Staff profile

Pam Graves has worked in Urban Archaeological Units in York (YAT), Lincoln (CLAU) and Newcastle, on subjects ranging from medieval religious houses in their landscape settings, to artefact research, and GIS. Her specialisations are urban archaeology and the development of a mercantile culture in Northern Europe, religious practice and architecture in both the medieval and post-medieval periods; medieval window glass; and archaeological theory, especially the analysis of ritual. Some of these themes have been developed in lecture courses: Dust to Dust: death, burial and ritual, C12th-C19th; Sex and Shopping: the archaeology of urban life and work, C12th-C18th: and may be studied in depth in the Durham MA in Archaeology (Historical Strand). She has written on the built environment as an expression of the political enfranchisement of urban communities; and art and architecture as an index to the variety of religious practice in the middle ages.

Pam's current research is developing integrated material culture and theoretical approaches to the body in historical contexts, to sensory archaeology, and to special deposition in the medieval and post-medieval periods. She is working on "Sensing and Censing: aspects of Aroma in Medieval Religious Practice"; and "The Echo from the Well: closure deposits of ecclesiastical wells following the Reformation".

Her work on Newcastle, and mercantilism in the North Sea/Baltic Sea rims has resulted in a multi-period assessment of the archaeology of Newcastle, co-authored with David Heslop, Tyne and Wear Archaeological Officer - Newcastle upon Tyne: The Eye of the North (2013); and a second volume, North Sea Capital: Newcastle, the making of a Mercantile Community, is in preparation. A case study of the relationship between radical religion and the built environment has been published as "Building a New Jerusalem: A group of merchant houses in seventeenth-century Newcastle upon Tyne, England", in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology volume 13:4 for 2009.

Dr Graves is a specialist in the study of medieval painted glass retrieved from excavation, and has been publishing reports on glass since 1991. Her most recent work on the window glass from Glastonbury Abbey is in press. She is currently interested in the dispersal of painted glass from religious houses after the Dissolution of the Monasteries (Graves 2013 and in prep.). The analysis, re-use and archaeological deposition of architectural stonework features in contributions by Dr Graves to Finds from the Well at St Paul-in-the-Bail, Lincoln, edited by Jenny Mann (2008).

Pam has served on the editorial boards of the Scottish Archaeological Journal (see former Glasgow Archaeological Journal); and the Archaeological Journal. She has served as an ordinary Member of Council for the SOCIETY FOR MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY, the SOCIETY FOR POST-MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY, and the ROYAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE. She is Archaeological Consultant to the Dean and Chapter of DURHAM CATHEDRAL and is currently involved in a project to record and analyse the buildings of the former Prior's Lodgings, including an extensive palimpsest of medieval graffiti in the former Prior's Chapel (Graves and Rollason, L., 2013, 'The Monastery of Durham and the Wider World: medieval Graffiti in the Prior's Chapel', Northern History 50:2, 186-215).

• Dunbar Scottish Soldiers Project
• medieval and post-medieval urban and religious archaeology
• religious architecture
• religious and urban identities
• window glass
• north-east England, Scotland and North Sea rim in the medieval and post-medieval periods
• Iconoclasm
• Archaeology of the body

• Material and Visual Culture
• Northern Communities

• Auckland Castle
• Canon Greenwell and the Development of Archaeology in the North of England
• Durham Medieval Archaeologists (DMA)
• Medieval Graffiti in the Prior’s Chapel, Durham Priory
• Medieval Window Glass: Archaeological Approaches
• Newcastle upon Tyne, The Eye of the North: An Archaeological Assessment
• North Sea Capital: Newcastle, the Making of a Mercantile Community; and Coal, Community and Capitalism
• Seaham Church Recording Project

