Dr Anwen Cooper

Researcher

Anwen Cooper is interested in the later Bronze and Iron Ages in north-west Europe, interpretative approaches to material culture and landscape, critical approaches to archaeological practice, and prehistoric pottery. Following ten years of fieldwork (survey and excavation) from 1996-2006, her PhD offered a multidisciplinary perspective on research in British prehistory over the last 40 years. Before beginning work on the Grave Goods project she was a postdoctoral researcher on the AHRC-funded ‘Island of the dead?’ project (University of Durham) and then the ERC-funded English Landscape and Identities project (EngLaId) (University of Oxford). As well as working closely with artists and members of the public throughout her career, Anwen has sought persistently to make links between research in different archaeological arenas. She currently advises on research practices in Historic England and Oxford Archaeology, and is working with Stewart Bryant to produce an oral history of HERs. Recent publications have explored the (positively) ‘characterful’ nature of data in British archaeology, the interpretative consequences of ‘big data’, the multi-temporal qualities of Bronze Age round barrows, and the idea of Roman villas as condensed landscapes.