Timothy Darvill

Tim is a prehistorian with a strong international public profile. He leads research projects and publishes widely on the archaeology of early farming communities in northwest Europe and on archaeological resource management. He has undertaken pioneering research into the history and development of Stonehenge and other related Neolithic monuments. His research takes him to many parts of Europe, and he has directed projects in Germany, Russia, Greece, Malta, England, Wales, and the Isle of Man in order to answer key questions: Why were ceremonial monuments first constructed? What role did material culture such as pottery and stone play in the lives of Neolithic communities? And what symbolic meanings did particular materials have for those who selected and used them? The central issue here is how people understood, structured, and occupied the landscapes they created for themselves. It is an issue that also has contemporary relevance and informs his research into the role of the past in shaping places and people’s lives today...more

Research

My research focuses on two main themes. First, is the Neolithic of northwest Europe, the era of the first farmers between 5000 and 2000 BC, and in particular the early development, use, and meaning of monumental architecture such as the long barrows, enclosures and stone temples that these communities built. Second, is archaeological resource management, especially the role of the tangible and intangible heritage as sources of social capital, cultural enrichment, personal well-being, and the social construction of knowledge.

Both themes are explored through a series of connected projects that include collaborations with other research institutions at home and abroad, partnerships with professional and governmental bodies, and teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Current Projects on the Neolithic of northwest Europe include: Monumentality within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, Wiltshire, UK; Strumble-Preseli Ancient Communities and Environment Study, Pembrokeshire, UK; Wiggold Prehistoric Landscapes Project, Gloucestershire, UK; Billown Neolithic Landscape Project, Isle of Man; Malta Temples Landscape Project, Malta; and First Monuments and Social Differentiation, Mecklenburg, Germany.

Current projects in archaeological resource management include: Archaeological Investigations Project, England; Dynamic modelling of archaeological deposits and their spatial and intellectual representation;

Conservation and management of rock-art sites in England; Heritage and well-being; and understanding the Newark Earthworks, Ohio, USA.

Favourites

Darvill, T., 2014. Rock and soul: humanizing heritage, memorializing music and producing places. World Archaeology, 46 (3), 462-476.

Darvill, T., Marshall, P., Parker Pearson, M. and Wainwright, G., 2012. Stonehenge remodelled. Antiquity, 86 (334), 1021-1040.

Darvill, T., 2011. Excavations at a Neolithic Enclosure on The Peak, near Birdlip, Gloucestershire. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (London), 77, 139-204.

Open-Air Rock-Art Conservation and Management: State of the art and future perspectives. New York & Abingdon: Routledge.

Darvill, T., 2010. Prehistoric Britain.. London: Routledge.

Darvill, T., 2006. Stonehenge. The biography of a landscape. Stroud: History Press.

Darvill, T., 2016. Roads to Stonehenge: A prehistoric healing centre and pilgrimage site in southern Britain. In: Ranft, A. and Schenkluhn, W., eds. Kulturstraßen als Konzept. 20 Jahre Straße der Romani. Regensburg: Schell & Steiner, 155-166.

Darvill, T., 2016. Beyond Newark: prehistoric ceremonial centres and their cosmologies. In: Jones, L. and Shiels, R.D., eds. The Newark Earthworks. Enduring monuments, contested meanings. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 129-150.

Darvill, T., 2013. Fifty shades of red: The basic colour category red in the monuments and material culture of Neolithic and Bronze Age communities in Atlantic Northwest Europe. In: Meller, H., Wunderlich, C.-H. and Knoll, F., eds. Rot – Die Archäologie bekennt Farbe. 5 Mitteldeutscher Archäologentag vom 04 bis 06 Oktober 2012 in Halle (Salle). Halle (Saale): Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale), 229-241.

Darvill, T., 2013. Dark sides of the moon: life, death, ritual and regional identity in Britain c. 1600 BC. In: Meller, H., Bertemes, F., Bork, H.-R. and Risch, R., eds. 1600 – Kultureller Umbruch im Schatten des Thera-Ausbruchs? 4 Mitteldeutscher Archäologentag vom 14 bis 16 Oktober 2011 in Halle (Salle). Halle (Saale): Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle, 577-593.