Dr Helen Goodchild
Project and Fieldwork Officer

Profile

Biography

Helen is a GIS specialist, with a particular focus on landscape archaeology.

Helen completed a BA in Ancient History and Archaeology, and MA in Landscape Archaeology and Geomatics, at the University of Birmingham. She then went on to work as a research assistant at The British School at Rome for two years, before returning to Birmingham to complete her PhD. Following this, she worked as a Research Associate, and then Distance Learning Manager at Birmingham.

Prior to coming to York, she worked in both the Geography and Archaeology departments at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, where she supported various projects, and supervised the Marine Geomatics Lab. She has been working in York since 2010, contributing to numerous research projects and field schools.

Departmental roles

Helen teaches fieldwork and computing on a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and is involved in the Departmental Field school. She provides general project and research support to staff, postgraduates and undergraduate research projects. She also acts as the Departmental Health and Safety Advisor for Fieldwork.

Research

Overview

My research interests lie in the application of computer modelling techniques to ancient landscapes. These include agronomic and climatic modelling and spatial analysis, as well as geophysics and survey.

I completed my doctoral research in 2007, which investigated the modelling of Roman agricultural landscapes in the Tiber Valley of Central Italy, as part of the wider collaborative Tiber Valley Project run by the British School at Rome.

Projects

• Malton Roman Fort
• Skipsea Landscape Project
• Toumba Serron Research Project

Grants

The Lochbrow Landscape Project has been supported in 2012 and 2013 by two grants from the Society of Antiquaries, London.

Teaching

Undergraduate

First Year

• Field Archaeology & Field School - landscape and earthworks survey, geophysical survey, GIS

Second Year

• Practical Skills and Team Project: Field Archaeology Survey
• Researching Archaeology

Postgraduate

• Landscape and Earthwork Survey - module leader
• Geophysical Survey - module leader
• Geographic Information Systems - module leader
• Spatial Analysis in GIS - module leader

External activities

Memberships

• Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (MCIfA)
• Member of the Landscape Survey Group

Publications

Selected publications

• Goodchild, H. (2019) “De Agri Cultural Experientia. From Modern Agronomy to Roman Economic Analysis” In Paisajes productivos y redes comerciales en el Imperio Romano / Productive landscapes and trade networks in the Roman Empire. Remesal Rodríguez, J., Revilla Calvo, V., Martín-Arroyo Sánchez, D. & Martín i Oliveras, A. Universitat de Barcelona. 155-178.

• Millican, K., Goodchild, H., and Graves McEwan, D. (2017) Monuments and Landscape: Investigating A Prehistoric Monument Complex at Lochbrow, Dumfries and Galloway. The Antiquaries Journal 97: 27-48.

• Goodchild, H., Holm, N. and Sindbæk, S. (2017) “Borgring. The Discovery of a Viking Age Ring Fortress”. Antiquity 91(358), 1027-1042. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2017.118

Full publications list

2019

• Goodchild, H. (2019) “De Agri Cultural Experientia. From Modern Agronomy to Roman Economic Analysis” In Paisajes productivos y redes comerciales en el Imperio Romano / Productive landscapes and trade networks in the Roman Empire. Remesal Rodríguez, J., Revilla Calvo, V., Martín-Arroyo Sánchez, D. & Martín i Oliveras, A. Universitat de Barcelona. 155-178.

2017

• Millican, K., Goodchild, H., and Graves McEwan, D. (2017) Monuments and Landscape: Investigating A Prehistoric Monument Complex at Lochbrow, Dumfries and Galloway. The Antiquaries Journal 97: 27-48.
• Smith, D., Jenkins, M., Goodchild, H. (2017) Elizabeth Castle, Jersey. Archaeological Fieldwork Pilot, August 2017. University of York Report No. UOY17001.
• Goodchild, H., Holm, N. and Sindbæk, S. (2017) “Borgring. The Discovery of a Viking Age Ring Fortress”. Antiquity 91(358), 1027-1042. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2017.118

