Staff Profiles

Research Interests

I am an Historical Archaeologist in the widest sense of that term. My research crosses traditional frontiers (both temporal and disciplinary) but focuses on colonial material culture, from the early Roman Empire to the eighteenth century. Some of my work explores the material culture of colonial subjects (including indigenous peoples and slaves), and examines the uses that these groups made of ‘foreign’ or imposed material things, as they created new identities in new circumstances. I have a particular interest in the material culture of the British slave trade, and my book Materializing the Middle Passage: A Historical Archaeology of British Slaving Shipping, 1680-1807 was published by Oxford University Press in late 2023. I am currently co-editing The Oxford Handbook of the Comparative Archaeology of Slavery.

Webster, J and Cooper, N (eds) (1996) Roman Imperlialism: Post-Colonial Perspectives can be read online at  https://lra.le.ac.uk/handle/2381/9179

Read my 2007 article in British Archaeology, called 'Ringed with the wrecks of slave ships: the Atlantic slave trade' at http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba94/feat1.shtml

My 2010 paper 'A distant diaspora; thinking comparatively about origins, migrations and Roman slavery' can be accessed at http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news0310/news0310.html#3

Many of my publications are available on the Academia website: https://newcastle.academia.edu/JaneWebster

I am a member of the collaborative team producing 3D video reconstuctions of slave ships for the Slavevoyages website: you can find these at https://www.slavevoyages.org/

Postgraduate Supervision

I have recently supervised PhD candidates working on 18th century popular protest; Trench Art from the First world war; the Derwent valley iron and steel industry; and the comparative archaeology of mimesis in the Roman provinces. I am currently supervising a PhD on the archaeology of the Butler family homestead in Ontario. I would be very happy to hear from prospective research students with interests in either Romano-British or Historical Archaeology (post AD 1500), and particularly in the archaeology of slavery at any period.

• Articles

  • Wysocki L, Jackson M, Miers J, Webster J, Coxon B. Making the invisible visible: hyperlinked webcomics as alternative points of entry to the digitised Gertrude Bell archive. International Journal of Heritage Studies 2020, 26(5), 480-497.
  • Webster J. Collecting for the cabinet of freedom: the parliamentary history of Thomas Clarkson's chest. Slavery & Abolition 2017, 38(1), 135-154.
  • Webster J. ‘Success to the Dobson’: commemorative artefacts depicting 18th-century British slave ships. Post-Medieval Archaeology 2015, 49(1), 72-98.
  • Webster J, Tolson L, Carlton R. The Artefact as Interviewer: Experimenting with Oral History at the Ovenstone Miners’ Cottages Site, Northumberland. Historical Archaeology 2014, 48(1), 11-29.
  • Webster J, Tolson L. Material Testimonies: Landscapes, Artefacts, and the Oral Tradition. Historical Archaeology 2014, 48(1), 1-2.
  • Turner S, Webster J, Duggan M. Medieval and later settlement around Chassenon (Charente), France: fieldwork in 2012. Medieval Settlement Research 2013, 28, 93-95.
  • Webster J, Whitworth A. Treating verbs in aphasia: Exploring the impact of therapy at the single word and sentence levels. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 2012, 47(6), 619-636.
  • Turner S, Webster J. Medieval and later settlement around Chassenon (Charente), France: fieldwork in 2011. Medieval Settlement Research 2011, 26, 60-66.
  • Webster J. The Unredeemed Object: Displaying Abolitionist Artefacts in 2007. Slavery & Abolition 2009, 30(2), 311-325.
  • Webster J. Slave Ships and Maritime Archaeology: An Overview. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 2008, 12(1), 6-19.
  • Webster J. Less beloved. Roman archaeology, slavery and the failure to compare. Archaeological Dialogues 2008, 15(2), 103-149.
  • Webster J. The Zong case in the context of the eighteenth-century slave trade. Journal of Legal History 2007, 28(3), 285-298.
  • Webster J. Historical Archaeology and the Middle Passage. Journal for Maritime Research 2005, (submitted).
  • Webster J. Archaeologies of slavery and servitude: bringing ‘New World’ perspectives to Roman Britain. Journal of Roman Archaeology 2005, 18(1), 161-179.
  • Webster J. Creolizing the Roman Provinces. American Journal of Archaeology 2001, 105(2), 209-225.
  • Webster J. Resisting traditions: ceramics, identity and consumer choice in the Outer Hebrides from 1800 to the present. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 1999, 3(1), 53-73.
  • Webster J. At the End of the World: Druidic and Other Revitalization Movements in Post-Conquest Gaul and Britain. Britannia 1999, 30, 1-20.
  • Webster J. A New Roman Britain? Recent Developments in Romano-British Archaeology. American Journal of Archaeology 1999, 103(1), 122-125.
  • Webster, J. Mystics or Freedom Fighters?. British Archaeological News 1998, 18, 17-18.
  • Webster, J. Necessary comparisons: a post-colonial approach to religious syncretism in the Roman provinces. World Archaeology 1997, 28 (3), 324-338.
  • Webster, J. Interpretatio: Roman Word Power and the Celtic Gods. Britannia 1995, 26, 153-162.
  • Webster, J. Celtic religion in archaeology versus Celtic religion in text. Shadow 1991, 8.2, 1-15.

• Authored Books

  • Webster J. Materializing the Middle Passage. A Historical Archaeology of British Slave Shipping, 1680-1807. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
  • Webster, J and Cooper, N (eds). Roman Imperialism: Post-colonial Perspectives. Leicester, 1996.

