Professor John Hines
Professor of Archaeology
School of History, Archaeology and Religion
- hines@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 4736
- Fax:
- +44 (0)29 2087 4949
- 4.42, John Percival Building
Research interests
Specialist in the archaeology, literature and languages of medieval northern Europe. Principal individual research work is devoted to the integrated ('interdisciplinary') study of archaeology, the history of language, and literature.
Research projects
RAF Lakenheath Anglo-Saxon cemeteries
RuneS: Runic Literacy in Old English and Old Frisian
Impact and engagement
Cosmeston Archaeology Project
Education and qualifications
MA, DPhil (Oxon) 1983
Career overview
1983-97 Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Reader in School of English Studies, Cardiff University (1983-87 Department of English, University College, Cardiff).
1997- Reader and Professor in School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University
Teaching profile
(Current only) Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and High and Late Medieval Archaeology; historical documents and texts in medieval Latin, Old English, and Old Norse
Notable achievements
2002–4 President of the Viking Society of Northern Research (regular member of Council of the society since 1988).
Honours and awards
2002–4 British Academy Research Readership (2002–3 Visiting Fellow, Keble College, Oxford
2003–4 Visiting Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford)
Professional memberships
2011– Trustee of the Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature
2012– Elected UK representative on the Koordinierender Ausschuß of the Internationales Sachsensymposion
1997–2006 Editor, Medieval Archaeology
1998– General editor, Anglo-Saxon Studies. Monograph series, Boydell & Brewer.
2000– Consultant editor for Archaeology, Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages.
2005– Co-editor, Viking and Medieval Scandinavia; Consultant editor for the periodicals Nytt om Runer, Archaeologia Baltica, Archaeologia Islandica and Medieval Clothing and Textiles.
1993 Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
2001– Appointed member of the council of the International Viking Congress
2003–7 Elected member of the advisory board of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists
Speaking engagements
1997 O'Donnell Lecturer, University of Wales
1998 Quiggin Lecturer, University of Cambridge
2014 Toller Lecturer, University of Manchester
2019
- Hines, J. 2019. Two personal names in recently found Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions: Sedgeford (Norfolk) and Elsted (West Sussex). Anglia 137(2), pp. 278-302. (10.1515/ang-2019-0025)
- Hines, J. 2019. But men seyn, “What may ever laste?” Chaucer’s House of Fame as a medieval museum. In: Johnston, A. and Hartmann, J. eds. Material remains: Reading the past through archaeological objects in Medieval and early modern British literature. Columbus, Ohio: University of Ohio Press
- Hines, J. 2019. Practical Runic Literacy in the Late Anglo-Saxon Period: Inscriptions on lead sheet. In: Lenker, U. and Kornexl, L. eds. Anglo-Saxon Micro-texts. Berlin: De Gruyter
- Hines, J. and Julian-Jones, M. 2019. Below Malvern: MS Digby 86, the Grimhills, and the Underhills in their regional and social context. In: Fein, S. ed. Essays on Bodleian Library MS Digby 86. Cambridge: D S Brewer
2018
- Hines, J. 2018. The Anglo-Frisian question. In: Hines, J. and IJssennagger, N. eds. Frisians and their North Sea Neighbours: From the Fifth Century to the Viking Age. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, pp. 25-42.
- Hines, J. 2018. The Anglo-Saxon settlement at Catholme, Staffordshire: a re-assessment of the chronological evidence and possible re-interpretation. Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 21, pp. 47-59.
2017
- Hines, J. 2017. A glimpse of the heathen Norse in Lincolnshire. In: Hawkes, J. and Cambridge, E. eds. Crossing boundaries: Interdisciplinary approaches to the art, material culture, language and literature of the Early Medieval World. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 118-126.
- Hines, J. 2017. Matters of material and social significance: The Staffordshire hoard in its archaeological context. In: The Staffordshire Hoard: An Anglo-Saxon Treasure. Society of Antiquaries of London
2016
- Hines, J. A. and Forward, A. 2016. Cosmeston, South Wales: conquest, colonisation and material culture change. In: Klápšte, J. ed. Agrarian Technology in the Medieval Landscape. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 125-141.
2015
- Hines, J. A. 2015. The ownership of medieval literature: reading medieval literature in its historical context. In: Fannon, B. . E. ed. Medieval English Literature. New Casebooks Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan, pp. 13-29.
