My current research looks at Bronze Age upland settlement dynamics in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Britain.  The project uses GIS to define archaeological research study zones and evaluate for geographic, geological, topographic and environmental patterns and analyses of existing and new radiocarbon datasets to produce more granular occupation chronologies.  These chronologies are examined against localized palaeoenvironmental datasets to understand what -if any - role climactic shifts played in settlement patterns.

Current reserach project:   "Dymanics of Bronze Age upland settlement in Ireland and Northern Britain in a compartive perspective"

The project is funded by NERC (National Environmental Research Council) and UKRI (United Kingdom Research and Innovation) through QUADRAT DTP.

As part of my current research, I have undertaken (with my PhD Supervisors) the first excavations at Brusselstown Ring Hillfort in Co. Wicklow, Ireland.  Our excavations confirmed the GPS photogrammetry data of Dr. James O'Driscoll (2017), indicating that Brusselstown Ring is possibly the most densely occupied hillfort site and largest nucleated settlement in prehistoric Ireland. 

My prior research focused on re-examination of the destruction horizons of the Brochs of Southern Scotland during the Roman Iron Age to better understand if attributing their destruction to Roman aggression is a supportable hypothesis. This included examining the role colonial and post-colonial attitudes played in the interpetation of the sites, their origins and Indigenous/Roman interactions.

I have worked on Etruscan Tumuli in Itlay and San Bushman Rock Art in South Africa. 

My research interests lie in prehistoric Scotland and Ireland during the Bronze Age and Iron Age, including Indigineous relationships with the Romans in Scotland. I am interested in the role of waterways in prehistoric ritual and lifeway patterns, the role of bogs in Bronze Age and Iron Age life, and pyroarchaeology in domestic occupation contexts.  In particular I have a growing interest in the use and role of fire and how it parallels  significant cultural changes and burial patterns.