Born: 04.01.1950
I am an independent researcher and
Experimental Archaeologist. Over the last 25 years I have developed a
particular approach to discovering the practical aspects of the daily
life of prehistoric Europe. This approach is based on the theory that
the inherent skills and ingenuity of the prehistoric European is still
latent in the people of Europe today. The skills of surviving in the
northern European landscape have been forgotten because we no longer
have a use for them in our modern day society. During my researches over
the last 28 years. I have discovered that these skills are very easily
acquired particularly if one is not impeded by any training in the skill
to be researched. It has to be approached purely by logic. It is
essential though, I feel to not single out any particular skill, but to
attempt to do all the required jobs that a prehistoric settlement would
have to do, to survive. I have often discovered that it is the
by-product of one activity that becomes the vital ingredient of the
next. Nothing would have been wasted in a prehistoric settlement it is
this holistic approach that has been the basis of my researches and the
pivot of many of my discoveries.
I am Director of the Saveock Water
Archaeology. An archaeological research centre and Field school with its
own multi-period excavation.
I am the Director and founder of the
Cornwall Celtic Village which is a reconstructed Bronze Age / Iron Age
settlement on my land in Cornwall.
I served a three-year term of office
on the Council for British Archaeology’s National Education Committee
and was the secretary of the CBA for the south west region also for
three years.
I work for English Heritage
demonstrating Bronze Age technology, most recently at Stonehenge.
I have lectured throughout Europe on
my field, mainly in Italy, Germany, Poland and Lithuania.
I was commissioned to make the Grass
cloak and shoes for the ‘Ice Man’ museum in Bolzano northern Italy
and also made the exhibits for Expo 2000 in Hamburg for the museum.
I
was commissioned by the Orkney Council to make the first replica of
Britain’s oldest textile garment ‘The Orkney Hood’ which is now
exhibited on the island and a full paper on this research is on the
website.
I have read a paper at the European
Association of Archaeologists conference for the last five years. I was
asked to write a full paper on ‘Food and Drink in European Prehistory
for the Journal in April 2000, as a consequence of a paper I read in
Ravenna on the same subject in 1997.
I have a full paper published in the
Journal Cornish Archaeology on ‘Courtyard House Construction’. I
also have three other papers published in various academic journals in
Europe.
I wrote an eight-page article for
the glossy American magazine Discovering Archaeology that was sold
worldwide by subscription and on the newsstands throughout America.
I have been the consultant
archaeologist on various reconstruction projects in Italy and Eastern
Europe and am at present the Archaeological Consultant to the
I also wrote ‘Prehistoric
Cooking’ published by Tempus as a spin off from my academic paper on
Food and Drink for the EAA Journal.
I did a Woman’s Hour interview
about the book and went to broadcasting house to do a Food Programme for
Radio 4 on aspects of prehistoric cooking.
I have been in various television programmes in Britain and Europe. I have demonstrated ancient cooking on national Polish and German television news programmes.
I did a piece on ancient beer for Chris Denims ‘The Local’ series.
I presented a programme ‘The Lost Land of Lyonaise’ for Carlton
I have been in various news programmes in Britain demonstrating cooking techniques.
I am the Time Team food historian
and have demonstrated prehistoric cooking in several programmes over the past five years
I made a reconstruction of an Upper
Palaeolithic house and talked about the artefacts of the period for the
‘Mysteries in the Landscape’ programme for BBC 2 October 2003
I have been a consultant and adviser
for a programme for BBC 2 on ‘Otzi’, which was televised in February 2005.
I have written an adventure novel set in the Mesolithic (2006) and am currently writing the next book in the trilogy. The novel is presently available as an e-book. I have not got as yet acquired a publisher for the novel, but a film producer is looking at it with a view to making a movie.