John Pearce

After a first degree in Archaeology and Anthropology (Cambridge) and MA in Roman archaeology (Durham) my doctoral thesis Roman examined provincial burial practice (Durham). I worked at Oxford as research assistant on the Vindolanda writing tablets project and online editions of ancient documents before coming to King’s in 2003.

Research interests:

Archaeology of the Roman Empire, especially Rome's north-west provinces and Roman Italy
Archaeology of death and burial
Archaeology of documents and literacy
Archaeology of Roman and pre-Roman landscapes
Roman small finds; visual culture and Roman bronzes
My research interests lie in Roman archaeology, especially the provinces of north-western Europe and Italy. I am especially interested in funerary evidence as a source for understanding Roman society, including commemorative memorials, burial rituals and the remains of the dead themselves. From 2002-2007 I co-directed a survey project in the Marche region of Italy, which explored the urbanisation process in an upland landscape, characterised by spectacular Iron Age tombs and a dense network of Roman towns. Having previously worked as a post-doctoral research assistant on the Vindolanda tablets website I maintain an interest in Roman frontiers and the archaeology of documents. I have a developing research interest in Roman ‘small finds’, i.e. small objects such as items of adornment, utensils etc., in particular their figural decoration as an understudied aspect of Roman visual culture