Explore our research

Chickens’ diffusion to the west – through India, the Near East, Mediterranean and northern Europe – has been almost completely neglected in academic research. But the outcomes from this significant research project show just how important understanding the subject is.

The Neolithic in southwest Asia (c 11,700-7800 cal BP) is an important period in human history which saw the advent of sedentism, agriculture, and ultimately, the rise of complex societies...

Extensive geophysical surveys of Avebury World Heritage Site address big academically and societally relevant questions, such as the social use of space at different times in the past.

Investigating the origin and development of large-scale monuments, and the emergence of early complex societies, on the north European Plain, to examine the relations between monumental building and social structures after the emergence of sedentism at around 4100 BC.

Woolcombe is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. During the 1960s the Austin family, then owners of Woolcombe Farm, became interested in the archaeological resource of their home and carried out some limited excavations.

The Archaeological Investigations Project (AIP), funded by English Heritage, systematically collected information about the nature and outcomes of more than 80,000 archaeological projects undertaken between 1990 and 2010.

Building on an excavation and insights from the early 1970s, discover how BU academics and undergraduate students have worked together to discover more about a possible Roman fortlet in Dorset.

This innovative programme of archaeological science will characterise stone and ceramic building materials and explore the contexts within which they were produced.

Discover how BU’s work, alongside partner institutions, is helping to improve the understanding of computational intelligence for multiple audiences – and garnering tens of thousands of online views in the process.

Find out how BU revived a post-excavation project to report findings from fieldwork and excavation activities that were completed more than 30 years ago.

The team are reasearching digital addiction (DA) as an emergent research area and are exploring the problematic usage of digital media. They particularly focus on aiding people to adjust their usage style through the use of digital technology itself.

BU is a partner in the Human Henge project co-ordinated by the Restoration Trust and also involving Richmond Fellowship, English Heritage, and The National Trust. Using natural and constructed landscapes to promote health and well-being has a long and distinguished history stretching back to the pilgrimages of medieval times.

The Hybrid Digital Physical Space research cluster is developing a deeper understanding of human behaviour and emerging technologies in hybrid spaces. 

Discover how BU is working in partnership with Coda Music Centre and SEN schools to make music more accessible to all children.

Extensive data analysis based on fieldwork conducted between 1993 and 2009 has enabled BU to report on a fascinating ceremonial and funereal landscape in east Dorset.

Survey and excavation in the UNESCO World Heritage landscape of Avebury, to discover more about the people that inhabited it and the ways they lived. 

Investigating the development, social context, and landscape-setting of Malta’s Neolithic temples by focusing on the site of Skorba and its surroundings.

Archaeological evidence from sites in and around Novgorod, Russia, is being used to map nearby forests and document their exploitation.

The MINE team are combining cognitive neuroscience, clinical and social psychology with virtual reality (VR) to develop new insights into understanding and changing people's behaviour.

The Neolithic Flint Mines project was established in order to fully record and widely disseminate the results of the early 20th century investigations for the first time.

Background

In 1912, the discovery of human skull fragments, an ape-like jaw and crudely worked flints close to the quiet Sussex village of Piltdown was hailed by the world’s press as the most sensational archaeological find ever, the ‘missing link’ in the ‘chain’ of human evolution.

‘REGNVM: the First Kingdom’ is an ongoing project using archaeological and historical evidence to reassess the nature of cultural change across central south eastern Britain from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD, examining in particular the nature of trade, globalisatio

Exploring ways to improve mental well-being with therapeutic activities in ancient landscapes

New modelling technology is helping preserve historic tanks, and other unique vehicles and structures, for generations to come.

The Durotriges Project is an intensive, multi-disciplinary investigation into the prehistoric and Roman societies of central south western Britain, conducted by staff and students of the Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science of Bournemouth University working in co-operation with students from other universities, schools, sixth form colleges and team of dedicated local volunteers.

The Wessex Portal and the Dorset Coast Digital Archive aims at promoting a better understanding of the unique natural environment and heritage assets.

The Imperial Image Database was set up in 2010 with the aim of generating three-dimensional (3D) scans of Roman portraiture recovered from different contexts across southern Britain.

Funded by the first Egyptological ERC Advanced Grant, the Hyksos Enigma Project sees BU working with researchers all over Europe, under the direction of renowned Egyptologist Manfred Bietak and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Virtual Avebury is an AHRC/EPSRC funded project under the 2017 Immersive Partnerships call.

The Vlochos Archaeological Project (VLAP) is a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa and the Swedish Institute at Athens, with participating archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg and Bournemouth University, examining the extensive remains of a Classical-Hellenistic urban site at Vlochós in the municipality of Palamás.

Building on understanding of the Waddon Hill Roman Fort in Dorset and the history of the site. 

This study is crucial to understand how communities living in the Channel coastlands became interdependent at a time when trade in tin and copper was strengthening the foundations for an extensive prehistoric European union.