Department Staff Blazing a Trail Around York

Over the summer several members of archaeology staff (and colleagues in cognate departments) worked together with local artists and interest groups to produce sculptures for a new 'Trailblazer' tour of York. The idea was to showcase some of the forgotten people in York's past and present: those who have had an impact on our city, but who you might not be aware of. Each individual or group was artistically represented on the back of a large sculpture of a Tansy beetle (the 'Jewel of York' and an important resident of the banks of the Ouse). The individual designs imposed on the beetle superstructures were produced by local artists, working together with local community groups and experts to tell the stories of our 'trailblazers'.

The Department was involved in the research for two of the city's 17 sculptures:

Eva Mol and Maureen Carroll worked with York Anti-Racist Collective to produce a sculpture that told the story of a woman who has become known as the ‘Ivory Bangle Lady’. This individual was buried at Sycamore Terrace in York in the second half of the fourth century CE. She was only a young woman when she died, but of some standing if her astonishing range of grave goods is anything to go by. Analysis of her remains shows that she was of mixed ancestry, partly from North Africa, partly from western Britain or Europe and the Mediterranean. Her story is thus important in understanding the history of ethnic and religious diversity in York.

A little bit later in time, Malin Holst and Steve Ashby, together with Pragya Vohra from the Centre for Medieval Studies and Dept of History worked with ceramicist Sarah Schiewe on a beetle to represent the Coppergate Woman (who we re-named 'Vigdis') a migrant woman who lived with disability in Viking-Age York. The story represented on the beetle's back is one that emerges directly from the story told in Vigdis's archaeology, through the study of her pathology and stable isotope signatures. Malin was uniquely qualified to be involved in this, having worked on Vigdis' skeleton when it was first excavated.

The 'York Trailblazers' project was brought to you by Make It York and York Civic Trust, with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. You can find out more about the sculpture trail- and the people who inspired it using the link above.

If you're interested in the Roman world, why not check out our MA in Roman Archaeology. Or if vikings are more your thing, take a look at our MA in Medieval Archaeology.