Staff Profile

Roles and Responsibilities

Associate Dean (Education), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Undergraduate and post-graduate teaching: artefacts and the Roman Empire.

Previous roles and responsibilities

Interim Head of History, Classics and Archaeology

Director of Excellence for Learning and Teaching in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology

Degree Programme Director for Archaeology

Tutor for Admissions (Archaeology)

Qualifications

BA (Hons) 2000 Archaeology and Prehistory (Sheffield)

MA 2001 Archaeological Research (York)

PhD 2005 Pottery and the End of Roman Britain: the view from Somerset and Dorset (York)

Professional affiliations and memberships of academic societies

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London

Associate Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy 

Member of the Study Group for Roman Pottery

Member of the Roman Finds Group

Previous Positions

Research Associate, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge (2009-2011)

Specialist in Roman material culture, Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd (London)  (2005-2010)

Other information

I have peer-reviewed and reviewed articles for Britannia, The Archaeological Journal, World Archaeology, Classical Review, Archaeopress and The McDonald Institute's Monograph Series. 

I have examined postgraduate theses/dissertations for the Universities of Cambridge, Bristol, Edinburgh, and King's College London and also at VU Amsterdam.

I have served as external examiners for Archaeology at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln and at Canterbury Christchurch University.  

I have served as a trustee of the Roman Research Trust.

Research Interests 

My research and teaching interests are focused on the end of the Western Roman Empire in Britain and Europe. I am especially interested in the relationship between material culture, economics and identity as well as the role of artefacts in archaeological interpretation.

Research Projects

My current and recent research projects include:

• Late Roman Treasure Hoards AHRC Project with Prof Ellen Swift
• Travel and Transportation in Roman Britain
• A re-evaluation of fifth-century supporting arm brooches
• KNIROH: the re-evaluation of Late Roman Britain's largest hoard of bronze vessels from Knaresborough in conjunction with Jessica Petrie, Marco Romeo Pitone and the Yorkshire Museum.
• The analysis and publication of an important late Roman and early Medieval site at Gillingham, Kent.
• Roman period wells as proxies for social, economic and religious change.
• Late Antique signet rings from Britain (Brancaster type rings)
• Post-excavation assessment of the small finds and pottery from the A684 Bedale Bypass excavation (with Pre-Construct Archaeology & Prospect Archaeology)
• The impact of contaminated green waste on the historic environment.
• The Lufton Project (landscape project examining the hinterland of a late Roman villa)
• Post-Excavation analysis of the finds from Drapers' Gardens, City of London
• Roman Pottery in the fifth Century 

Post-Graduate Supervision 

I currently supervise post-graduate research on a wide range of topics including the end of Roman Britain; Roman economics and pottery; Roman footwear, Coins from Hadrian's Wall.

I have recently had research students complete research theses on the Atlantic Facade, Roman Dacia, mortaria, Roman Southwark, the end of Roman Britain, Neolithic henges, Bronze Age metalwork and the archaeological potential of museum collections on Hadrian's Wall. 

I am happy to supervise topics relating to the late Roman and early medieval periods. Please contact me if you are thinking of coming to Newcastle for a research degree in any of these areas: 

• Roman material culture (pottery, coins and other artefact types)
• Roman metal vessels
• Roman travel from an archaeological perspective
• Roman or 'Dark Age' economics
• Romano-British rural and urban settlement 
• Hoarding
• Roman London
• The Roman / Early Medieval periods (especially the third to sixth centuries)
• Artefacts and stratigraphic analysis
• Structured deposition
• Travel and mobility in antiquity
• Water and inequality in antiquity

Particular topics that I feel would benefit from doctoral research include: 

• The end of Roman Corbridge
• An analytical study of Roman material from early Anglo-Saxon domestic/settlement contexts
• A detailed analysis of 'structured deposits' in Roman period wells 
• The evidence for violence in late Roman Britain
• The chronology and significance of the demolition of Roman buildings.
• Revised chronologies for late Roman pottery producers focusing on their beginnings in the third century and 'ends'

Industrial Relevance

I offer a variety of commercial services through the Cluster for Interdisciplinary Artefact Studies. These services involve the production of specialist finds reports (including Roman coins, small finds, pottery and Late Iron Age ceramics in the NE), consultancy work and other projects for organisations working in the commercial archaeological and heritage sectors. Please feel free to contact me if you require advice or assistance in these areas.   

