Professor Bob Johnston (he/him)

School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities

Professor of Landscape Archaeology

r.johnston@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 2941

210, 9 Mappin Street

Full contact details

Professor Bob Johnston
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
210
9 Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 4DT

Qualifications: BA, MA, MEd, PhD

Research interests

Landscape archaeology
Bronze Age Britain and Ireland
The archaeology of upland landscapes, particularly in western Britain
Prehistoric land enclosure in north-west Europe.
Community heritage

Publications

Books

Arnoldussen S, Johnston R & Løvschal M (2021) Europe's Early Fieldscapes Archaeologies of Prehistoric Land Allotment. Springer.
Johnston R (2020) Bronze Age Worlds: A Social Prehistory of Britain and Ireland. Abingdon: Routledge.

Journal articles

Hincks S & Johnston R (2022) The ephemerality of prominence: a geospatial analysis of acoustic affordances in a hillfort landscape. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 67. View this article in WRRO
Griffiths S, Johnston R, May R, McOmish D, Marshall P, Last J & Bayliss A (2022) Dividing the land: time and land division in the English North Midlands and Yorkshire. European Journal of Archaeology, 25(2), 216-237. View this article in WRRO
Cook I, Johnston R & Selby K (2019) Climate change and cultural heritage : a landscape vulnerability framework. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 16(2-4), 553-571. View this article in WRRO
Pillatt TA, Thorpe G, Marwood K & Johnston R (2019) A break in the clouds: connecting community experiences in Mosser, Cumbria. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 5(2), 117-134. View this article in WRRO
Johnston R & Marwood K (2017) Action heritage: research, communities, social justice. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 23(9), 816-831. View this article in WRRO
Badcock A & Johnston R (2009) Placemaking through protest: An Archaeology of the lees cross and endcliffe protest Camp, Derbyshire, England. Archaeologies, 5(2), 306-322.
Johnston RA, Ghey E & Edwards N (2008) Categorizing Roundhouse Settlements in Wales: A Critical Perspective. Studia Celtica, 42(1), 1-25.
Johnston R (2008) Copper mining and the transformation of environmental knowledge in Bronze Age Britain. Journal of Social Archaeology, 8(2), 190-213.
Fyfe RM, Brück J, Johnston R, Lewis H, Roland TP & Wickstead H (2008) Historical context and chronology of Bronze Age land enclosure on Dartmoor, UK. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35(8), 2250-2261.
Johnston R (2005) A social archaeology of garden plots in the Bronze Age of northern and western Britain. World Archaeology, 37(2), 211-223.
JOHNSTON R (2005) PATTERN WITHOUT A PLAN: RETHINKING THE BRONZE AGE COAXIAL FIELD SYSTEMS ON DARTMOOR, SOUTH‐WEST ENGLAND. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 24(1), 1-21.
Johnston R (1998) The paradox of landscape. European Journal of Archaeology, 1(3), 313-325.
Johnston R (1998) Approaches to the perception of landscape. Archaeological Dialogues, 5(1), 54-68.

