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Staff Profiles

Professor Mark Jackson

Professor of Byzantine Archaeology

  • Email: m.p.c.jackson@ncl.ac.uk
  • Address: School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University,
    Newcastle upon Tyne,
    NE1 7RU,
    United Kingdom
Background

Roles and Responsibilities

  • Professor of Byzantine Archaeology
  • Degree Programme Director Archaeology MA Programmes
  • Co-curator of the Gertrude Bell Archive


External Responsibilities


Previous Positions

2020-2023 Head of Archaeology, Newcastle University

2017-2023, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, Newcastle University

2005-2017, Lecturer in Archaeology, Newcastle University

2004-2005 Research Fellow, AHRB Centre for Byzantine Cultural History, Newcastle University


2009-2012 Member of Executive Committee Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies

2009 Feb-May Visiting Scholar, Trinity College, Cambridge

2006-2009 Member of the Council of the British Institute at Ankara 


Qualifications

Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice 2007

PhD 2001 Title: "Kilise Tepe in Byzantine Isauria"

MA 1996 Methods in Byzantine Archaeology

BA (Hons) 1995 Archaeology



Google scholar: Click here.

Research

 

Research Interests

  • Late Roman and Byzantine Archaeology - including settlement and housing, trade, churches and pilgrimage 
  • Ceramics research - especially Roman and Byzantine ceramics and ethnographic study of pottery making
  • Endangered archives and digitisation
  • Survey methods, landscapes and cultural heritage


Other Expertise

I have a research interest in Gertrude Bell and early archaeologists and archives. As Co-curator of the Gertrude Bell Archive, I co-authored the inscription of the Gertrude Bell Archive International Memory of the World.

Current and Recent Research Projects I am working on with colleagues from Newcastle University and beyond include: 

Endangered Archives Project: Digitising the official documents of the Governorate of Ninawah (EAP1553), (PI).

Devastation, dislocation and (re-)settlement. Breaking/replacing the people-place connection in landscape. (Co-I); PIs: Prof Dr Thomas Meier and Prof Sam Turner.

Documenting the material knowledge systems of the last surviving traditional potters in Bosnia-Herzegovina, (PI), with Richard Carlton and Mirsad Sijaric (Zemaljski Muzej, Sarajevo)

Kato Choria, Naxos. Co-Director with Prof J.G. Crow (Edinburgh) and Dr D. Athanassoulis, Athens. 

Apalirou Environs Survey, Naxos. Working particularly on the Byzantine ceramics. (see Jackson 2020 eprints)

Kilise Tepe, in the Göksu Valley, Turkey. Co-Director for Byzantine at Kilise Tepe, since 2007 with Prof. J.N.Postgate (Cambridge). (see Jackson 2015 and other papers eprints)

Previous Projects and collaborations:

Challenging Legacies: The Kingdom of Iraq and Gertrude Bell. 2023. An exhibition at the Great North Museum Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne, with the Special Collections, Robinson Library and the Great North Museum Hancock.

Gertrude Bell Comics. A collaboration with Lydia Wysocki, comic artist John Miers, the Young Archaeologists Club and the Robinson Library resulted in our production of the Gertrude Bell comics to encourage school students into primary texts. Funded by ESRC-IAA. (see Wysocki et al. 2019 eprints)

Dr Stefania Ermidoro British Academy Visiting Fellow, 'Unfolding a Victorian Archive. The Layard Collection at Newcastle University' and 'Austen Henry Layard in Newcastle and Beyond'  

Dr Mihail Mitrea Sacred Landscapes in Late Byzantium. Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow 

'Beyond Destruction' Collaborator (with RA Dr Niveen Kassem). Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as part of AHRC First World War Public Engagement Centres Centre for Hidden Histories Lead Collaborator Prof. John Beckett (Nottingham)(see Kassem and Jackson 2020 eprints)

CHiLaT - 'Cultural Heritage in Landscape: Planning for Development in Turkey'. RCUK-TUBITAK Newton Project (Co-I, with PIs: Prof. Sam Turner and Prof. Engin Nurlu (Ege University, Turkey)

'Unlocking the Ionian Landscape: Historic Landscapes of Urla-Çeşme Peninsula (Izmir, Turkey)' Fellow: Dr Elif Koparal (Co-I with Prof. Sam Turner)

Bogsak Archaeological Survey directed by Dr Günder Varinlioğlu (team member in 2015, 2016).

Survey and ceramic processing of several Late Roman D Ware (Red Slip) kiln sites from Pisidia, Turkey as part of the Pisidia Survey Project Directed by Dr Lutgarde Vandeput (BIAA) and Dr Veli Kose (Ankara University). (see Jackson et al. 2012 eprints) 

Part of the Çatalhöyük Research Project working on the late cemetery in the 4040 area at Çatalhöyük and the 2013 survey around Çatalhöyük with Dr Sophie Moore. (see Jackson and Moore 2018; Moore and Jackson 2014 eprints)

Letters from Baghdad Assisted the Directors Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbuehl in their research.

Gertrude Bell and Iraq - A Life and Legacy. Collaborated with The British Institute for the Study of Iraq for an academic conference that examined the life and legacy of Gertrude Bell, hosted at the Royal Society and the British Academy. The papers were published in the Proceedings of the British Academy in 2017. My paper considered critically Gertrude Bell's contribution to Archaeological Research in Central Asia Minor (see eprints). 

Co-Curator (with Andrew Parkin) of The Extraordinary Gertrude Bell a major exhibition at the Great North Museum Hancock 30 January - 3rd May 2016 and at Kirkleatham Museum 2017 for which we edited a series of papers on the research of various colleagues on aspects of Gertrude Bell's life (see publications list).


Funding

  • British Library Endangered Archives Project (PI) (2023)
  • British Museum Endangered Material Knowledge (PI) Project (2021) 
  • Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C. for Kato Choria Excavations (PI) (2021) 
  • ESRC-IAA Impact Grant for 'Gertrude Bell Comics' (PI) (2018)
  • AHRC for 'Beyond Destruction' via Centre for Hidden Histories (2016)
  • British Academy Newton Advanced Fellowship for Dr E. Koparal (2016) (Co-I with Sam Turner)
  • AHRC-TUBITAK Newton Project (2016) Co-I (with PI: Sam Turner and Engin Nurlu (Ege University, Turkey))
  • Catherine Cookson Fund (PI) (2015)
  • Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice (CI) (2015)
  • HaSS Faculty Impact Fund (PI) (2015)
  • Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (PI) (2013)
  • Dumbarton Oaks Washington D.C. Fieldwork Grant, Kilise Tepe (PI) (2011)
  • Newcastle University HASS Faculty Research Fund Grant (PI) (2009)
  • Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (PI) (2009)
  • Dumbarton Oaks Washington D.C. Fieldwork Grant, Kilise Tepe (PI) (2009)
  • Newcastle University HASS Faculty Research Fund Grant (PI) (2008)
  • In 2007, a British Academy large grant was awarded for the Kilise Tepe Archaeological Excavation. Co-I (PI: Prof. J.N. Postgate, Cambridge)



Research Papers

I have spoken at:

  • Unofficial Diplomats: East Mediterranean Archaeologists and Britain's Imperial Project, Edinburgh (Dec 2023)
  • Naxos Through the Ages, 7th Panhellenic Conference (Nov 2023)
  • Rei Cretariae Romanae Favtores, Athens (presented by team: M. Duggan and R. Valente) (Sept 2022)
  • European Archaeologists Association 2022, Budapest (Sept 2022)
  • International Byzantine Congress, Plenary Speaker, Venice (Aug 2022)
  • Edinburgh University Research Seminar Series (online) (Nov 2021)
  • EAMENA Iconem Exhibition Launch Event, Durham (Nov 2021)
  • Space, Sounds and Senses - International Workshop, Ravenna (Oct 2021)
  • CRASIS Ancient World Seminar, Groningen (online) (Dec 2020)
  • 39th International Mediterranean Survey Workshop, (online) (Dec 2020)
  • British Institute at Ankara, Ankara (October 2019)
  • Mapping the Sacred in Byzantium, (September 2019) 
  • Cultural heritage in landscape: Planning development in Turkey, Izmir (September 2019) 
  • Abandonment and Loss: Changing Landscapes and Societies, Mimar Sinan, Istanbul (May 2019)
  • T.E. Lawrence Society Symposium, Oxford (Sept. 2018)
  • Mind the Gap! Ceramic Studies and Discontinuities in the Archaeological Record. Copenhagen (July 2018)
  • Travellers to the Near East and the Great War, Royal Geographical Society London, London (March 2018)
  • Workshop on Archaeological and Cultural Landscape Studies in Rough Cilicia, Mersin University, Turkey (November 2017)
  • Byzantine Archaeology Graduate Seminar, Edinburgh (Oct 2017)
  • The 8th Century, Patterns of Transition in Economy and Trade throughout the Late Antique, Early Medieval and Islamicate Mediterranean, Berlin (October 2017)
  • Historical Landscapes: Character, Assessment and Visualization, Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey (2-3 June 2017)
  • Levantine Ceramics Project, Athens (May 2017)
  • Gertrude Bell and Iraq A Life and Legacy Panel Discussion, British Academy, London (April 2017)
  • Roman Archaeology Off Limits, British Museum, London (November 2016)
  • New Approaches to Historic Landscapes, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul (Feb 2016)
  • Death in Byzantium, Newcastle (30 May 2015)
  • HQ 1(UK) ARMD DIV ADAPTABLE FORCE ACADEMIC SEMINAR, Strensall, (30 April 2015)
  • Panel member, “If I could sink my teeth into the whole earth” Chaired debate Fine Art, Newcastle University (17 April 2015)
  • Roman Research Discussion Group, Oxford (January 2015)
  • Ancient Near Eastern Seminar, Cambridge (November 2014) 
  • Newcastle Interdisciplinary Seminar (October 2014) 
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Archaeology Seminar, Oxford (October 2013) 
  • Gertrude Bell and Iraq: A life and Legacy, British Academy (Sept 2013) 
  • Research Seminar Series, Edinburgh (March 2013)
  • Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle (October 2012)
  • Byzantine Ceramics, Kings College London (February 2012)
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Archaeology Seminar, Oxford (May 2011)
  • McDonald Institute Research Seminar, Cambridge (May 2009)
  • Symposium of Excavations, Surveys and Archaeometry, Ankara (May/June 2008)
  • Archaeology of the Countryside in Medieval Anatolia, Leiden (Feb 2008)
  • The archaeologies of Byzantium, Edinburgh (2008)
  • International Conference on Rough Cilicia, Nebraska (Oct 2007)
  • Recent Research on Byzantine Pottery, London (June 2007)
  • Byzantine Congress, London (August 2006)
  • Concealed Communities, Newcastle (Dec 2005)
  • Byzantine Symposium on Performance, Belfast (April 2005)
  • IIe Congrès International sur la céramique commune, La céramique culinaire et les amphores de l’antiquité Tardive en Méditerranée: Archéologie et Archaéométrie (April 2005) (with R.S. Gabrieli and A. Kaldelis)
  • Byzantine Symposium on Trade, Oxford (March 2004)