Research Grants

I have been awarded grants by:

The Arts and Humanities Research Council

The Roman Research Trust

The British Museum

English Heritage

The Association for Roman Archaeology

Pre-Construct Archaeology

The Marc Fitch Fund

Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 

Bristol and Gloucester Archaeological Society

Northamptonshire Archaeological Society

The Medieval Settlement Research Group

Brympton Parish Council

Undergraduate teaching

I currently contribute to ARA2091 Archaeologies of the Roman Empire. 

Postgraduate Teaching

I currently contribute to the independent study and dissertation modules

Office Hours

Students should contact me by email for an online appointment.. I am on research leave in Sem 1 24/25

Rm 2.36 ARMB 

• Articles

  • Gerrard JF. The Halkyn Mountain hoard rehabilitated? Two Westland cauldrons in the collections of the Society of Antiquaries. Antiquaries Journal 2024, Epub ahead of print.
  • Gerrard J, Romeo-Pitone M. The chemical analysis of the Irchester 1876 Roman vessel hoard by portable X-ray fluorescence. Northamptonshire Archaeology 2024. Submitted.
  • Gerrard J, DeMaso J, Romeo Pitone M, Gerrard S. A multidisciplinary analysis of an antiquarian discovery: the Knaresborough 1864 Hoard of Late Roman vessels. The Antiquaries Journal 2023, 103, 1-35.
  • Gerrard J. A late Roman hoard of copper-alloy vessels found at Stanwick in 1992. Northamptonshire Archaeology 2023, 42, 329-330.
  • Gerrard J. Sixth-Century Connections: Anglo-Saxon brooches from Somerset. Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society Proceedings 2021, 163, 208-213.
  • Gerrard J. Le souvenir des tyrans dans la Bretagne du V^e siècle: Magnus Maximus et Constantin III. Les Grandes figures historiques dans les lettres et les arts 2019, (8), 62-88.
  • Gerrard J, Ridgeway V. A Romano‐British Graffito of a Ship from Gillingham, Kent, UK. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 2018, 48(1), 245-246.
  • Gerrard J, Cooke M. The Green Waste Project: a reassurance. The Searcher 2017, 381, 44-46.
  • Gerrard J, Agate A. The Deserted Medieval Settlement at Barrow, Odcombe, Somerset: Trial Excavations in 2014. Medieval Settlement Research 2017, 32, 60-69.
  • Gerrard J. Please send me your Linchpins!. Lucerna 2017, 53, 15-15.
  • Gerrard J, Agate A. Finding Fish: the 2017 season of excavation at Lufton. Chronicle: the journal of the Yeovil Archaeological and Local History Society 2017, 11(1), 20.
  • Gerrard J, Henig M. Brancaster type signet rings: a study in the material culture of sealing documents in Late Antique Britain. Bonner Jahrbücher 2017, 216, 225-250.
  • Gerrard J, Agate A. The Lufton Villa Excavations 2016: A Preliminary Report. Chronicle: The Journal of the Yeovil Archaeological and Local History Society 2016, 10(6), 186-188.
  • Gerrard J. The Black Burnished Type 18 Bowl and the Fifth Century. Internet Archaeology 2016, 41.
  • Gerrard J, Cooke M, Strano M. Proving a problem: help us to map the spread of contaminated green waste [and green waste app: a field guide]. The Searcher 2016, 374, 40-43.
  • Gerrard J. New radiocarbon dates from the Lynch Farm Romano-British cemetery, near Peterborough. Northamptonshire Archaeology 2016, 38, 241-243.
  • Gerrard J. Los últimos romanos de Britania. Desperta Ferro: Antigua y Medieval 2016, 36, 18-24.
