Staff Profiles

Duncan is Lecturer in Medieval Archaeology and Archaeological Fieldwork Convenor within the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology at Newcastle University. He studied undergraduate archaeology at the University of Exeter, and completed an MA in Medieval Archaeology at the University of York. Duncan then returned to Exeter to complete his PhD in 2013, and remained at the institution as Research Fellow working on the Anarchy: War and Status in Twelfth-century Landscapes of Conflict project. He moved to Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, where he led the Archaeology and Heritage Programmes, before joining Newcastle in 2020.

Duncan is external examiner for the MA in Landscape Archaeology and the MA in Cultural Heritage Management at the University of Sheffield. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, and Deputy Editor of Medieval Archaeology. 

Duncan specialises in medieval settlement and landscape archaeology, and has a particular interest in the articulation of elite power. His research interests include the archaeology of the early church, high status residences, and the identity of early medieval craftspeople. Duncan has published widely on both sides of the 'early-late' medieval divide, and is an active field archaeologist with an extensive background in landscape survey and excavation. Among his previous experience, he co-directed the Little Carlton Project with Dr Adam Daubney (Portable Antiquities Scheme) and Dr Hugh Willmott (University of Sheffield), which was shortlisted for Current Archaeology's Research Project of the Year in 2017. Duncan is currently Director, also with Dr Willmott, of the Crowland Archaeology Project which in the summer of 2021 carried out excavations on a site widely thought to represent the original hermitage of St Guthlac. This work identified deposits dating to Guthlac's time, as well as the remains of a high-status later medieval hall. Another season of excavation is planned for summer 2022 to investigate this complex and multi-period site further. 

Duncan is the Principal Investigator of the AHRC Research Grant-funded project Where Power Lies: the archaeology of transforming elite centres in the landscape of medieval England c.AD800-1200. Beginning in November 2022, this scheme will conduct the first ever systematic and integrated study of the physical evidence for elite centres in medieval England, reshaping our understanding of 'the rise of the gentry' and its impact upon the landscape. Duncan led a multi-stage proof of concept for the project, funded by The Castle Studies Trust, at Laughton en le Morthen, South Yorkshire, where he demonstrated how Earl Edwin of Mercia's residential compound was reshaped into a motte and bailey castle following the Norman Conquest. 

Semester 1 (2022-23) 

Undergraduate teaching 

ARA1027 Introduction to Archaeology 

ARA2012 Fieldwork and Archaeological Practice (Module Leader)

ARA3000/1/2/3 Dissertation in Archaeology

Postgraduate teaching

ARA8180 Early medieval North-West Europe (Module Leader)

ARA8190 Research Theories, Themes, and Skills in Archaeology 

Semester 2 (2022-23)

Undergraduate teaching 

ARA1030 The Archaeology of Britain from the Romans to the 20th Century (Module Leader) 

ARA1000 Foundational Fieldwork Training (Module Leader) 

ARA2000 Advanced Fieldwork Training (Module Leader) 

ARA2092 The Medieval World (AD 400-1500)

ARA3000/1/2/3 Dissertation in Archaeology

ARA3013 Early medieval Britain (Module Leader) 

Postgraduate teaching

ARA8113 Early medieval Britain (Module Leader) 

ARA8099 Dissertation in Archaeology 

• Articles

  • Wright DW, Bromage S, Shapland S, Everson P, Stocker D. Laughton en le Morthen, South Yorkshire: Evolution of a Medieval Magnate Core. Landscapes 2023, Epub ahead of print.
  • Willmott H, Wright DW, Daubney A, Blinkhorn P, Newman S, Townend P, Vickers G. Rethinking early medieval ‘productive sites’: wealth, trade, and tradition at Little Carlton, East Lindsey. Antiquaries Journal 2021, 101, 181-212.
  • Wright DW, Bromage S. Landscapes of Lordship: Searching for Laughton’s Anglo-Saxon elite. Current Archaeology 2020, 360.
  • Wright DW. Crafters of Kingship: Smiths, Elite Power, and Gender in Early Medieval Europe. Medieval Archaeology 2019, 63(2), 271-297.
  • Wright DW, Creighton OH, Trick S, Fradley M. Power, conflict and ritual on the fen-edge: the Anarchy-period castle at Burwell, Cambridgeshire, and its pre-Conquest landscape. Landscape History 2016, 37(1), 25-50.
  • Wright DW. Investigating an Elite Landscape: Archaeological survey at Bromfield Priory, Shropshire. Shropshire History and Archaeology 2016, 91, 41-50.
  • Wright DW, Fradley M, Creighton OH. The Ringwork at Cam’s Hill, near Malmesbury: Archaeological Investigation and Landscape Assessment. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 2015, 108, 33-46.
  • Wright DW. Shaping Rural Settlements: The Early Medieval Inheritance to the English Village. Landscapes 2015, 16(2), 105-125.
  • Wright DW, Creighton OH, Trick S, Fradley M. Fieldwork in Conflict Landscapes: Surveying the Archaeology of the Anarchy. Medieval Archaeology 2015, 59(1), 313-319.
  • Wright DW. Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Saxon ‘Home Farm’. Medieval Archaeology 2015, 59(1), 24-46.
  • Wright DW, Fradley M, Creighton O. Decoding an Elite Landscape: Power and Patronage at Hailes, Gloucestershire. Church Archaeology 2015, 17 (for 2013), 29-36.
  • Wright DW, Fradley M, Trick S, Creighton OH. Castle Carlton, Lincolnshire: The Origins and Development of a Castle and Medieval New Town. Medieval Settlement Research 2015, 30, 25-33.
  • Wright DW. 'Restructuring the 8th-century Landscape: Planned Settlements, Estates and Minsters in Pre-Viking England'. Church Archaeology 2010, 14, 15-26.
  • Wright DW. ‘Tasting Misery Among Snakes: The Situation of Smiths in Anglo-Saxon Settlements’. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 2010, 20, 131-136.

• Authored Books

  • Creighton O H, Wright D W. The Anarchy: War and Status in 12th-Century Landscapes of Conflict. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2016.
  • Wright DW. ‘Middle Saxon’ Settlement and Society: The Changing Rural Communities of Central and Eastern England. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2015.

• Book Chapter

  • Wright DW. The Church and the Land: Settlement and Economy in Early Medieval England. In: Sanchez Pardo J; Shapland M, ed. Churches and Social Power in Early Medieval Europe. Turnhout: Brepols, 2015, pp.216-228.

• Edited Book

  • Wright DW, Creighton OH, ed. Castles, Siegeworks and Settlements: Surveying the Archaeology of the Twelfth-century. Oxford: Archaeopress Archaeology, 2016.