- Hines, J. A. 2015. The Benedicite canticle in Old English verse: an early runic witness from southern Lincolnshire. Anglia -Tubingen- Zeitschrift fur Englische Philologie- 133(2), pp. 257-277. (10.1515/ang-2015-0023)
- Hines, J. A. 2015. Burial and religion in pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon England. In: Brieske, V. and Ruhmann, C. eds. Dying Gods: Religious Beliefs in Northern and Eastern Europe in the time of Christianisation. Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung Vol. 5. Hannover: Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum, pp. 63-71.
2014
- Hines, J. A. 2014. From *AnleifR to Havelok: The English and the Irish Sea. In: Sigurðsson, J. V. and Bolton, T. eds. Celtic-Norse Relationships in the Irish Sea in the Middle Ages 800-1200. Leiden: Brill, pp. 187-214.
- Hines, J. A. 2014. På terskelen til historisk tid: runesteinene fra Tu og Klepp. In: Kristoffersen, E. S. ed. Et Akropolis på Jæren? Tinghaugplatået gjennom Jernalderen. AmS-Varia Vol. 55. Stavanger: Stavanger Universitet, pp. 117-125.
- Hines, J. A. 2014. The hunting of the sceatt. In: Abramson, T. ed. Sifting the Evidence. Studies in Early Medieval Coinage Vol. 3. London: Seaby, pp. 7-17.
2013
- Hines, J. A. 2013. Review Article: The final publication of the series 'On the Iconology of the Gold Bracteates' and Karl Hauck's legacy. Medieval Archaeology 57(1), pp. 251-261. (10.1179/0076609713Z.00000000024)
- Hines, J. A. 2013. Social structures and social change in seventh-century England: the law codes and complementary sources. Historical Research 86(233), pp. 394-407. (10.1111/1468-2281.12002)
- Hines, J. A.et al. Hines, J. A. and Bayliss, A. L. eds. 2013. Anglo-Saxon graves and grave goods of the Sixth and Seventh Centuries AD: A chronological framework. SMA Monograph Vol. 33. Leeds: Society for Medieval Archaeology.
2011
- Hines, J. A. 2011. New light on literacy in eighth-century East Anglia: a runic inscription from Baconsthorpe, Norfolk. Anglia - Zeitschrift für englische Philologie 129(3-4), pp. 281-296. (10.1515/angl.2011.039)
- Hines, J. A. 2011. Literary sources and archaeology. In: Hamerow, H., Hinton, D. and Crawford, S. eds. The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 968-985.
- Hines, J. A. 2011. No place like home? The Anglo-Saxon social landscape from within and without. In: Sauer, H., Story, J. and Waxenberger, G. eds. Anglo Saxon England and the Continent. Essays in Anglo-Saxon Studies Vol. 3. Tempe, AZ: ACMRS (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies), pp. 21-40.
2010
- Hines, J. A. 2010. Units of account in gold and silver in Seventh-Century England: scillingas, sceattas and pæningas. Antiquaries 90, pp. 153-173. (10.1017/S0003581510000089)
2008
- Hines, J. A. 2008. Changes and exchanges in Bede's and Cædmon's world. In: Frantzen, A. and Hines, J. A. eds. Cædmon's Hymn and material culture in the world of Bede. Morganton, West Virginia: University of West Virginia Press, pp. 191-220.
- Hines, J. A. 2008. Changes and exchanges in Bede's and Caedmon's World. In: Frantzen, A. J. and Hines, J. A. eds. Caedmon's Hymn and Material Culture in the World of Bede:Six Essays. Medieval European studies Vol. 10. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, pp. 191-220.
- Hines, J. A. 2008. Beowulf and archaeology - revisited. In: Karkov, C. E. and Damico, H. eds. Aedificia Nova: studies in honor of Rosemary J. Cramp. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, pp. 89-105.
2007
- Sharples, N. M. 2007. A find of Ringerike art from Bornais in the Outer Hebrides. In: Hines, J., Lane, A. and Redknap, M. eds. Land, Sea and Home. Society for Medieval Archaeology Monographs Vol. 20. Leeds: Maney, pp. 255-272.
2004
- Hines, J. A. 2004. Voices in the past: English literature and archaeology. Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer.
2003
- Hines, J. A. 2003. Society, community, and identity. In: Charles-Edwards, T. ed. After Rome. Short Oxford History of the British Isles Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 61-102.
2002
- Hines, J. A. 2002. Lies, damned lies, and a curriculum vitae: reflections on statistics and the populations of Early Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemeteries. In: Lucy, S. and Reynolds, A. eds. Burial in Early Medieval England and Wales. Society for Medieval Archaeology monograph Vol. 17. Maney Publishing for the Society for Medieval Archaeology, pp. 88-102.
