Live Interpretation Manager of Historic Royal Palaces and King Arthur Expert Christopher Gidlow is the Live Interpretation Manager of Historic Royal Palaces. He specialises in bringing history to life at the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace and the Banqueting House Whitehall. He is also responsible for interpretation on the project to open the Georgian Kitchens of Kew Palace to the public. He is also a director of the International Museum Theatre Alliance (Europe). A life-long enthusiast for the Arthurian legends, Christopher describes being told by his primary teacher that they might have a basis in fact as…
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Geoff Holder Author and forteana expert Geoff Holder is the author of more than a dozen books on everything mysterious, paranormal, strange, gothic and grotesque. His books are an authoritative mix of extensive historical study combined with diligent field research. They are often geographically-based, with titles such as The Guide to Mysterious Glasgow and The Guide to the Mysterious Lake District. Holder is primarily interested in ‘forteana’ – the world of the odd, the curious, the wondrous, the allegedly paranormal – and its fractious and informing relationship with the so-called mundane world. What do people do when they have too…
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Attribution: Photo by Maggie Bryson Garry Shaw Egyptologist and writer 7 April 1981 Dr. Shaw studied archaeology at the University of Liverpool from 1999 – 2002, and then stayed on in Liverpool to study for an MA (2002 – 2003) and PhD (2004 – 2008) in Egyptology, only taking a year off to go explore China. His main area of research has been elite life and architecture in Egypt’s New Kingdom, with the extent of the pharaoh’s personal authority in day-to-day political affairs being the subject of his first book, published in 2008. Subsequently he has written academic articles on…
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What lies behind the legends of King Arthur? Fragments of history, or just wishful thinking? While historians study the ancient manuscripts, modern archaeologists join in the hunt for clues. From Arthur’s ‘birthplace’ at Tintagel to the fabled ‘Isle of Avalon’, we sift through the evidence. Journeying across Arthur’s Britain, we search for Camelot and the sites of his battles. Do the remains confirm or contradict the traditional accounts? Far from providing objective proof, Christopher Gidlow shows how archaeologists’ interpretation of their discoveries reflects the academic fashions of their times. Sites which in the 1960s were used to prove King Arthur’s…
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Attribution: Taken from the ‘One & Other’ live video stream. mike pitts Archaeologist and editor of British Archaeology magazine Mike Pitts is an influential freelance archaeologist and writer who edits British Archaeology magazine (since 2003). He has also written trade books such as Fairweather Eden and Hengeworld, and has produced features for BBC History, New Scientist and American Archaeology. A novel and a non-fiction book are also in the pipeline, and Mike has also waded into the world of radio broadcasting with a historical drama for BBC Radio 4. Mike claims his love for archaeology grew from his first observation of…
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People of the Earth An Introduction to World Prehistory by Brian Fagan The 13th edition of this internationally renowned text provides the only truly global account of human prehistory from the earliest times. Written in an accessible way, People of the Earth shows how today’s diverse humanity developed biologically and culturally over millions of years against a background of constant climatic change. Brian Fagan is one of the leading archaeological writers in the world and an internationally recognised authority on world prehistory. He studied archaeology and anthropology at Pembroke College, Cambridge University, and then spent seven years in sub-Saharan Africa working in…
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The Roman Forum by David Watkin A radically new look at the ruins of the centre of ancient Rome. The Roman Forum may be a highlight of the tourist route in Rome, but many visitors still find it a baffling and unwelcoming place. There can be few more historic places in the world. Caesar was cremated there. Charles V and Mussolini rode by it in triumph. Napoleon celebrated his Festival of Liberty there. David Watkin’s Forum is the site as it was famous for centuries, celebrated in the romantic views of the Grand Tour, not the archaeologists’ building site it…
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Heritage Key was recently introduced to Dr Ray Howell – a reader of history and historical archaeology at University of Wales, Newport and Director of South Wales Centre for Historical and Interdisciplinary Research (SWCHIR) – through the short film Reclaiming King Arthur. Filmed in association with University of Wales’ Institute of Digital Learning (IDL), it examined the Gwent roots of the legendary British monarch of round table fame – both the real figure, who may have been a 5th or 6th century local warlord, and the mythical Arthur championed in countless folk tales. Dr Howell’s latest area of research is…
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Recent archaeological work at the site of Tell Tayinat in southeast Turkey, near the Syrian border, indicates that the ancient city was the centre of a Dark Age kingdom, ruled by people from the Aegean area. In an in-depth interview Professor Timothy Harrison, of the University of Toronto, told Heritage Key about this startling theory and the evidence that supports it. Around 1200 BC life changed suddenly throughout the Mediterranean world. The Mycenaean civilization in Greece and Crete, the Egyptian New Kingdom and the Hittite Empire, all collapsed at roughly the same time. It’s not until 900 BC that archaeologists…
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Ethel Davies, author of Bradt‘s North Africa: The Roman Coast, has travelled the region extensively. It’s a fascinating area, full of well-preserved Roman ruins, as Ethel enthused in her interview with Heritage Key. The Romans signalled their arrival and dominance in North Africa with the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. By the third century AD, there were as many as 600 Roman cities at the northern end of the African continent. Prior to this expansion of the Roman empire, the northern coast had been home to Phoenician, Punic and Greek settlers and traders. Here, she gives us her top…