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Research in Multi-spectral Imaging (MSI) of manuscripts by researchers in the University of Oxford's Faculty of Classics has led to advances in imaging technology. A series of initiatives by Dr Dirk Obbink that captured images through MSI technology have led to the decipherment of new texts that have made a substantial mark in the public sector. Equity spinout of this technology has resulted in the entry in the market of the first portable multispectral scanning unit in flat-bed desktop format. The scanner, which uses innovative patented LED technology at different levels of the light spectrum, was developed under funding from ISIS, Oxford University's technology transfer division.
Papyrological research since 1993 by Oxford scholars has led to important new discoveries that have promoted increased public understanding and discussion of ancient literature and history. Research on documentary papyri has led to greater awareness of daily life in Oxyrhynchus, a Graeco-Roman provincial capital in central Egypt. The publication and translation of a new poem by Sappho has led to its inclusion in new translations of Sappho and ancient Greek lyric by leading publishers. Major Digital Humanities projects, Oxyrhynchus Online and Ancient Lives, have made the Oxyrhynchus papyri available to the public through the use of a web interface. Mass participation facilitated by the project has received wide publicity for increasing the engagement of the public with the methods and materials of scientific research. The website has had a major pedagogical impact through its use in schools.
Research from Newcastle on the material culture of the Roman empire, particularly its frontier zones, has created impact across a range of users from the general public to commercial archaeologists. In particular, it has enhanced public understanding and education outside the HEI through key museum exhibits and learning resources, community involvement and participatory research, non-academic publishing and engagement activities. It informs policy, commercial work and consultancy, particularly through the on-going partnership between Newcastle scholars and the wider archaeological community.
Through a series of excavations, members of the School of Archaeology have enabled large numbers of the general public to become directly involved in investigating the histories of their localities, overturning the perception that archaeological research is inaccessible. This case study demonstrates a sustained, long-term commitment to working closely with, and involving local communities in a series of projects:
i. Hillforts of the Ridgeway (1995 -2000)
ii. Iron Age and Roman Marcham (2000-2011)
iii. Discovering Dorchester-on-Thames (2003 - present)
iv. The Archaeology of East Oxford (Archeox) (2009 - present)
Through these, our research has had an impact on an extensive network of members of the public whose direct involvement with our fieldwork has altered and enhanced their perception and understanding of the history and landscape of their region.
As a result of her outstanding research in Roman history and archaeology, Beard was invited to work with a TV production company to develop two programmes for BBC2. The first was a one-off programme specifically linked to her book Pompeii (2008), the second a series (Meet the Romans, 2011) related to her research on Pompeii and to her research on Roman social history and inscriptions. Recognised as landmark broadcasts (Pompeii gained 3.4 million viewers, the largest audience for a factual BBC2 programme in 2010, and was shortlisted for a BAFTA), both have led to widespread public engagement and (with major overseas sales) to considerable economic and cultural benefit to the UK.
Research undertaken for The National Trust at the Romano-British villa at Chedworth (Glos.) has contributed to the re-display of the villa in a project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and others. This includes the creation of a `popular' book on the villa and its context, a new site guidebook, an audio-visual guide, the displays and signage and the new display in the site museum. The impact of the research can therefore be summarised as:
Research at the University of Reading has challenged popular perceptions of an essentially homogenous population in Roman Britain, changing understanding and improving awareness of ethnic diversity in particular. The research demonstrated that later Romano-British populations were much more diverse than previously thought, with up to a third of individuals classified as non-local. Migrant populations were also shown to include women and children, in contrast to the popular perception that it was mainly adult males who moved across the Roman Empire. Case studies highlighted mixed-race individuals, second-generation migrants and the diverse origins of the migrants and these cases had a very significant impact on reshaping museum displays (notably the Yorkshire Museum, with 94,000 visitors p.a.). The research also impacted on the Key Stage 2 school curriculum through a website and teachers' resource pack (funded through an AHRC Follow-on-Grant), produced in collaboration with a children's author and the Runnymede Trust, the UK's leading race-equality think tank. The research has thus prompted a significant and important correction to a highly popular historical topic.
Alison Cooley's research has changed how Pompeii is taught in schools: her sourcebook allowed inscriptions to become embedded in GCSE- and AS-Level Roman history modules and in Continuing Education courses. She contributed to the exhibition audio-guide for `A day in Pompeii', which enriched the experience of around a million museum visitors in 8 US cities and contributed to museum revenue. Scholastic publishers used her research expertise to make a popular children's book more historically accurate. Through public talks, popular writing, and media consultancy, she has connected public audiences with Roman history. Beneficiaries of her work include teachers and students, museum visitors, the general public, and young readers.
Utilising the results of large-scale research programmes by Barry Cunliffe and his Oxford team, the museum facilities connected to both Brading villa and Danebury hillfort bring to life the Iron Age and Roman periods for the general public. In addition, they promote substantial learning into key periods in prehistory, and during Britain's incorporation into the Roman empire, which are often neglected.
Cunliffe's work has had fundamental impact through first the establishment and then the shaping of two museum facilities: the Museum of the Iron Age in Andover and a Visitor Centre at Brading. The work at Danebury is of long-standing origin, and began in 1968, but has been given significant new impetus since 2011 by a substantial HLF grant, which has created new educational materials, guided site visits and online resources. The excavations at Brading took place between 2008 and 2010 and were fundamental to the development of the new Visitor's Centre. Both facilities use recent finds and visual representation to give a more enriched sense of community life in these localities over a millennium and a half, starting at around 1000BC.
The research has had educational impact on visitors to these two museum facilities, including large numbers of school children, the general public, and archaeology and museum professionals, and on individual volunteers who have worked on the sites. By attracting visitors to the sites and museums, the research has also improved the experience of local tourists.
Professor R.R.R Smith has led the interpretation, conservation, and display of seventy marble relief sculptures from the Sebasteion (`Temple of the Emperors') at Aphrodisias, one of the most important Roman cities in Turkey. His published research underpins a major museum display and the only restoration of a major classical building with relief sculpture on its original site.
Smith's research has improved international understanding of Roman rule seen from a Greek perspective. His work has informed and shaped (a) a major new museum display of the reliefs in their correct ancient sequence, and (b) an ambitious anastylosis (precise stone-for-stone in-situ reconstruction) of the building that shows the physical context of the reliefs, and gives a real-scale visualisation of a truly extravagant ancient monument. Both the museum and the reconstruction have already had a strong impact on international visitors, and enabled a deeper understanding of public art in context in an ancient Greek city under the Roman empire, for students and an interested public across Europe and Turkey.