2001
- Hines, J. A. 2001. Demography, ethnography and archaeolinguistic evidence: a study of Celtic and Germanic from prehistory into the early historical period. In: Terrell, J. E. ed. Archaeology, Language, and History: Essays on Culture and Ethnicity. Scientific Archaeology for the Third Millennium Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp. 153-172.
Primary responsibility for the following undergraduate modules.
Undergraduate
- Early Anglo-Saxon England - 10 credits (HS2307)
- Middle and Later Saxon England - 10 credits (HS2309)
- Viking Age Scandinavia - 10 credits (HS2380)
Shared responsibility for:
- Post Roman and Medieval Britain - 10 credits (HS2104)
- Great Discoveries in Archaeology - 10 credits (HS2117)
- Medieval Archaeology 1066-1539 - 20 Credits (HS2382)
Postgraduate
Primary responsibility for the following masters module:
Shared responsibility for the following masters module:
Projects
Anglo-Saxon England c.580–720: The Chronological Basis
A programme of collaborative research comprising several complemetary techniques. These review the artefact typology and grave assemblages from what has been known as the 'Final Phase' of Anglo-Saxon furnished burial; undertake a seriation of finds using correspondence analysis; undertake high-precision radiocarbon dating of selected samples; Bayesian statistics are then used to refine the dates and evaluate the chronological modelling.
The project aims, methodologically, to test and develop the scope for archaeological dating using an integrated suite of techniques, each of which has a high degree of sophistication and precision of its own; to improve the basis for radiocarbon dating by re-calibrating the master curve for the period A.D 390-810; to yield a finer archaeological dating of fines from a key period of Anglo-Saxon history, in which the major kingdoms were established, and the conversion to Christianity took place.
This project is funded by English Heritage and its value is £350,000.
The project work began in 1998 and was completed with publication of the final report in 2013.
RAF Lakenheath Anglo-Saxon cemeteries
This project is a carefully tailored programme of post-excavation analysis of the wealth of evidence excavated in three Early Anglo-Saxon grave fields within the boundaries of RAF Lakenheath, Eriswell parish, Suffolk, in the late 1990s. The project is managed by the Suffolk Archaeology Service for the Ministry of Defence Estates and John Hines serves as specialist Anglo-Saxon archaeologist on the Project Coordination team of four. Besides shared responsibility for the overall strategy and direction of the project, this involves both undertaking and supervising various aspects of specialist research in Cardiff's Department of Archaeology. The three distinct burial grounds at Eriswell were in contemporary use, and the techniques of artefact typology, seriation of grave-assemblages, and high-precision radiocarbon dating, are targeted predominantly at the elucidation of the chronological, cultural and social comparison of these separate groups. Exploratory analysis will assess how far new techniques of ancient DNA analysis, together with strontium and oxygen isotope analysis, may add to our insights. These data can also be compared with results from earlier, Roman-period, and later Anglo-Saxon burials in the near vicinity. Particular emphasis has been paid in the post-excavation research design to a comprehensive and coordinated investigation of the use of material resources by the communities burying at Eriswell, and this is being realised though advanced laboratory analysis and postgraduate research at Cardiff and elsewhere.
RuneS: Runic Literacy in Old English and Old Frisian
RuneS is the short title of the project Runische Schriftlichkeit in den germanischen Sprachen (Runic Literacy in the Germanic Languages), a long-term, 16-year project fundedby the Union of German Academies of Sciences and bases in the Academy of Sciences of Göttingen. Three coordinated research groups are working respectively on Old English plus Old Frisian, Old High German, and Old Norse inscriptions, and their regional predecessors. The Old English/Old Frisian group is centred in the Institutes for English Philology of the Universities of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Munich. The common research topics for all of the groups are (1) the precise explication of the sound-systems of the spoken languages represented and their relationship with the graphic system of the runic script, and (2) the range of texts committed to runic writing and their impications for the social and cultural role of runic literacy. The Old English and Frisian group aims to produce a free-access web-based corpus of the Old English and Old Frisian inscriptions, a body of material that in England is growing steadily in size at present, as a result of archaeological discoveries. John Hines a core member of this team both as a philological specialist in the languages and script, and as the project archaeologist. An important initial step has been the coordination of the work of this project with the recording role of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. An international conference co-sponsored by the School of History, Archaeology & Religion, Cardiff University and the Frisian Academy will take place in Leeuwarden in June 2014.