Book chapters

Johnston R, May R & McOmish D (2021) Understanding the chronologies of England’s field systems In Arnoldussen S, Johnston R & Løvschal M (Ed.), Europe's Early Fieldscapes: Archaeologies of Prehistoric Land Allotment (pp. 185-207). Springer, Cham View this article in WRRO
Løvschal M, Arnoldussen S & Johnston R (2021) Europe’s Early Land Allotment: Questions of Time, Scale and Stewardship, Themes in Contemporary Archaeology (pp. 1-12). Springer International Publishing
Marwood K, Cleall E, Crewe V, Forrest D, Pillatt T, Thorpe G & Johnston R (2019) From researching heritage to action heritage, Heritage as Community Research (pp. 171-186). Policy Press
Marwood K, Cleall E, Crewe V, Forrest D, Pillatt T, Thorpe G & Johnston R (2019) From researching heritage to action heritage, Heritage as Community Research (pp. 171-186). Policy Press
Marwood K, Cleall E, Crewe V, Forrest D, Pillatt T, Thorpe G & Johnston R (2019) From researching heritage to action heritage (pp. 171-186). Bristol University Press
Vergunst J, Curtis E, Davis O, Johnston R, Graham H & Shepherd C (2017) Material legacies: shaping things and places through heritage (pp. 153-172). Bristol University Press
Vergunst J, Curtis E, Davis O, Johnston R, Graham H & Shepherd C (2017) Material legacies: shaping things and places through heritage, Valuing Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research (pp. 153-172). Policy Press
Johnston RA & Badcock A (2013) Activism and Protest In Graves-Brown P, Harrison R & Piccini A (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World Oxford University Press
Johnston RA, Barker L, Driver T & Davis O (2012) Puffins amidst prehistory: re-interpreting the deep chronology of Skomer Island In Britnell W & Silvester R (Ed.), Reflections on the Past: essays in honour of Frances Lynch (pp. 280-302). Cambrian Archaeological Association
Johnston RA (2008) Later Prehistoric Landscapes and Inhabitation In Pollard J (Ed.), Prehistoric Britain Wiley-Blackwell
Johnston R () Bronze Age Fieldsand Land Division, The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age (pp. 311-327). Oxford University Press

Datasets

Johnston R, May R & McOmish D Scientific Dates for England's Field Systems.

Research group

I would welcome applications from students interested in pursuing research into:

Landscape archaeology
Bronze Age archaeology of Britain and Ireland
Social and cultural aspects of later prehistoric agriculture
The archaeology of highlands, uplands and mountains
Theoretical approaches to human-environment relations.
Community and public archaeology

Current Research Students

Chris Atkinson - A landscape and environmental study of historic charcoal production in West and South Yorkshire
Michael Bamforth - Bronze Age woodworking and woodworkers: place, space and specialism in the English Fenland
Helen Basson - The Red Zones of the Somme – diachronic landscape perspectives on contemporary ecological trauma
Sally Derrett - Future fens: using palaeoecology to inform restoration and conservation of the Lincolnshire Fenlands
Kay Hamilton - Environmental histories of grazing and the sustainability of montane ecosystems: a case study in Eryri, North Wales
Dora Knowles - How are memory and commemoration of ongoing conflict formed, sustained and changed within the Korean peninsula?
Claire Moore - A contemporary archaeology of graffiti stickers
Becky Vickers - Working Stone and Making Places in Neolithic Wales

Teaching activities: Prof. Johnston is on research leave until September 2028.