  • Gerrard J. Introduction: Romano-British Pottery in the Fifth Century. Internet Archaeology 2016, 41.
  • Gerrard J, Cooke M. Green Waste and the Historic Environment. British Archaeology 2016, 151, 32-35.
  • Gerrard J, Cooke M. Contaminated Green Waste. Digging Deep 2016, 21, 6.
  • Gerrard J. An unfinished zoomorphic escutcheon of possible fifth-century date from Twyning, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucester Archaeological Society 2016, 133, 222-224.
  • Gerrard J. Synthesis, Chronology and "Late Roman" Cemeteries in Britain. American Journal of Archaeology 2015, 119(4), 565-572.
  • Gerrard J, Caldwell L, Kennedy A. Green Waste and Archaeological Geophysics. Archaeological Prospection 2015, 22(2), 139-142.
  • Gerrard J, Gerrard S, Agate A. Englands Fieldnames in Odcombe Parish, Somerset. Medieval Settlement Research 2013, 28, 76.
  • Gerrard J. The Iron Age and Romano-British Pottery; The Loomweight and The Small Finds. In B. Haslam (ed.) Iron Age and Roman Settlement and Burial Activity at Old Kempshott Lane, Basingstoke. Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club Archaeological Society 2012, 67(1), 105-108.
  • Gerrard J. New light on the end of Roman London. The Archaeological Journal 2011, 168(1), 181-194.
  • Gerrard J. Crisis, whose crisis? The fifth-century in south-western Britain. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 2011, 26(1), 65-78.
  • Gerrard J. Cathedral or Granary? The Roman Coins from Colchester House (PEP89). Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 2011, 62, 81-88.
  • Gerrard J. New radiocarbon dates from the cemetery at Bradley Hill, Somerton. Somerset Archaeology and Natural History 2010, 154, 189-192.
  • Gerrard J. Finding the fifth century: a late fourth- and early fifth-century pottery fabric from South-East Dorset. Britannia 2010, 41, 293-312.
  • Gerrard J, Barrett J. An enigmatic Viking Age settlement in Orkney. Medieval Archaeology 2010, 54(1), 423-428.
  • Gerrard J. The silver siliquae from Green Cutting, Kingshams, Ilchester. Somerset Archaeology and Natural History 2009, 152, 222-224.
  • Gerrard J. The Drapers' Gardens hoard: a preliminary account. Britannia 2009, 40, 163-183.
  • Gerrard J. Dumps and tessera: high status building materials from 33 Union Street, Southwark. London Archaeologist 2009, 12(5), 130-137.
  • Gerrard J. The temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath and the end of Roman Britain. The Antiquaries Journal 2007, 87, 149-164.
  • Gerrard J. Rethinking the small pig horizon at York Minster. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 2007, 26(3), 303-307.
  • Turner S, Gerrard J. Imported and local pottery at Mothecombe: some new finds amongst old material at Totnes Museum. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society 2005, 62, 171-175.
  • Gerrard J. Bradley Hill, Somerset and the end of Roman Britain: a study in continuity?. Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 2005, 148, 1-10.
  • Gerrard J. A possible late Roman silver hoard from Bath. Britannia 2005, 36, 311-313.
  • Gerrard J, Mills S. Some stray finds from the Ravenglass area, Cumbria and their implications. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Archaeological and Antiquarian Society Third Series 2002, 2, 67-78.

