Michael Legge
Research student, Archaeology, School of History, Archaeology and Religion
Overview
I am a fourth year Archaeology Ph.D. student, part of the 2016 SWW DTP cohort funded by the AHRC. I have varied research interests including funerary and mortuary archaeology, archaeological "body modification", European and world Prehistory, archaeological illustration and more.
I completed my BA hons here at Cardiff in 2014, and my MA in 2015, and have worked in commercial archaeology on sites across the UK, as well as academic and rescue excavations including the recent Pembrokeshire Iron Age chariot burial, and the Monknash cliff cemetery.
Research
Research interests
- Funerary and mortuary archaeology
- Forensics and osteoarchaeology
- Human evolution
- Archaeological illustration
- 'Atypical' or 'deviant' burial
- Body modification (e.g. tattooing) in archaeology
- European and world Prehistory
Thesis
The lost, the buried, the scattered and the curated: A multidisciplinary approach to the uncremated dead in the Iron Age of eastern England
My thesis is a large-scale study of the non-cremated dead in the Iron Age of eastern England. I have sought out regional patterns in funerary and mortuary processes, and explored the methods and agency behind the varied post-mortem treatments conducted during the period. The thesis combines archaeological theory, osteology and taphonomic analysis of human remains from well over 100 sites in eight counties, to answer research questions regarding, among other things:
- Excarnation and disarticulation practices
- Inhumation traditions and rules
- The body as 'object'
- Individual and communal identity in death
I am supervised by Prof. Jacqui Mulville (Cardiff) and Dr. Catriona McKenzie (Exeter)
Funding source
SWW DTP (AHRC) 2016-2019