Selected and Recent Publications

Hincks, S. and Johnston, R. 2022. The ephemerality of prominence: a geospatial analysis of acoustic affordances in a hillfort landscape. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 67. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101423
Arnoldussen, S., R. Johnston, and M. Løvschal (eds). 2021. Europe's Early Fieldscapes: Archaeologies of Prehistoric Land Allotment. Themes in Contemporary Archaeology. London: Springer.
Johnston, R., R. May and D. McOmish. 2021. Understanding the chronologies of England’s field systems. In S. Arnoldussen, R. Johnston, and M. Løvschal (eds). Europe's Early Fieldscapes: Archaeologies of Prehistoric Land Allotment. Themes in Contemporary Archaeology. London: Springer, 185-207.
Griffiths, S., Johnston, R., May, R., McOmish, D., Marshall, P., Last, J., and Bayliss, A. 2021. Dividing the land: time and land division in the English North Midlands and Yorkshire. European Journal of Archaeology, 1-22.
Johnston R. 2021. Bronze Age Worlds: a social prehistory of Britain and Ireland. London: Routledge.
Cook, I., Johnston, R. and Selby, K. 2021. Climate change and cultural heritage: a landscape vulnerability framework. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 16 (2-4), 553-571.
Levene, R., Nesbitt, I., and Johnston, R. 2019. The Boundary. In E. Speight (ed.) Practising Place. Preston: InCertain Places.
Marwood, Kimberley, Esme Cleall, Vicky Crewe, David Forrest, Toby Pillatt, Gemma Thorpe and Robert Johnston. 2019. From researching heritage to action heritage. In Jo Vergunst and Helen Graham (eds). Heritage as Community Research: Legacies of Co-Production. Bristol: Policy Press.
Pillatt, T., Thorpe, G., Johnston, R. and Marwood, K. 2018. A break in the clouds: connecting community experiences in Mosser, Cumbria. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology 5(2), 117-134.
Smith, George, Astrid. E. Caseldine, David Hopewell, Robert Johnston and Richard I. Macphail. 2018. Archaeological and environmental investigation of three prehistoric field systems in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, Internet Archaeology 47.
Johnston, R, and K. Marwood. 2017. Action heritage: research, communities, social justice. International Journal of Heritage Studies 23(9), 816-831.
Vergunst, J., Curtis, E., Davis, O., Graham, H. Johnston, R., and Shepherd, C. 2017. Material Legacies: shaping things and places through heritage. In K. Facer, and K. Pahl (eds). Valuing Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research Beyond Impact. Bristol: Policy Press.
Johnston R. 2013. Bronze Age field and land division. In H. Fokkens and A. Harding (eds). Handbook to the European Bronze Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 307-323.
Badcock, A and Johnston R. 2013. Protest In P. Graves-Brown, R. Harrison and A. Piccini (Eds) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 321-335.
Barker, L., Driver, T., Johnston, R., and Davis, O. 2012. Puffins amidst prehistory: re-interpreting the deep chronology of Skomer Island. In W. Britnell and R. Silvester (Ed.) Reflections on the Past: essays in honour of Frances Lynch. Welshpool: Cambrian Archaeological Association, 280-302.
Badcock, A. and Johnston, R. 2009. Placemaking through protest: an archaeology of the Lees Cross and Endcliffe Protest Camp, Derbyshire, England. Archaeologies 5(2), 306-322.
Ghey, E., Edwards, N., and Johnston, R. 2008. Categorising roundhouse settlements in Wales: a critical perspective. Studia Celtica 42, 1-25.
Fyfe, RM, Roland, T, Brück, J, Johnston, R, Lewis, H and Wickstead, H. 2008. Historical context and chronology of Bronze Age enclosure on Dartmoor, UK. Journal of Archaeological Science 35, 2250-2261.
Johnston, R. 2008. Copper mining and the transformation of environmental knowledge in Bronze Age Britain. Journal of Social Archaeology 8(2), 190-213.
Johnston, R. 2008. Later prehistoric landscapes. In J. Pollard (ed.) Prehistoric Britain. Oxford: Blackwell, 268-287.
Cummings, V. and Johnston R. (eds) 2007. Prehistoric Journeys. Oxford: Oxbow.
Ghey, E., Edwards, N., Johnston, R. and Pope, R. 2007. Characterising the Welsh Roundhouse: chronology, inhabitation and landscape Internet Archaeology 23.
Johnston, R. 2005. A social archaeology of garden plots in the Bronze Age of northern and western Britain. World Archaeology 37(2), 211-223.
Johnston, R. 2005. Pattern without a plan: rethinking the Bronze Age coaxial field systems on Dartmoor, south-west England. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 24(1), 1-21.
Harding, J. and Johnston R. (eds) 2000. Northern Pasts: interpretations of the prehistory of northern England and southern Scotland. BAR (Brit Ser), Oxford.
Johnston, R. 1998. The paradox of landscape. Journal of European Archaeology 1 (3), 313-325.
Johnston, R. 1998. Approaches to the perception of landscape: philosophy, theory, methodology. Archaeological Dialogues 5(1), 54-68.