• Authored Books

  • Gerrard J. Connecting Small Worlds: travel and transport infrastructure in Roman Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press?, 2024. Submitted.
  • Shepherd J, Goode A, Vance S, Proctor J, Gerrard J. The Bedale Enclosure and Aiskew Villa: archaeological investigations ahead of the Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar Bypass (A684), North Yorkshire. London: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2022.
  • Gerrard J, Seddon G. By the Medway Marsh: excavations at Grange Farm, Gillingham, Kent 2003-2006. London, UK: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2022.
  • Killock D, Shepherd J, Gerrard J, Hayward K, Rielly R. Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark. London, UK: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2015.
  • Boyer P, Gerrard J, Haslam A, Holden S, Butler J. Excavations along the Thames Estuary in North Kent. London: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2014.
  • Gerrard J. The Ruin of Roman Britain: An Archaeological Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
  • Douglas A, Gerrard J, Sudds B. A Roman Settlement and Bath House at Shadwell: Excavations at Tobacco Dock and Babe Ruth Restaurant, the Highway, London. London: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2011.

• Book Chapters

  • Gerrard J. Water as Social Inequality in Late Roman Britain. In: Bonnie, R; Klingborg, P, ed. Water in Ancient Mediterranean Households. London: Routledge, 2024, pp.172-195.
  • Gerrard J. Britain c. 410. In: Naismith, R; Edmonds, F, ed. Early Medieval Britain c. 410-1100. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024. Submitted.
  • Gerrard J. Travelling Britannia: a diachronic perspective on Romano-British mobility. In: Usacheva A; Mataix Ferrándiz E, ed. Mediterranean Flows : People, Ideas and Objects in Motion. Leiden: Brill, 2023, pp.71-95.
  • Gerrard J. Peripheral Identities. In: Manolopoulou, V; Skinner, J; Tsouparopoulou, C, ed. Identities in Antiquity. London: Routledge, 2023. Submitted.
  • Gerrard J. The Social Lives of Wells in Roman Britain and Beyond. In: Lundock, J; Henig, M, ed. Water in the Roman World: Engineering, Trade, Religion and Daily Life. Oxford, UK: Archaeopress, 2022, pp.77-104.
  • Gerrard J. The Roman coins. In: Hewitt, I; Putnam, M; Milward, J; Moteith, J, ed. Dewlish Roman Villa, Dorset: excavations 1969-1979. Dorchester: Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 2021, pp.127-130.
  • Gerrard J, Mills JM, Hudak E. Chapter 16: The Pottery Assemblage. In: Eckardt, H; Walton, P, ed. Bridge Over Troubled Water: The Roman Finds from the River Tees at Piercebridge in Context. London: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 2021, pp.190-214.
  • Gerrard J. The Vyne Ring in context: powerful people and powerful rings during the end of Roman Britain. In: H. Meller, S. Kimming-Volkner and A. Reichenberger, ed. Ringe der Macht. Halle: State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, 2019, pp.247-260.
  • Riddler R, Gerrard J. Small finds. In: Ridgeway, V; Taylor, J; Biddulph, E, ed. A Bath House, Settlement and Industry on Roman Southwark's North Island: excavations along the route of Thameslink Borough Viaduct and at London Bridge Station. London, UK: OAPCA, 2019, pp.303-325.
  • Gerrard J. Economy and Power in Late Roman Britain. In: Millett, M; Revell, L; Moore, A, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Roman Britain. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2016, pp.850-868.
  • Gerrard J. Bronze vessels, Roman. In: Goldberg,S, ed. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
  • Gerrard J. Roman pottery in the fifth century: a review of the evidence and its significance. In: F.K. Haarer, with R. Collins, K. Fitzpatrick-Matthews, S. Moorhead, D. Petts and P. Walton, ed. AD410: The History and Archaeology of Late Roman and Post-Roman Britain. London: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 2014, pp.89-98.
  • Gerrard J, Lyne M. Romano-British Pottery. In: Ridgeway,V; Leary,K; Sudds,B, ed. Roman Burials in Southwark. London, UK: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2013, pp.31-36.
  • Barrett J, Gerrard J. The Quoygrew Sequence. In: Barrett, J, ed. Being an Islander: Production and Identity at Quoygrew, Orkney, AD 900-1600. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 2012, pp.47-97.
  • Gerrard J. The Native and Roman Pottery. In: Proctor, J, ed. Faverdale, Darlington: Excavations at a Major Settlement in the Northern Frontier Zone of Roman Britain. London: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2012, pp.77-89.
  • Gerrard J. Romano-British pottery. In: Leary, J., Butler, J, ed. Roman Archaeology in the Upper Reaches of the Walbrook Valley: excavations at 6-8 Tokenhouse Yard. London: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2012, pp.23-29.
  • Gerrard J. Wells and belief systems at the end of Roman Britain : a case study from Roman London. In: Lavan, L., Mulryan, M, ed. The Archaeology of Late Antique 'Paganism'. Leiden: Brill, 2011, pp.551-572.
  • Gerrard J. Roman pottery and small finds. In: Bishop, B., Proctor, J, ed. Settlement, Ceremony and Industry on Mousehold Heath. London: Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2011, pp.73-78.
  • Gerrard J. Feeding the army from Dorset: pottery, salt and the Roman state. In: Stallibrass, S., Thomas, R, ed. Feeding the Roman Army: The Archaeology of Production and Supply in NW Europe. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2008, pp.119-130.
  • Gerrard J. Demolishing Roman Britain. In: Racozcky, L, ed. The Archaeology of Destruction. Cambridge: Scholars Press, 2008, pp.176-194.
  • Gerrard J. How late is late? Black Burnished ware and the fifth century. In: Collins, R., Gerrard, J, ed. Debating Late Antiquity in Britain AD300-700. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 2004, pp.65-75.

