Dr Peter Guest 

The archaeology of Roman Britain is my main area of research and I am particularly interested in the role and use of Roman coinage, the impact of Roman ideas and practices on native British society, and the cultural changes that occurred at the end of the Roman period.

Current research projects include:

• Coins from the Hoxne Treasure (catalogue and analysis of the 15,000 late Roman gold and silver coins).



• Iron Age and Roman Coins from Wales (database of over 50,000 ancient coins from Wales)



• The fortress at Caerleon and its environs



• Forum-basilica at Caerwent (post-excavation analysis and publication of the 1986-1995 excavations)



• Iron Age and Roman Landscapes in the Marches (survey and excavation of crop mark sites near Lyonshall in Herefordshire)



• Roman fort at Miskin (survey and excavation of the newly discovered fort near Llantrisant in South Wales)

My recent publications include:

• The Late Roman Gold and Silver Coins from the Hoxne Treasure. (British Museum Press, 2005).



• ‘Manning the Defences: The Development of Romano-British Urban Boundaries’, in M. Aldhouse-Green & P. Webster (eds), Artefacts and Archaeology: aspects of the Celtic and Roman World. (Cardiff, 2002): 76-89.



• 'The Roman and Byzantine Coins excavated at Nicopolis ad Istrum and Gradishte, Bulgaria', Numismatic Chronicle 159 (1999): 314-27.



• ‘The interpretation of coins: practice and theory', Proceedings of the IIIrd Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference held in Glasgow 1993: (Glasgow, 1999): 200-12.



• ‘Coin Hoards and the End of Roman Britain', in R. Bland & J. Orna-Ornstein (eds), Coin Hoards from Roman Britain Vol. X (London, 1997): 411-23.

Coin reports:

• ‘Trade, Commerce and the Community’, in: M. Dawson, Archaeology in the Bedford Region. Beds Archaeology Monog. 4 / BAR Brit. Series 373 (Oxford, 2004): 76-82



• ‘Coinage’, in: M. Dawson, Archaeology in the Bedford Region. Beds Archaeology Monog. 4 / BAR Brit. Series 373 (Oxford, 2004): 392-413.



• ‘The Coins’, in: N. Holbrook, ‘Turkdean Roman villa, Gloucestershire: archaeological investigations 1997-1998’, Britannia XXXV (2004): 56-8.



• ‘Coins’, in: C. Bateman, D. Enright and N. Oakey, ‘Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon Settlements to the rear of Sherborne House, Lechlade: excavations in 1997’, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 121 (2003): 64-5.



• ‘The Coins’, in: A. Thomas, N. Holbrook and C. Bateman, Later Prehistoric and Romano-British Burial and Settlement at Hucclecote, Gloucestershire. Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Report 2 (Bristol 2003): 44.



• ‘The Coins’, in: D. Enright and M. Watts, A Romano-British and Medieval Settlement Site at Stoke Road, Bishop’s Cleeve, Gloucestershire. Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Report 1 (Bristol 2002): 32-33.



• ‘Discussion of the Distribution of the Coins in and around the Town’, in N. Holbrook (ed), Cirencester: The Roman Town Defences, Public Buildings & Shops. Cirencester Excavations Vol. 5 (Cirencester 1998): 262-8.



• ‘The Bishops Cannings hoard’, in R. Bland & J. Orna-Ornstein (eds), Coin Hoards from Roman Britain Vol. X (London 1997): 426-62.



• Coin report in ‘The Roman and Early Saxon settlement at Wantage, Oxfordshire - Excavations at Mill Street 1993-1994’, Oxoniensa LXI (1997): 129-33.

Teaching

HS2102 (single module) - Archaeology of the Greek and Roman World.

A module for first year undergraduates to introduce the archaeology of the Classical world. In eleven lectures we deal with the material culture of the Greek and Roman worlds, and how that evidence relates to life, society and culture. Themes include the rise of the Greek city-state, the role of the Roman army, religious worship, as well as the main features of religion, art and architecture in the Classical world.

HS2362 (double module) - An Introduction to Roman Britain.

This course is intended to introduce students to the historical and archaeological evidence for the Roman period in Britain, from Caesar’s expedition in 55 and 54 BC to the final abandonment of the island in c. 410. Historical sources provide a fascinating record of the key events and personalities that shaped the political development of Roman Britain, while the archaeological evidence is used to describe the transformation of the landscape and its people.

HS2391 (double module) - Coinage and Currency in Britain: c. 200 BC to AD 1300.

This module aims to study the appearance and development of coinage in Britain from the late Iron Age to the early Medieval periods. A strong practical element (including handling sessions at the National Museum and Gallery Cardiff) provides students with an understanding of how, when and why coinage in Britain changed. Topics and themes that will be studied in some detail include the functions of coins at different times in Britain's history, why coins were hoarded, and what excavated finds can tell us about how coins were used in the past.

HS4308 (double module) – Beyond the Grave: Death & Burial in the Roman World.

Death preoccupies every society and people's deep-rooted beliefs regarding their mortality are reflected in the rituals that surround the disposal of the dead. This module examines how the dead were treated in the Roman world and how perceptions of death and the afterlife changed from the first century BC to the fourth/fifth centuries AD. The historical and archaeological sources will be explored together and students should expect to acquaint themselves with the evidence from burials, cemeteries and tombstones as well as the work of contemporary writers.

I am currently supervising 3 PhD students:

• Nick Wells (The Circulation and Use of Roman Coins in fifth-century Britain: myth or reality?)



• Evgeni Paunov (From Hellenism to Romanisation: the numismatic evidence for Roman expansion and settlement along the Lower Danube)



• Jonathan Clark (Strategies for Province-Building under the Roman Empire: evidence for the consolidation and acculturation of newly conquered territories from the first century BC to the second century AD.)

Administrative responsibilities

I am Admissions Tutor for Archaeology & Conservation


External Contribution and Responsibilities

Honorary Research Fellow at the National Museums & Galleries of Wales
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Trustee of the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust

The Cardiff School of History & Archaeology
Cardiff University
Humanities Building
Colum Drive
Cardiff CF10 3EU
Wales, United Kingdom

Phone: +44 (0)29 2087 6538
Fax: +44 (0)29 2087 4929

E-mail: GuestP@cardiff.ac.uk