• Book Chapters

  • Webster J. Creolisation. In: Christin O, ed. Dictionnaire des concepts nomades en sciences humanines. Paris: Éditions Métailié, 2016, pp.273-280.
  • Webster J. A Dirty Window on the Iron Age? Recent Developments in the Archaeology of Pre-Roman Celtic Religion. In: Ritari, K, ed. Understanding Celtic Religion: Revisiting the Pagan Past. Cardiff, UK: University of Wales Press, 2015, pp.121-154.
  • Webster J. Routes to slavery in the Roman World: a comparative perspective on the archaeology of forced migration. In: Eckardt, H, ed. Roman Diasporas: Archaeological Approaches to Mobility and Diversity in the Roman Empire. Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA: Journal of Roman Archaeology LLC, 2010, pp.45-65.
  • Webster J. The material culture of slave shipping. In: Hamilton, DJ; Blyth, RJ, ed. Representing Slavery: Art, Artefacts and Archives in the Collections of the National Maritime Museum. London: Lund Humphries, 2007, pp.104-117.
  • Webster J. Rome and the 'Barbarians'. In: Alcock, SE; Osborne, R, ed. Classical Archaeology. London: Blackwell, 2007, pp.401-424.
  • Webster J. Art as resistance and negotiation. In: Scott, S., Webster, J, ed. Roman Imperialism and Provincial Art. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp.24-51.
  • Webster J. Here be dragons! Roman attitudes to Northern Britain. In: Bevan, B, ed. Northern Exposure: interpretative devolution and the Iron Ages in Britain. University of Leicester: School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester, 1999, pp.21-31.
  • Webster, J. Text expectations: the archaeology of ‘Celtic’ ritual wells and shafts. In: Gwilt, A. and Haselgrove, C, ed. Reconstructing Iron Age Societies. 1997, pp.134-144.
  • Webster, J. A negotiated syncretism: readings on the development of Romano-Celtic religion . In: Mattingly, D.J, ed. Dialogues in Roman Imperialism. 1997, pp.164-184.
  • Webster, J. Rosiers-D’Egletons, St-Etienne-au-Clos, Bussiere-St-Georges. In: Bilan Scientifique de la Région Limousin 1996. Service Régional de l’Archéologie, 1996, pp.58-9.
  • Webster J. Roman imperialism and the 'post imperial age'. In: Webster J ; Cooper NJ, ed. Roman Imperialism: post-colonial perspectives. Leicester: School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester, 1996, pp.1-17.
  • Webster J. Ethnographic barbarity: colonial discourse and ‘Celtic warrior societies’. In: Webster J ; Cooper N, ed. Roman Imperialism: post-colonial perspectives. Leicester: School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester, 1996, pp.111-123.
  • Webster, J. Translation and subjection: interpretatio and the Celtic gods. In: Hill, J.D., and Cumberpatch, C, ed. Different Iron Ages Studies in the Archaeology of Iron Age Europe. 1995, pp.175-183.
  • Webster, J. Sanctuaries and Sacred Places. In: Green, M, ed. The Celtic World. London: Routledge, 1995, pp.445-464.
  • M. Parker-Pearson, J. Mulville, T. Roper, H. Smith, N. Sharples, and J. Webster. Archaeological Investigations in South Uist. In: Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 1995. 1995, pp.4-5.
  • J. Symonds, J. Webster, and T. Cooper. Archaeological Investigations at The Corn Exchange, Doncaster, S Yorks. In: Cumberpatch, C.G., and Whiteley, S, ed. Archaeology in South Yorkshire 1994-5. 1995, pp.19-24.
  • J. Symonds, J. Webster, and T. Cooper , in. Archaeological Assessment at Straightmile, Rotherham, South Yorks. In: Cumberpatch, C.G., and Whiteley, S, ed. Archaeology in South Yorkshire 1994-5. 1995, pp.16-18.
  • J. Symonds and J. Webster. Archaeological Assessment at New Stubbin, Rotherham, South Yorks. In: Cumberpatch, C.G., and Whiteley, S, ed. Archaeology in South Yorkshire 1994-5. 1995, pp.14-15.
  • Webster, J. The just war: Graeco-Roman texts as colonial discourse. In: Cottam, S. et al, ed. Proceedings of the Fourth Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference 1994. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 1994, pp.1-10.

• Edited Books

  • Leone M, Webster J, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the Comparative Archaeology of Slavery. 2025. In Press.
  • Scott S, Webster J, ed. Roman imperialism and provincial art. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

• Online Publication

  • Webster J. A distant diaspora: thinking comparatively about origins, migration and Roman slavery. African Diaspora Archaeology Network, 2010. Available at: http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news0310/news0310-3.pdf.

• Reports

  • Turner S, Webster J, Duggan M. Chassenon: développement d'un paysage historique. Rapport 2012. Newcastle: Newcastle University, 2012. Unpublished report for the Service Régional de l’Archéologie, Poitiers.
  • Rocque G, Bal MC, Belingard C, Bertrand I, Bujard S, Coutelas A, Doulan C, Geniès C, Guédon S, Gueguen JF, Hourcade D, Joly C, Loiseau C, Méaudre JC, Sicard S, Turner S, Vissac C, Webster J. Rapport du projet collectif de recherche. Cassinomagus, l'agglomération et son ensemble monumental : chronologie, organisation et techniques. Conseil Général de la Charente, 2011. Chassenon.