Elaine Jamieson

Profile
Research
Teaching
Publications
External Activity:

Profile

Biography

Elaine Jamieson is a specialist in landscape archaeology, with a particular interest in medieval settlement, landscapes and elite culture. 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 she joined the University of Reading and worked on funded research projects in Britain and abroad while at the same time undertaking a PhD in Archaeology. Elaine joined the University of York as their Fieldwork Project Manager in 2022.

Research

Overview

Elaine specialises in medieval settlement and landscape archaeology, with a particular interest in the expression of elite power. Her PhD considered the values attached to natural and cultural landscapes and their importance in constructing and maintaining collective and personal identities, with a particular focus on Norman castles. She is interested in 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. Elaine is an active field archaeologist with an extensive background in earthwork survey and landscape investigation and has worked on many applied research projects, both in Britain and abroad (including Jordan). Between 2006 and 2010 she directed the archaeological fieldwork for a major multi-period landscape project on the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and authored the monograph on this work. More broadly, she is interested in the theory and application of methodologies for the measured 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

Inhabiting the Inner Hebrides: exploring the archaeology of settlement on Islay from c. AD 790-1600, in collaboration with Prof Steve Mithen, University of Reading. This project considers the changing nature of rural settlement on Islay, Scotland, from the Norse period through to the fall of the Lordship of the Isles in the 16th century. Medieval settlement on this Hebridean island remains little explored by archaeologists, with past research predominantly focussed on documentary and place-name evidence and centred on high-status sites, such as Dunyvaig Castle and the ceremonial centre at Finlaggan. Using an interdisciplinary landscape-based approach and investigating in detail a carefully selected sample of case-study sites, this project represents the first modern systematic examination of the material remains of medieval rural settlement on Islay. Current survey and excavation fieldwork is centred on Nave Island and the township of Olistadh.
Aldby Park Landscape Project, working in collaboration with the Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society. Aldby Park is located on the western bank of the river Derwent adjacent to the village of Buttercrambe, North Yorkshire. The estate has been the home of the Darley family since 1557, the parkland containing the well-preserved remains of medieval settlement and cultivation, and a Norman motte-and-bailey castle re-used as an elaborate garden feature in the early 17th century. This project combines earthwork survey, geophysical survey, 3D modelling and historical research to provide a better understanding not only of the area’s medieval agriculture and settlement, but also of the development of the designed landscape and perceptions of the past in the post-medieval period.

Grants

2022. Medieval Settlement Research Group Research Grant ‘Inhabiting the Inner Hebrides: exploring the archaeology of settlement on Islay from c. AD 790-1600’. Applicant
2022. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Research Grant ‘Inhabiting the Inner Hebrides: exploring the archaeology of settlement on Islay from c. AD 790-1600’. Applicant
2017. SAGES Research fund ‘The Skipsea Castle Archaeological Research Pilot Project’ (SCARPP). Co-applicant
2017. Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society Small Project Grant ‘The Skipsea Castle Archaeological Research Pilot Project’ (SCARPP). Applicant

Teaching

Undergraduate

Field Archaeology

Postgraduate

Publications

Books and Journal articles

Jamieson, E 2021 ‘Landscape, Place and Identity: the 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 A J, 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: Historic England

Jamieson, E and Lane, R 2015 ‘Monuments, Mobility and Medieval Perceptions of Designed Landscapes: The Pleasance, Kenilworth’. Medieval Archaeology 59 (1), 255-271

Jamieson, E 2002 ‘Archaeological survey work at Larkbarrow Farm’. Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 146, 17-26

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 (magazine articles and grey literature reports)

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

Bowden, M, Edwards, Z, Jamieson, E, Linford, N T, Linford, P K & Payne, A W 2014 Netheravon Barrows, Figheldean, Wiltshire: Report on Analytical Earthwork and Geophysical Surveys, April and May 2014. English Heritage Research Department Report Series no. 77-2014

Jamieson, E & Lane, R 2013 ‘The Pleasance, Kenilworth: a royal residence and pleasure garden’ English Heritage Research News Issue 19

Jamieson, E 2013 Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire: Garden and Settlement Remains Surrounding the Elizabethan Mansion House. English Heritage Research Department Report Series no. 43-2013

Horsfall Turner, O & Jamieson, E 2011 ‘The churches of Mendip: their landscape setting and built fabric’. English Heritage Research News Issue 16

Brown, G, Jamieson, E & Jones, B V 2009 Croxden Abbey, Staffordshire: Croxdon Abbey and its Environment. English Heritage Research Department Report Series no. 94-2009

Jamieson, E 2007 Burrington Camp, North Somerset: A Late-Prehistoric Enclosure on the Mendip Hills. English Heritage Research Department Report Series no. 81-2007

Jamieson, E 2007 Westbury Camp, Somerset. A late-prehistoric Hillfort on the Mendip Hills. English Heritage Research Department Report Series no. 71-2007

Jamieson, E 2006 Blackaton Deserted Medieval Settlement, Dartmoor, Devon. English Heritage Research Department Report Series no. 43-2006

Jamieson, E 2005 Shoulsbury Castle, Exmoor, Devon: An Iron Age Hillfort and a Stone Setting on Shoulsbarrow Common. English Heritage Archaeological Investigation Report Series no. AI-13-2005

Jamieson, E & Jones, B V 2004 Court House, East Quantoxhead, Somerset: a Jacobean Manor House and its surrounding landscape. English Heritage Archaeological Investigation Report series no. AI-01-2004.

Jamieson, E 2003 A Medieval Manor House and Landscape at Kilve, Somerset: An Archaeological Survey. English Heritage Archaeological Investigation Report Series no. AI-08-2003

Jamieson, E 2003 Fyne Court, Broomfield, Somerset: An 18th-Century Landscape Park. English Heritage Archaeological Investigation Report Series no. AI-21-2003

Jamieson, E 2002 Plainsfield Camp, Over Stowey, Somerset: An Archaeological Survey. English Heritage Archaeological Investigation Report Series no. AI-30-2002

Jamieson, E 2001 Larkbarrow Farm, Exmoor, Somerset: An Archaeological Survey. English Heritage Archaeological Investigation Report Series no. AI-18-2001

External Activity:

Memberships

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA)

Member of the Medieval Settlement Research Group

Member of the Medieval Society

Member of the Landscape Survey Group

Committee Member for the Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society (Fieldwork Officer)

Invited talks and conferences

2020. The Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society (online)
2018. The Medieval Society Student Colloquium 2018 (Reading)
2018. The Marlborough Mound Trust Annual Lecture, Marlborough College (Wiltshire)
2018. The Council for British Archaeology Yorkshire Annual Symposium (York)
2017. ‘Ritually Mounded Landscapes’ session at SAA (Vancouver)
2016. Landscape Survey Group Annual Conference (Exeter)
2015. The Society for Landscape Studies Annual Conference (Somerset)
2015. Vernacular Architecture Group Winter Conference ‘Farmsteads in Focus’ (Worcester)