2016

• Goodchild, H., Graves, D. and Millican, K. (2016). Lochbrow. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland.
• SIAVH Project (2016) The Knock Vitrified Hillfort, N. Ayrshire: Site survey and archaeological excavation of the southern ramparts.
• Gaffney, C., Gaffney, V., Neubauer, W., Ch’ng, E., Goodchild, H., Murgatroyd, P., Sears, G., Kirigin, B., Milosevič, A., White, R. (2016) “Cityscapes without figures: geophysics, computing and the future of urban studies” in F, Boschi (ed.) Looking to the Future, Caring for the Past. Preventive Archaeology in Theory and Practice. Proceedings of the 2013-2014 Erasmus IP Summer Schools in Preventive Archaeology: Evaluating sites and landscapes. Methods and techniques for evaluating the archaeological value. Bononia University Press. P191-214

2015

• McClain, A.N., Ashby, S. & Goodchild, H. (2015), Resistance survey at Torpel Manor Field, July 2014. Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record.
• Goodchild, H., McClain, A., Ashby, S. (2015) Resistance Survey (Phase II) at Torpel Manor Field, July 2015. Unpublished report lodged with City of Peterborough HER and Historic England

2014

• Hofreiter, M., Paijmans, J. L. A., Goodchild, H., Speller, C. F., Barlow, A., Fortes, G. G., Thomas, J. A., Ludwig, A. and Collins, M. J. (2014), "The future of ancient DNA: Technical advances and conceptual shifts". Bioessays. doi: 10.1002/bies.201400160
• H. Brown, H. Goodchild & S. Sindbaek (2014) "Making Place for a Viking Fortress. An Archaeological and geophysical reassessment of Aggersborg, Denmark". Internet Archaeology 36.
• H. Goodchild, A. McClain and S. Ashby (2014) "Resistance Survey at Torpel Manor Field, July 2014". Unpublished Fieldwork Report.

2013

• Gaffney, V.L., Sears, G., Gaffney, C., Schmidt, A., Goodchild, H., Lobb, M., Sparrow, T., Tomcik, D., Kirigin, B.,Milosević, A., Barbarić, V. (2013) “Visualising space and movement; a multidisciplinary approach to the Palace of Diocletian, Split”. in Ch’ng, E., Gaffney, G. and Chapman, H. (eds.) Visual Heritage in the Digital Age. Springer Series on Cultural Computing.

• Z. Kokalj, P. Pehani, H. Goodchild, V. Gaffney and K. Ostir (2013) “Crossing Borders: A Multi-Layer GIS Mapping Framework for The Cultural Management of the Mundo Maya Region” in Ch’ng, E., Gaffney, G. and Chapman, H. (eds.) Visual Heritage in the Digital Age. Springer.
• Goodchild, H. (2013) “Agriculture and the Environment of Republican Italy” in J.D. Evans (ed.) Companion to Roman Republican Archaeology. Chichester/Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Goodchild, H. (2013) “GIS Models of Roman Agricultural Production” in A.K. Bowman and A.I. Wilson (eds.) Oxford Studies on the Roman Economy Volume 3: The Roman Agricultural Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• H. Goodchild, H. Saul, A. McClain and S. Ashby (2013) "Gradiometry Survey at Torpel Manor Field, August 2013". Unpublished Fieldwork Report.
• H. Goodchild, A. Oswald and A. Masinton (2013) "Malton Priory: Earthwork and Geophysical Survey". Unpublished Fieldwork report.

2012

• Sears, G., Gaffney, V., Gaffney, C., Cuttler, R., Goodchild, H. and Kane, S. (2012) “Deciphering ‘lost’ urban landscapes at Cyrene” in N. Christie and A. Augenti (eds.) Vrbes Extinctae: Archaeologies of Abandoned Classical Towns. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. Pp 177-206.

2011

• Goodchild, H., Graves, D. and Millican, K. (2011). “Lochbrow”. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, 12, 59.
• H. Goodchild, H. Brown, S. Sindbaek (2011) Geophysical Survey at Aggersborg Circular Fortress, Denmark, April 2011. Unpublished Fieldwork Report.

2010

• Goodchild, H. and Witcher, R. (2010) “Modelling the Agricultural Landscapes of Republican Italy” in J. Carlsen and E. Lo Cascio (eds.) Agricoltura e Scambi nell’Italia tardo repubblicana. Bari: Edipuglia. PP187-220.

