Dr Barry Taylor

Dr Taylor teaches across the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. His undergraduate teaching focuses on aspects of environment archaeology, notably the modules HI5010 Reconstructing Past Environments, HI5015 Ethnobotany and Experimental Archaeology, and HI6015 Bioarchaeology, and the archaeology of past and contemporary hunter-gatherers, notably modules HI4007 European Worlds and HI6019 Hunter-Gatherers: A Global Perspective. He also he also leads the postgraduate research skills module and supervises MRes and PhD students.

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Dr Taylor’s specialises in the archaeology and palaeoecology of northern Europe during the Mesolithic (c. 9600-4000 CBE), a period where much of the region was inhabited by human communities who lived by hunting and gathering. His research focuses on the relationships that formed between these human communities and their environment, and how this can help us to respond better to the environmental issues that we face today. He has directed archaeological excavations and palaeoenvironmental surveys on wetland sites across the north of England, including the internationally important site of Star Carr, and is currently involved in fieldwork projects in North Yorkshire and the Inner Hebrides.

Dr Taylor’s current research covers three main themes:

• How plant communities in the past were affected by human and non-human factors and how this can inform contemporary conservation strategies.

• How humans responded to the arrival of new plant species during the Mesolithic.

• How Mesolithic communities came to understand different plants and the nature of their relationship to them.

He also leads the Plant Encounters projects, which seeks to address the issue of Plant Blindness (our culturally induced tendency to overlook plants and the important roles they play), by showing how aspects of past human society were shaped by the different plant species they shared their world with. As part of the project he works in collaboration with colleagues from the School of Creative Media (University of Chester) to use dramatic performance, music, and creative writing as methods of disseminating archaeological and palaeoecological data.

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Milner, N., Conneller, C. and Taylor, B (2018). Star Carr, Volume 1.  A persistent place in a changing world. York: White Rose University Press.

Milner, N., Conneller, C. and Taylor, B (eds) (2018). Star Carr, Volume 2.  Studies in technology, subsistence and environment. York: White Rose University Press.

Milner, N., Taylor, B., Conneller, C. and Schadla-Hall, T. (2013) Star Carr: Life in Britain after the Ice Age. York. Council for British Archaeology.

Book Chapters

Taylor, B. Milner, N. and Conneller, C. (2019). Excavations at Star Carr: past, present and future. In Groß, D., Lübke, H., Meadows, J. and Jantzen, D. (Eds.), Working at the sharp end: from bone and antler to Early Mesolithic life in Northern Europe. Schleswig: Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie.

Elliott, B., Taylor, B., Knight, B., Milner, N., Robson, H. K., Pomstra, D., Little, A. and Conneller, C. (2019). Bone and antler from Star Carr. In Groß, D., Lübke, H., Meadows, J. and Jantzen, D. (Eds.), Working at the sharp end: from bone and antler to Early Mesolithic life in Northern Europe. Schleswig: Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie.

Taylor, B. (2017). Early Holocene wetland succession in Lake Flixton. In Lincoln, P., Eddy, L., Matthews, I, Palmer, A. and Bateman M (eds). The Quaternary of the Vale of Pickering. QRA Field Guide. (Quaternary Research Association: London). pp.148-154.

Taylor, B., Conneller, C. and Milner, N. (2017). Palaeoenvironmental and archaeological Investigations at Star Carr. In Lincoln, P., Eddy, L., Matthews, I, Palmer, A. and Bateman M (eds). The Quaternary of the Vale of Pickering. QRA Field Guide. (Quaternary Research Association: London). pp.155-165.

Milner, N. Taylor, B., Conneller, C. (2017). Excavations at Flixton Island. In Lincoln, P., Eddy, L., Matthews, I, Palmer, A. and Bateman M (eds). The Quaternary of the Vale of Pickering. QRA Field Guide. (Quaternary Research Association: London). pp.155-165.

Milner, N., Conneller, C. and Taylor, B. (2015) Recent work at Star Carr: a POSTGLACIAL landscape study. In Bicho, N., Detry, C., Price, T. D. & Cunha, E. (eds.) Muge 150th: The 150th Anniversary of the Discovery of Mesolithic Shell middens-Volume 2. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Press, p. 125-138.

Taylor, B. (2014) Environmental archaeology at Star Carr. In Smith, C. (ed). The Encyclopaedia of Global Archaeology. Springer.

Conneller, C., Milner, N., Schadla-Hall, T. & Taylor, B. (2009) Star Carr in the new millennium. In Finlay, N., McCartan, S., Milner, N., and Wickham-Jones, C. (eds) From Bann flakes to Bushmills. Papers in Honour of Peter Woodman. Prehistoric Society Research Paper 1, 78-100. Oxford: Oxbow books.

