Sam Scott-Moncrieff
Thesis title: "...there are no tribes beyond us": the construction of complex identities through Roman Iron Age architecture in Scotland and North Wales.
Archaeology (PhD) (Full-time)
Year of study: 2
Contact details
PhD supervisors:
Address
- Street
-
School of History, Classics and Archaeology
William Robertson Wing, Doorway 4
Old Medical School
Teviot Place - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9XE
Background
I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Humanities (Classical Studies and English Literature) at the Open University in 2020, graduating with first-class honours. During my study of the archaeology of Rome's northern frontier, I developed a fascination with Iron Age-Roman relations.
After completing my undergraduate degree, I accepted an offer to study an MSc in Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. During my degree I completed a broad range of courses including: Theoretical Archaeology; Conflict archaeology - materialities of violence; Conceptualising the Neolithic; Archaeological Illustration and Space, Place and Time - the archaeology of built environments. My dissertation, supervised by Dr Tanja Romankiewicz, focused on charting the profusion, distribution and chronology of complex Atlantic Roundhouses in the Scottish Lowlands, and was nominated by my school for Archaeology Scotland's annual best PGT dissertation prize.
I am delighted to be pursuing my doctoral degree at Edinburgh, expanding architecturally and geographically on my dissertation research.
Qualifications
2020 - Bachelor of Arts (First-class Honours) in Humanities (Classical Studies and English Literature), The Open University
2022 - Master of Science (with Distinction) in Archaeology, The University of Edinburgh
Responsibilities & affiliations
Academic year 24/25:
Archaeology PGR Tutor representative
Undergraduate teaching
Tutor on Archaeology 1A
Research summary
My research (building upon that of my MSc dissertation) will analyse monumental ‘complex architecture’, it’s associated artefacts and the reuse of chronologically significant locations from the Iron Ages of Lowland Scotland, Argyll & Bute, the Isle of Arran and North Wales. I shall chart changes in complex architecture use before, during and after the Roman occupation and examine whether such developments reflected changes in societal identity. In addition I will explore whether Iron Age monuments inform modern identities at local, regional, or national scales.
Current research interests
The Iron Age in Scotland and Wales; complex Atlantic Roundhouses; crannogs; hillforts; Roman frontier zones; Iron Age-Roman interactions.Conference details
February 17-18 - Scottish Student Archaeology Society Conference (SSASC24).
"A burning question: violence or ritual amongst the Lowland Complex Stone Roundhouses (CSRs)?"
Awarded best student research prize.