Conferences organised at Newcastle

'Gertrude Bell Symposium', Co-hosted with Dr Emma Short 19 April 2017

'Experiencing Death in Byzantium' Co-hosted with Dr Sophie Moore and Dr Niamh Bhalla 29 May 2015.

'Ceramics and Atlantic Connections', Co-hosted with Maria Duggan and Prof Sam Turner, Newcastle University26-27 March 2014. 

'Experiencing Byzantium'. 44th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies hosted in Newcastle upon Tyne 8th - 10th April 2011 with Dr Claire Nesbitt (Durham) published by Ashgate in autumn 2013. The interdisciplinary theme, 'Experiencing Byzantium', embraced all aspects of Byzantine studies and brought together historians, art historians, archaeologists and palaeographers.

'Light: a Christmas Symposium' 11 December 2009 (with Dr Sam Turner, Newcastle University)

'Art, Archaeology and Text in Byzantium', 10 December 2004 (Organiser)

Postgraduate Supervision

I am currently supervising:

Jen Makovics (with Louise Rayne and Sam Turner)

I have supervised the following research students: 

Dr Gianluca Foschi "The Role of Musical Proportions in Early Christian Buildings" (Co-supervised with Dr David Creese, Prof Sam Turner and Prof Magnus Williamson), now Research Associate Rome Transformed.

Dr Maria Duggan "Links to late antiquity : ceramic exchange and contacts on the Atlantic seaboard in the 5th to 7th centuries AD" (co-supervised with Prof Sam Turner and Dr James Gerrard) Awarded PhD 2015; British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Newcastle University.

Dr Vasiliki Manolopoulou "Processing Constantinople : understanding the role of lite in creating the sacred character of the landscape"(PhD student, co-supervised with Prof Sam Turner) Awarded PhD 2016 (formerly Lecturer in Byzantine History, Northumbria University (2017); Lecturer in Byzantine History, King's College London, 2018-19; Hannah Seeger Davis Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Princeton University, now Lecturer in History 300-1000, Durham University.

Dr Sophie Moore “A Relational Approach to Mortuary Practices within Medieval Byzantine Anatolia”.   (co-supervised with Dr Chris Fowler) Awarded PhD 2013 (formerly Postdoctoral Research Fellow British Institute at Ankara, Postdoctoral Fellow in Archaeology and the Ancient World (2016-2018), now Lecturer in Medieval Archaeology Newcastle University 

Dr Katie Green “Rural Byzantine Landscapes and Societies: New Approaches to Characterization and Analysis” Awarded PhD 2013 (co-supervised with Prof Sam Turner)

https://www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/ads-staff/katie-green/

Prof Fawzi Abudanh "Settlement patterns and military organisation in the region of Udhruh (Southern Jordan) in the Roman and Byzantine periods". 2006 (co-supervised with Prof Jim Crow). Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan.

Dr Nigel Porter "Assessing the social and political significance of Athenian painted pottery through examination of changes in scenes of warriors departing on Attic pottery between 600 BC and 400 BC" (Co-supervised with Dr Sally Waite and Dr Joseph Skinner)

Eniko Hudak (MLitt student, co-supervised with Dr James Gerrard)



Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching 2023-2024 (Semester 2)

ARA1001 Stuff (Contributor)

ARA2101 Artefacts (Contributor)

ARA3129 How to Survive the Apocalypse: Recreating Ancient Technology from Scratch (Contributor)


Postgraduate Teaching 2023-2024 (Semester 2)

ARA8290 Research Themes, Theories and Skills in Archaeology II (Module Leader);

ARA8107 Independent Study Project in Archaeology (Module Leader);

ARA8119 How to Survive the Apocalypse: Recreating Ancient Technology from Scratch (Contributor)

ARA8099 Dissertation (Module Leader).

Publications