Conneller, C., Milner, N., Schadla-Hall, T .&  Taylor, B. (2009) The temporality of the Mesolithic landscape: New work at Star Carr. In Crombe, P., Van Strydonck, M., Sergant, J., Boudin, M. & Bats, M. (eds) Chronology and Evolution within the Mesolithic of North-West Europe. Cambridge: Scholars' Press.

Peer reviewed journal articles

Taylor, B. (2019). Early Holocene wetland succession in the palaeo-Lake Flixton. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany.

Blockley, S., Matthews, I., Candy, I., Langdon, P., Langdon, C., Palmer, A., Lincoln, P., Brook, A., Macleod, A., Taylor, B., Conneller, C., Bayliss, A., Deeprose, L., Darvill,C.,  Kearney,R., Beavan, N., Staf, R. and Milner, N. (2018). The resilience of Postglacial hunter-gatherers to abrupt climate change. Nature; Ecology and Evolution 5:810–818.

Overton, N, and Taylor, B. (2018). Landscapes and environment in Mesolithic archaeology. Journal of World Prehistory 31(3):385–402.

Taylor, B. (2018). Subsistence, environment and Mesolithic landscape archaeology. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 28:493-510.

Needham, A., Croft, S., Kroger, R., Robson, H., Rowley, C., Taylor, B., Gray Jones, A. and Conneller, C. 2018. The application of micro-Raman for the analysis of ochre artefacts from Mesolithic palaeo-lake Flixton. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 17:650-656.

Taylor, B., Elliott, B, Conneller, C. & Milner, N. Bayliss, A., Knight, B., Bamforth, M. (2017) Resolving the issue of artefact deposition at Star Carr. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 83. 23-42.

Conneller, C., Bayliss, A., Milner, N. and Taylor, B. (2016) The Resettlement of the British Landscape: Towards a chronology of Early Mesolithic lithic assemblage types. Internet Archaeology 42. DOI:10.11141/ia.42.12.

Milner, N., Bamforth, M., Beale, G., Carty, J. C., Chatzipanagis, K., Croft, S., Elliott, B., Fitton, L. C., Knight, B., Kroger, R., Little, A., Needham, A., Robson, H. K., Rowley, C. A, and Taylor, B. (2016). A unique engraved shale pendant from the site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain. Internet Archaeology 40. DOI:10.11141/ia.40.8.

Little, A., Elliott, B., Conneller, C., Pomstra, D., Evans, A., Fitton, J., Holland, A., Davis, R., Kershaw, R., O Connor, S., O Connor, T., Wilson, A., Jordan, P., Collins, M., Colonese, A., Craig, O., Khnight, R., Lucquin, J., Taylor, B.  and Milner, N. (2016). Technological Analysis of the World ’ s Earliest Shamanic Costume: A Multi-Scalar, Experimental Study of a Red Deer Headdress from the Early Holocene Site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire, UK. PlosONE DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0152136.

Albert, B., Innes, J., Blackford, J., Taylor, B., Conneller, C., & Milner, N. (2016). Degradation of the wetland sediment archive at Star Carr: An assessment of current palynological preservation. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 6:488-495.

Robson, HK, Little, A, Jones, AKG, Blockley, S, Candy, I, Matthews, I, Palmer, A, Schreve, D, Tong, E, Pomstra, D, Fletcher, L, Hausmann, N, Taylor, B, Conneller, C and Milner, N. (2016). 'Scales of analysis: Evidence of fish and fish processing at Star Carr' Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 17: 895-903.

Candy, I., Farry, A., Darvill, C. M., Palmer, A., Blockley, S. P. E., Matthews, I. P., MacLeod, A., Deeprose, L., Farley, N., Kearney, R., Conneller, C., Taylor, B. & Milner, N. (2015) The evolution of Palaeolake Flixton and the environmental context of Star Carr: an oxygen and carbon isotopic record of environmental change for the early Holocene. Proceedings of the Geologists Association 126:60-71.

Palmer, A.P., Matthews, I.P., Candy, I., Blockley, S.P.E., MacLeod, A., Darvill, C.M., Milner, N., Conneller, C. & Taylor, B. (2015) The evolution of Palaeolake Flixton and the environmental context of Star Carr, NE. Yorkshire: stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT) lacustrine sequence. Proceedings of the Geologists Association, 126:50-59.

Conneller, C., Milner, N., Taylor, B. & Taylor, M. (2012) Substantial settlement in the European early Mesolithic: new research at Star Carr. Antiquity 86(334):1004-1020.

Taylor, B. (2012) Early Mesolithic activity in the wetlands of the Lake Flixton Basin. Journal of Wetland Archaeology 11:1, 63-84.

Milner, N., Lane, P., Taylor, B., Conneller, C. & Schadla-Hall, T. (2012) Star Carr in a postglacial lakescape: 60 years of research. Journal of Wetland Archaeology 11(1):1-17.

Milner, N., Conneller, C., Taylor, B., Koon, H., Penkman, K., Elliott, B., Panter, I. & