ABOUT ME

Alys Vaughan-Williams BA MSc

Archaeobotanist and Charcoal Specialist

I work as an archaeobotanist, studying charred, waterlogged and mineralised macrofossils (seeds and cereal grains) along with charcoal from archaeological and palaeobotanical sites. My work encompasses commercial sites across Britain and Eire, and research projects in France, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Below is a brief resume of my professional career:

Consultant Archaeobotanist

• Position held: Archaeobotanist, 2005-present
              : Charcoal Specialist, 2009-present
• Principal roles: plant macrofossil identification, assessment and analysis; charcoal identification, assessment and analysis; environmental reconstruction; advisor on environmental sampling and processing of environmental samples to commercial archaeology units

ArchaeoScape, Royal Holloway University London

• Position held: Archaeobotanist, 2003-2005
• Principal roles: plant macrofossil identification, assessment and analysis; set-up of flotation systems; teaching and supervision of flotation, wet-sieving and residue sorting; assistant lab technician for undergraduates and masters students

AOC Archaeology (London)

• Principal roles: Environmental Supervisor
• Responsibilities: plant macrofossil identification, assessment and analysis; set-up of flotation systems; flotation, wet-sieving and residue sorting; teaching and supervision of flotation, wet-sieving and residue sorting; on-site sampling; site assistant; consultancy (desk-based assesments); administration

Qualifications

• MSc Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy, Sheffield University, 1999-2000
• BA Geography and Archaeology, Liverpool University, 1996-1999

Research Projects

• Euesperides, Benghazi, Libya: co-ordinator of on-site environmental sampling and processing;
  analysis and report writing of archaeobotanical evidence for publication in Libyan Studies.
  For information about the 1950's excavations by John Lloyd go to the Ashmolean Museaum
• Project Briquetage de la Seille, France: training excavations focusing on industrial Iron Age salt production; the impact on the landscape; and the impact on the environment

Recent publications

• Carew, T., Meddens, F., Batchelor, T., Branch, N., Elias, S., Goodburn, D., Vaughan-Williams, A., Wilcox, L. and Yeomans, L. 2010 ‘Human-environment interactions at the wetland edge in East London: trackways, platforms and Bronze Age responses to environmental change’, LAMAS 61, 1-34



• Vaughan-Williams, A. 2010 ‘Plant remains’ in L. Darton, ‘Evidence for a monastic and post-Dissolution boundary from 171-173 Bermondsey Street, Southwark’, Surrey Archaeological Collections 95, 67-89



• Keith-Lucas, F. with Vaughan-Williams, A. and Moore, P., 2007 'Saxon and medieval Newham', London Archaeologist 11: 9, 244-246



• Vaughan-Williams, A. 2007 ‘Charred plant macrofossils’ in C. Ellis, 'Total excavation of a later prehistoric enclosure at Braehead, Glasgow', Proc Soc Antiq Scot.137, 221-229



• Branch, N. and Vaughan-Williams, A. 2006 ‘Geochemical and Plant Macrofossil Analyses of a medieval pit’ in J. Butler, 'Reclaiming the Marsh: Archaeological Excavations at Moor House, City of London', PCA Monograph 6, 143-145



• Branch, N.P., Green, C.P., Swindle, G.E., Vaughan-Williams, A., Williams, A. and Wyatt, C. 2006 ‘A Bronze Age Field System: The Environmental Context’, in T. Carew, B. Bishop, F. Meddens and V. Ridgeway (eds), 'Unlocking The Landscape, Archaeological Excavations at Ashford Prison, Middlesex', PCA Monograph 5, 36



• Branch, N.P., Green, C.P., Swindle, G.E., Vaughan-Williams, A., Williams, A. and Wyatt, C. 2006 ‘A Neolithic Monumental Landscape: The Environmental Context’, in T. Carew, B. Bishop, F. Meddens and V. Ridgeway (eds), 'Unlocking The Landscape, Archaeological Excavations at Ashford Prison, Middlesex', PCA Monograph 5, 25-26



• Branch, N.P., Green, C.P., Swindle, G.E., Vaughan-Williams, A., Williams, A. and Wyatt, C. 2006 ‘The Iron Age Settlement: The Environmental Context’, in T. Carew, B. Bishop, F. Meddens and V. Ridgeway (eds), 'Unlocking The Landscape, Archaeological Excavations at Ashford Prison, Middlesex', PCA Monograph 5, 74-75



• Branch, N., Vaughan-Williams, A., Silva, B., Green, C. and Williams, A. 2006 ‘Environmental Analysis (medieval and post-medieval)’ in J. Butler, 'Reclaiming the Marsh: Archaeological Excavations at Moor House, City of London', PCA Monograph 6, 183-143



• Branch, N., Vaughan-Williams, A., Silva, B., Green, C. and Williams, A. 2006 ‘Environmental Analysis (Roman)’ in J. Butler, 'Reclaiming the Marsh: Archaeological Excavations at Moor House, City of London', PCA Monograph 6, 31-4



• Wilson, A. I., Bennett, P., Buzaian, A. M., Cherstich, L., Found, B., Göransson, K., Holman, J., Lane, R., Morley, G., Russell, B., Swift, K., Vaughan-Williams, A. and Zimi, E. 2006 'Euesperides 2006: Preliminary report on the Spring 2006 Season', Libyan Studies 37 : 117-157



• Wilson, A. I., Bennett, P., Buzaian, A. M., Found, B., Göransson, K., Guinness, A., Hardy, J., Holman, J., Kattenberg, A., Morley, G., al-Mugasbi, M., Swift, K., Vaughan-Williams, A., Wootton, W. and Zimi, E. 2005 'Euesperides (Benghazi): Preliminary report on the Spring 2005 Season', Libyan Studies 36: 135-182