Anwen Cooper

Anwen leads the UKRI-funded ‘Rewilding’ later prehistory project at Oxford Archaeology in collaboration with the Universities of Oxford, Exeter, York and Toulouse, Historic England and Knepp Castle Estate. Her research in archaeology/nature stems from a background in landscape archaeology and a growing interest in how ideas about the past shape emerging environmental concerns. In recent work with the Cambridge Archaeological Unit on the remarkably well-preserved 3000-year-old pile-dwelling settlement at Must Farm, Cambridgeshire she showcased how wild plants and animals were central to Bronze Age domestic life. The ‘Rewilding’ team are collecting information about prehistoric wildlife over a 2500-year period, creating new stories about past peoples’ engagements with and understandings of wildlife, and linking archaeology and current nature restoration initiatives in diverse ways. We are excited to be working with colleagues at Knepp Castle Estate, Hepple Wilds and on the Evenlode Landscape Recovery project in developing these ideas. In wider Oxford Archaeology projects, Anwen is working with the Forestry Commission to investigate the relationship between Tree Roots and Archaeology, and with Historic England, Natural England, Buckinghamshire Council and BioScan UK to explore the role of archaeology in Biodiversity Net Gain.