According to the most recent UNHCR statistics, there are currently a record 70.8 million people living in situations of forced displacement globally. Often perceived in purely political and economic terms, we know far less about the objects, buildings and places which co-constitute forced displacement. This is the focus of a new 'deep-mapping' project which will …
Studying Human Migration in Long-Term Perspective (CfAS workshop), Arizona, 2019
Sometimes, I find myself in situations and wonder how on Earth I got there. This was the case recently as I watched shooting stars arc across the clear desert skies above the Amerind Foundation, near Dragoon, Arizona, USA. A chance meeting at the annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) had led to …
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Winner of the Society of Historical Archaeology’s 2019 James Deetz Book Award
On the first day of my MA Historical Archaeology (University of Bristol, 2003/4), I started reading a gem of a book called 'In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life', by James Deetz (1930-2000). It honestly changed how I saw the world. While we might now see a problem with the use of …
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Awarded British Academy postdoctoral fellowship, ‘Migrant Materialities’
I was both delighted and astonished to be awarded a British Academy postdoctoral fellowship. My project is called 'Migrant Materialities'. The research focuses on the material culture - that is, the objects, visual culture, all manner of physical materials - of contemporary forced and undocumented migration in Europe. I am particularly keen to document what …
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Archaeology, the public and the recent past
Click the link below to access a free to download PDF archaeology-the-public-and-the-recent-past_kiddey
ACHS, MONTREAL 2016
I am really sorry not to be at the Association of Critical Heritage Studies third annual conference which is taking place in Montreal today. As I couldn't make it in person, I submitted my paper, “Home is the streets”: collaborative cultural heritage work with contemporary homeless people via this short movie See here for more …
Cartoon in Journal of Contemporary Archaeology (vol 2.2)
Journeys in the City: homeless archaeologists or archaeologies of homelessness - open access PDF
SHA Washington, 6-9th January 2016
This year I was happy to attend the Society for Historical Archaeology's annual conference in Washington D.C., having been invited to give a paper at a session called 'Historical and Contemporary Archaeologies of the City: opportunities and challenges', organised by two of Historical Archaeology's brilliant voices, Krysta Ryzewski and Laura McAtackney. See the conference programme …
Anxieties of a Post-PhD
I count myself among a social group that is rapidly rising across the world. We are a nervous bunch who suffer different combinations of anxiety, stress and disillusionment, under-employment and poverty. We are Post-PhDs. This blog post will explore some thoughts on the wider social usefulness of PhD education and how it might be further …
Like a Rolling Stone
It is August and we are in Torquay, Devon. We are on a family outing and it’s pouring with rain as we make the splashy dash from the car park to the visitor centre entrance of Kents Cavern (www.kents-cavern.co.uk). Having paid for our tickets at the desk, we wait around until we hear over the …
