund 2017. ‘The Skipsea Castle Archaeological Research Pilot Project’ (SCARPP). Co-applicant
- Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society Small Project Grant 2017. ‘The Skipsea Castle Archaeological Research Pilot Project’ (SCARPP). Applicant
Collaborators
Jim Leary (Skipsea Landscape Project)
Available PhD research projects
I am interested in supervising any topics related to landscape archaeology, particularly those involving medieval settlement and elite centres. I am also very keen to supervise projects related to the past in the past, particularly the re-use of ancient sites and monuments.
Teaching
Undergraduate
- Discovering Archaeology (Year 1)
- Exploring Archaeology (Year 1)
- Post Excavation (Year 2)
Postgraduate
- Practical Landscape Archaeology
- Project Management
External activities
Memberships
- Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA)
- Member of the Medieval Settlement Research Group
- Member of the Landscape Survey Group
- Member of the Society for Medieval Archaeology
- Committee member of the Scarborough Archaeological and History Society (Field Officer)
Invited talks and conferences
- Royal Archaeological Institute, London
- 2024, The Castle Studies Group
- The Medieval Settlement Research Group Winter Conference, Leicester
- The Council for British Archaeology Yorkshire Annual Symposium, York
- The Marlborough Mound Trust Annual Lecture, Marlborough College, Wiltshire
- ‘Ritually Mounded Landscapes’ session at SAA, Vancouver
- 2016. Landscape Survey Group Annual Conference, Exeter
Publications
Full publications list
Books and Journal articles:
Jamieson, E, Clarke, A, Mithen, S, Pearson, T 2025 ‘Inhabiting the Inner Hebrides: Exploring Settlement and Marginality on the Isle of Islay, Scotland’, Medieval Settlement Research 40, 3–13
Jamieson, E 2021 ‘Landscape, Place and Identity: Castles of the Holderness Plain, East Yorkshire’. Landscape History 42 (1), 21-54
Jamieson, E 2020 ‘Castles and the Biography of Place: boundaries, meeting places and mobility in the Sussex landscape’. Landscapes 20 (1), 24-60
Andrews, P, Lawson AJ, with Barclay AJ, Bowden, M, Edwards, Z, Flexer, G, Harding, P, Higbee, L, Hooke, D, Ixer, R, Jamieson, E, Leivers, M, Linford, N, Linford, P, McKinley, J I and Payne, A 2019 ‘A remarkable discovery – an Early Bronze Age cremation burial at Figheldean, Wiltshire’. Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Magazine, 112, 37–72
Jamieson, E 2019 ‘The Siting of Medieval Castles and the Influence of Ancient Places’. Medieval Archaeology 63 (2), 338-74
Jamieson, E, Stastney, P & Leary, J 2019 ‘Dating Skipsea Mound, East Yorkshire’. Prehistoric Yorkshire 56, 84-9
Jamieson, E 2015 The Historic Landscape of the Mendip Hills. Swindon: English Heritage
Jamieson, E and Lane, R 2015 ‘Monuments, Mobility and Medieval Perceptions of Designed Landscapes: The Pleasance, Kenilworth’. Medieval Archaeology 59 (1), 255-271
Review articles:
Jamieson, E 2019 ‘Archaeology and Landscape at the Land’s End, Cornwall: The West Penwith Surveys 1980-2010’. Archaeological Journal 176 (2), 417-8. DOI: 10.1080/00665983.2019.1602932
Other publications (selected magazine articles and grey literature reports):
Jamieson, E, Hall, C, & Pearson, T 2025 Coomb Hill Prehistoric Enclosed Settlement and Barrow Group: Earthwork Survey Report. Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society Report Series no. 65
Jamieson, E & Pearson, T. 2023 An Archaeological Survey at Aldby Park, Buttercrambe, North Yorkshire. Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society Report Series no. 60
Jamieson, E, Pearson, T & Clarke, A 2022 A Medieval and Later Settlement on the Island of Islay: Archaeological Survey and Excavation at the Township of Olistadh. University of Reading unpublished report
Jamieson, E, Adams, C & Mithen, S 2022 Archaeological survey of a proposed ‘Viking house’ on Nave Island, Islay. University of Reading unpublished report
Pearson, T, Jamieson, E & Hall, C 2022 The 2021 Excavation at Castle Hill, Brompton, North Yorkshire. Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society Report Series no. 56
Jamieson, E & Pearson, T. 2021 An Archaeological Survey of an Earthwork at Aldby Park, Buttercrambe, North Yorkshire. Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society Report Series no. 54
Leary, J, Jamieson E & Stastney P 2018 ‘Exploring the large round mounds of England’. Current Archaeology 337
Bowden, M & Jamieson, E 2016 Tintagel Castle and Island, Cornwall: Archaeological Survey Enhancement. Historic England Research Department Report Series no. 33-2016
Jamieson, E 2015 Catridge Farm, Lacock, Wiltshire: The Remains of a Shrunken Settlement. Historic England Research Department Report Series no. 90-2015
Bowden, M, Jamieson, E & Winton, H 2015 Tennyson Down, Totland, Isle of Wight: Analytical Earthwork Survey and Aerial Photographic and Lidar Report. Historic England Research Department Report Series no. 87-2015