2009

• Devillers, R. and Goodchild, H. (2009) Spatial Data Quality. From Process to Decisions. London: CRC Press.
• Goodchild, H. (2009) “The Productive Potential of the Middle Tiber Valley”, in F. Coarelli and H. Patterson (eds.) Mercator Placidissimus. The Tiber Valley in Antiquity. New Research in the Upper and Middle Valley. Rome: Quasar.
• Richard Cuttler, Chris Gaffney, Vince Gaffney, Helen Goodchild, Andy Howard et Gareth Sears, "Changing perspectives on the city of Cyrene, Libya: Remote sensing and the management of the buried archaeological resource", ArcheoSciences, 33 (suppl.) | 2009, 65-67.

2007

• Gaffney V. and White R., with H. Goodchild (2007) Wroxeter, the Cornovii, and the Urban Process. Final Report on the Wroxeter Hinterland Project 1994-1997 Vol. 1: Researching the Hinterland. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series 68. Portsmouth, RI: JRA.
• Gaffney, V. with H. Goodchild and T. Maguire (2007) “Chapter Seven. Integrating the Evidence” in Gaffney V., White R., with Goodchild, H. (Eds.) Wroxeter, the Cornovii, and the Urban Process. Final Report on the Wroxeter Hinterland Project 1994-1997 Vol. 1: Researching the Hinterland. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series 68. Portsmouth, RI: JRA.
• Cuttler, R., Gaffney, C., Gaffney, V., Goodchild, H., and Sears, G. (2007). Mapping the City, Sustaining the Environment. A Programme of 3D Scanning, Geophysical Survey and Geomorphological Assessment at the World Heritage Site of Cyrene. Cyrene Archaeological Project Report 2007.
• Gaffney, C., Goodchild, H., and Harrison, S. (2007). Geophysical and Topographical Survey of the Theatre at Ancient Sparta. Birmingham Archaeology Report PN. 1643.
• Gaffney, V., Goodchild, H., Harlow, M. (2007). “Using the Access Grid in Higher Education: Birmingham University” in J.T. von Hoffman, E. Wiziecki, and L. Arns (eds.) Access Grid in Collaborative Education: Case Studies. Engaging People in Cyberinfrastructure (EPIC). http://www.accessgrid.org/node/477.

2006

• Croxford, B., Goodchild, H., Lucas, J. and Ray, N. (eds.) (2006) TRAC 2005. Proceedings of the 15th Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference. Oxford: Oxbow.

• Goodchild, H. (2006) “Modelling Roman demography and urban dependency in central Italy” in B. Croxford, H. Goodchild, J. Lucas and N. Ray (eds.) TRAC 2005. Proceedings of the 15th Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference. Oxford: Oxbow.
• Cuttler, R., Gaffney, V., Goodchild, H., Rossiter, J. and Sears, G. (2006). Cyrene Archaeological Project. Field Survey, GIS and Assessment. Birmingham Archaeology Report PN.1320.
• Goodchild, H., Gaffney, V., Harlow, M. (2006) Establishing Collaborative Postgraduate Research Programmes and Integrated Teaching Agendas Using The Access Grid. White Paper for the Virtual Institute for the Access Grid in Education.
• Goodchild, H. (ed.) (2006/2007) Rosetta 1/2 http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk .
• Goodchild, H. (2006) “Review of Butterworth and Laurence 2005 ‘Pompeii: The Living City’”. Rosetta 1  http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/Issue_01/goodchild.htm

2005

• Kokalj, Ž., Pehani, P., Podobnikar, T., Goodchild, H., Gaffney, V., Oštir, K. (2005) “A GIS mapping framework for the cultural site/route management of the Mundo Maya sustainable tourism program”. In J. Hřeb’ček and J. Ráček (eds.) Networking Environmental Information. EnviroInfo Brno 2005. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference Informatics for Environmental Protection, September 7-9 2005. Brno, Czech Republic. Brno: Masarykova Universita.
• Goodchild, H. (2005) “Modelling Agricultural Production: a methodology for predicting land use and populations”, in J.F. Haldon (ed.) General issues in the study of Medieval logistics. Sources, problems and methodologies. Leiden: Brill.

2000

• Barratt, G., Gaffney, V., Goodchild, H. and Wilkes, S. (2000). “Survey at Wroxeter using carrier phase, differential GPS surveying techniques.” in C. Gaffney and V. Gaffney (eds.) Archaeological Prospection special issue: Non-invasive Investigations at Wroxeter at the end of the Twentieth Century Vol. 7(2): pp. 133-143.