Colin Merrony
Telephone: 0114 22 22929
E-Mail: C.Merrony@Sheffield.ac.uk
Mr Colin Merrony M.A. is a Teaching Fellow in Archaeology. His research interests are in geophysical survey and archaeological mapping and landscape archaeology, the archaeology of the east Midlands and south Yorkshire and Greenstone in Prehistoric New Zealand. He has conducted field projects in South Yorkshire, the Outer Hebrides and Crete.
Current research projects
Beauchief Abbey, South Yorkshire Discussion of monastic landscapes in Britain generally refers to the large Cistercian/ Benedictine/Augustinian establishments. Detailed archaeological fieldwork relating to the smaller orders is greatly lacking. Beauchief Abbey, a Premonstratensian house, is being studied using a combination of archaeological fieldwork and documentary research (in conjunction with the Dept. of History, University of Sheffield) in order to define the economic and social mechanisms of such an establishment and its impact the existing local communities and landscape.
New Zealand `Greenstone´ New Zealand Greenstone (Nephrite and Bowenite). 'Greenstone' was a major resource for the human occupants of New Zealand prior to contact with Europeans. The sources for this material are found in a number of locations within the South Island. Previous studies have suggested that sources are (internally) too variable chemically to be separable. However, these studies have been based on extremely small sample sizes and variable quality material. It is proposed to re-address the problem of sourcing by focusing on 'artefact-quality' material and by intensively sampling one or more sources for chemical analysis in order to properly assess the feasibility of characterisation.
Site location and identification in Turkmenistan This project is attempting to combine methods of remote-sensing and ground-based survey in the complex mosaic of environments to be found in Turkmenistan in Central Asia. The piedmont and southern desert zones of Southern Turkmenistan have been identified as one of the possible 'cradles of agriculture'; we are establishing methods for identifying appropriate prehistoric sites. Further investigation of the sites aims to achieve an understanding of past human-environment interaction in this biologically diverse region. (Joint with the Sheffield Centre for International Drylands Research, C. Gosden, University of Oxford and K. Dobney, University of York, linked with a 3 year ESRC funded project by S. O´Hara, University of Nottingham).
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