• Auckland Castle
• Canon Greenwell and the Development of Archaeology in the North of England
• Durham Medieval Archaeologists (DMA)
• Medieval Graffiti in the Prior’s Chapel, Durham Priory
• Medieval Window Glass: Archaeological Approaches
• Newcastle upon Tyne, The Eye of the North: An Archaeological Assessment
• North Sea Capital: Newcastle, the Making of a Mercantile Community; and Coal, Community and Capitalism
• Seaham Church Recording Project

• 2013: Invited speaker: Lost Luster: Innovative interdisciplinary research on archaeological window glass in North Western Europe (10th-18th C.): ;October 2-4, Abbey Museum Ten Duinen, Koksijde, Belgium.
• 2009: Keynote speaker: The Early Modern Parish, 6-8 April: Worcester College, Oxford. AHRC, Landscape & Environment and Oxford Brookes University.
• 2005: Referee for International and National Journals: Refereed papers for: Current Anthropology, International Journal of Historical Archaeology; Journal of Anthropological Archaeology; Journal of the North Atlantic; World Archaeology; Antiquity. I have also refereed a monograph for the Society for Medieval Archaeology.
• 2003: Editorial Board membership: Editorial Board for:
  Scottish Archaeological Journal (1999-2003).
• 2003: Elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in March 2003: Elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in March 2003
• 2002: Invited lecturer at Lund University: In November 2002, I was invited to deliver lectures on medieval religious practice and church archaeology at the Institutionen for arkeologi och antikens historia, Lunds Universitet.
• 2001: ongoing - Consultant Archaeologist to the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral:
• 2000: National Period Society Council Membership: Councils for:
  Society for Medieval Archaeology, (2000-2003)
  Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, (2000-2003)
  Royal Archaeological Institute, (2002-present).

Available for media contact about:

• World perspectives & techniques: archaeological theory
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: medieval urban and religious archaeology
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: post-medieval urban and religious archaeology
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: medieval window glass/ stained glass
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: archeology of Newcastle upon Tyne

Authored book

• Gerrard, C.M., Graves, C.P., Millard, A.R., Annis, R & Caffell, A. (2018). Lost Lives, New Voices. Unlocking the stories of the Scottish soldiers from the Battle of Dunbar 1650. Oxbow Books.
• Graves, CP (2013). North Sea Capital. Durham University.
• Graves, C. P. & Heslop, D. (2013). Newcastle upon Tyne, The Eye of the North: An Archaeological Assessment. Oxbow Books.
• Graves, CP (2001). The Window Glass of the Order of St Gilbert of Sempringham: A York-Based Study. York: Council for British Archaeology.
• Graves, CP (2000). The Form and Fabric of Belief an archaeology of the lay experience of religion in medieval Norfolk and Devon. British Archaeological Reports, British Series No. 311: Oxford: Archaeopress.
• Kemp, RL & Graves, CP (1996). The church and Gilbertine priory of St. Andrew, Fishergate. York: YAT/Council for British Archaeology.

