Dr Philippa Walton

Overview

Biography

Philippa Walton took up post at Birkbeck in 2021, having worked as a numismatist and small finds specialist for more than 20 years. Her research focuses on the material culture of Roman Britain, with a particular emphasis on data generated by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Her most recent project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, explored the deposition of objects in rivers throughout the Roman Empire and asked what they reveal about the identities of those who deposited them. Her monograph, Bridge over troubled water: the Roman finds from the River Tees at Piercebridge in context (https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1184849) which was co-authored with Prof. Hella Eckardt was published in August 2021.

In addition to working on riverine depositional practices, she has also published extensively on the function and use of coinage in Roman Britain, particularly in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. In 2014, she was the first woman to be awarded the Blunt Prize for Numismatics by the British Numismatic Society in recognition of this research.

Administrative responsibilities

• Course Director MA Classical Archaeology

Professional activities

Member of the Roman Archaeology Committee, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies https://www.romansociety.org/ 

Member of the Board of Trustees, Roman Research Trust https://romanresearchtrust.org/

Honours and awards

• Research grant, The Leverhulme Trust, September 2017
• Blunt Prize for Numismatics, The British Numismatic Society, September 2014

ORCID

0000-0001-9961-4843

Research

Research interests

• Roman Britain
• Roman material culture
• Material religion
• Roman numismatics

Research overview

Her research focuses on the material culture of Roman Britain, with a particular emphasis on data generated by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Her most recent project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, explored the deposition of objects in rivers throughout the Roman Empire and asked what they reveal about the identities of those who deposited them. Her monograph, Bridge over troubled water: the Roman finds from the River Tees at Piercebridge in context (https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1184849) which was co-authored with Prof. Hella Eckardt was published in August 2021.

In addition to working on riverine depositional practices, she has also published extensively on the function and use of coinage in Roman Britain, particularly in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. In 2014, she was the first woman to be awarded the Blunt Prize for Numismatics by the British Numismatic Society in recognition of this research.

Supervision and teaching

Teaching

I contribute to a number of undergraduate and postgraduate modules on Classical archaeology, archaeological theory and Ancient History as well as teaching the MA module The City of Rome: People, Monuments and Material Culture.