Profile

I'm an archaeologist and writer based in the West of Scotland. I work in commercial archaeology, and I suppose I'm something of a Renaissance Woman, or a Jill of All Trades, depending on your point of view. My main specialism is Bronze Age metalwork: I also study clay tobacco pipes, and enjoy finds and artefact illustration work. On the practical side, I do a fair bit of standing building survey, and sometimes, just sometimes, I get muddy.

This is a personal blog, but often my work and my interests overlap. I'm something of an archaeological dilettante - I love the Past in all its many varied forms, from the monuments and artefacts of Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain or Classical Greece, all the way through to 19th and sometimes even 20th century architecture. I spend much of my life learning more about our forebears: I read books, I visit sites and monuments, I take photographs.

I do have other hobbies: I write historical and/or speculative fiction, though once again, this is usually inspired by the Past. I also enjoy gardening, walking, cycling and horse-riding.

My journal name is inspired by Sir Thomas Browne's 1658 essay on a Roman Urn Burial:

'Nature hath furnished one part of the earth, and man another. The treasures of time lie high, in urns, coins and monuments, scarce below the roots of some vegetables. Time hath endless rarities, and shows of all varieties, which reveals old things in heaven, makes new discoveries in earth, and even earth itself a discovery.'