Dr. Jodie Lewis

Jodie joined the University of Bradford in 2022. She completed her undergraduate degree, Masters and PhD at the University of Bristol and has lectured at the Universities of Bangor and Worcester.
Jodie is a prehistorian with particular interests in the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages. She has carried out numerous large fieldwork projects focusing on these periods but she is also engaged in multi-period landscape studies. Jodie is particularly interested in karst landscape features, such as caves, gorges and sinkholes, and how past communities interacted with these and other natural features such as spring issues/sinks and mineral deposits. As part of this, she also investigates the links between such places and Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial and funerary monuments.

Jodie's research focuses on the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods in western Britain, with a particular emphasis upon landscape perception, funerary practice and ritual behaviour. She has been running field projects since 1997, which have included excavations at Mesolithic sites; Neolithic causewayed enclosures, standing stones, henges and timber and stone circles; Bronze Age barrows and a wetland Late Bronze Age metalwork hoard. Recently, her interests in multi-period landscape studies have seen her carry out excavations at a Romano-British shrine; a Medieval farmstead; a post-Medieval settlement complex and elements of a Capability Brown designed landscape.

Currently, Jodie is running the Priddy Environs Project. The parish of Priddy, in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, contains a wealth of archaeological sites ranging from earlier prehistory to the 20th century, including funerary and ritual sites, settlements, agricultural structures and the remains of extractive activities. However, our understanding of the typology, development and chronology of these sites, the relationships between them and their associated material culture is poor, limited by the lack of modern excavation. As a result, many of the archaeological sites are of uncertain date and function, making it difficult to generate interpretations. These interpretations are not only of academic value but can also be used to enhance community engagement with their local heritage and aid management and conservation strategies. The Priddy Environs Project is a long-term archaeological research initiative focused on understanding and enhancing knowledge of this important historic environment.