University of Central Lancashire

Faculty Member, Archaeology

Senior Lecturer in Archaeology

School of Forensic and Investigative Science

About

Research History
I did all my degrees at Cardiff University, under the supervision of Alasdair Whittle. I then took up a one year research post with the Board of Celtic Studies looking at all the chambered tombs in Wales. This resulted in a publication with Alasdair, the co-director of the project (Cummings and Whittle 2004). I was then a Research Associate in Neolithic Archaeology at Cardiff University for two years, where I taught both undergraduate and postgraduates. I came to UCLan in 2004 to take up a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship and help set up the archaeology degree. From 2006 I have been lecturing here full-time and both my teaching and research focuses on the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Britain and Ireland. I also excavate every summer, and between 2002-2009 I excavated three chambered tombs in Scotland.

Current research projects
1. Building the Great Dolmens. A new research project starting in 2011, investigating dolmens in Britain and Ireland (co-directed with Dr Colin Richards, Manchester University)
2. The Archaeology of Nuclear Power. This research project is on the contemporary landscapes of nuclear power in Britain (co-directed with Dr David Robinson, UCLan)

Broad research interests
-The Mesolithic and Neolithic of Britain and Ireland
-The origins and development of monumentality in western Britain
-Landscape archaeology
-The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in NW Europe
-Hunter-gatherer archaeology and anthropology
-Contemporary archaeological landscapes

Contact Information