• Edited Books

  • Gerrard J, ed. Romano-British Pottery in the Fifth Century. University of York: Council for British Archaeology, 2016.
  • Collins R, Gerrard J, ed. Debating Late Antiquity in Britain AD300-700. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 2004.

• Reports

  • Gerrard J, Agate A, Carl H-A. An Archaeological Assessment of an Excavation Undertaken at Hungerford, Lufton, Brympton 2016. Newcastle: Newcastle University, 2016.
  • Boyer P, Bishop B, Gaimster M, Hayward K, Gerrard J. Archaeological investigations at Axton Chase School, Longfield, Kent. Maidstone: Pre-Construct Archaeology Limited, 2015. Kent Archaeological Reports Online.
  • Gerrard J, Agate A. An Archaeological Assessment of an Excavation Undertaken at Mr Unwin’s Field, Lufton, Brympton, Somerset 2013. Newcastle: School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University, 2015. Lufton Project Report.
  • Gerrard J, Agate A. An Archaeological Assessment of an Excavation Undertaken at Mr Unwin’s Field, Lufton, Brympton, Somerset 2012. Newcastle: School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University, 2013. Lufton Project Report.

• Reviews

  • Gerrard J. Review of: The Material Fall of Roman Britain, 300–525 CE By Robin Fleming. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2021. American Journal of Archaeology 2022, 126(2).
  • Gerrard J. Kingdom, Civitas and County: the evolution of territorial identity in the English landscape. Landscapes 2019, 1-1.
  • Gerrard J. Review of N. POULOU-PAPADIMITRIOU, E. NODAROU and V. KILIKOGLOU (EDS), LRCW4: LATE ROMAN COARSE WARES, COOKING WARES AND AMPHORAE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. ARCHAEOLOGY AND ARCHAEOMETRY: THE MEDITERRANEAN, A MARKET WITHOUT FRONTIERS (British Archaeological Reports International Series 2616). Journal of Roman Studies 2016, 106, 382-383.
  • Gerrard J. Towns in the Dark? Urban Transformations from Late Roman to Anglo-Saxon England. By G. Speed. [Book review]. Britannia 2015, 46, 442-442.
  • Gerrard J. 'Review of: Lindy Casson, James Drummond-Murray & Antony Francis. Romano-British round houses to medieval parish:excavations at 10 Gresham Street, City of London, 1999–2002 (MOLA Monograph 67)'. Antiquity 2015, 89(347), 1257-1259.
  • Gerrard J. Review of Eckardt, H. Objects and Identities: Roman Britain and the North Western Provinces. Classical Review 2015, 65(2), 585-586.