Chapter in book

• Graves, C. P. (2018). Chapter Five: “Curst Dunbar” and Durham. In Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the stories of the Scottish Soldiers from the Battle of Dunbar. Gerrard, C. M., Graves, C. P., Millard, A. R., Annis, R. G. & Caffell, A. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
• Smith, C., Graves, C. P., Claydon, M. & Randerson, M. (2017). En route and in residence: Integrating documentary and archaeological evidence for the itineraries and residences of the Medieval Bishops of Durham. In Princes of the Church: Bishops and their Palaces. Rollason, D. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 285-303.
• Graves, C P (2015). Stained and painted window glass. In Glastonbury Abbey Excavations: archaeological investigations 1904-79. Gilchrist, R & Green, C London: Society of Antiquaries of London. 320-336.
• Graves, C P & Caple, C (2015). The ex-situ painted wall plaster. In Glastonbury Abbey Excavations: archaeological investigations 1904-79. Gilchrist, R & Green, C London: Society of Antiquaries of London. 337-340.
• Graves, C P & Cramp, R (2014). Medieval window glass. In The Hirsel Excavations. Cramp, R London: Society for Medieval Archaeology. 199-200.
• Graves, C.P. (2008). Architectural fragments. In Finds from the Well at St Paul-in-the-Bail, Lincoln. Mann, J. Oxford: Lincoln Archaeological Studies, Oxbow Books. 9: 20-22.
• Mann, J & Graves, CP (2008). Discussion. In Finds from the Well at St Paul-in-the-Bail, Lincoln. Mann, J Oxford: Lincoln Archaeological Studies, Oxbow Books. 9: 79-92.
• Graves, CP (2003). Civic Ritual, Townscape and Social Identity in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Newcastle upon Tyne. In Archaeologies of the British: Explorations of identity in Great Britain and its colonies 1600-1945. Lawrence, S London New York: Routledge. 31-54.
• Graves, CP (2002). Window glass. In Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray: history, architecture and archaeology, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph. J. Lewis & D. Pringle Series 21: 132-7.
• Graves, C.P. (2002). The Development of Towns in the North. In Past, Present and Future the Archaeology of Northern England. Brooks, C., Daniels, R. & Harding, A. Durham: Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland. Research Report 5: 177-184.
• Graves, CP (1997). Social space in the English medieval parish church. In Anthony Giddens: critical assessments volume 4. Bryant, C & Jary, D London: Routledge. 262-288.
• Graves, CP (1996). The Window Glass. In Further Excavations at the Dominican Priory, Beverley, 1986-89. Foreman, M Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. Sheffield Excavation Reports No. 1: 126-144.

Conference Paper

• Graves, C P (2013), Mammon, Dagon, hergebruiken en opgraven: de behandeling en verspreiding van monastiek vensterglas tijdens de Reformatie op de Britse eilanden, in Van Acker,J, Lehouck, A, Dawyndt, D & Vanclooster, D eds, Jaarboek Abdijmuseum Ten Duinen: Novi Monasterii, Verloren Glans Innovatief interdisciplinair onderzoek op archeologisch vlakglas in Noordwest-Europa (10de-18de eeuw) 12: Lost Luster. Abdijmuseum Ten Duinen, Koksijde, Abdijmuseum Ten Duinen, Koksijde, 39-46.

Journal Article

• Graves, CP & Rollason, L (2013). The monastery of Durham and the wider world: medieval graffiti in the prior's chapel. Northern History 50(2): 186-215.
• Bailiff, IK, Blain, S, Graves, CP, Gurling, T & Semple, S (2010). Uses and recycling of brick in medieval and Tudor English buildings: insights from the application of luminescence dating and new avenues for further research. The Archaeological Journal 167: 165-196.
• Graves, P & Rollason, L (2010). The Medieval Prior's Chapel at Durham: its development and use. Monastic Research Bulletin 16: 24-41.
• Graves, CP (2009). Building a new Jerusalem the Meaning of a Group of Merchant Houses in Seventeenth-Century Newcastle upon Tyne, England. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 13(4): 385-408.
• Graves, CP (2008). From an Archaeology of Iconoclasm to an Anthropology of the Body Images, Punishment and Personhood in England, 1500-1660. Current Anthropology 49(1): 35-57.
• Graves, CP (2007). Sensing and believing: exploring worlds of difference in pre-modern England-a contribution to the debate. World Archaeology 39(4): 515-531.
• Graves, CP (2005). Canon William Greenwell and his contemporaries the history of British archaeology in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Bulletin of the History of Archaeology 15(2): 45-49.
• O'Connor, A & Graves, CP (2003). Canon Greenwell (1820-1918) and his contribution to archaeological research. Bulletin of the History of Archaeology 13(2): 28-30.

Report

• Graves, C.P., Annis, R., Caffell, A.C., Gerrard, C.M. & Millard, A.R. (2016). The Dunbar Diaspora: Background to the Battle of Dunbar, and the Aftermath of the Battle. Department of Archaeology. Durham, Durham University.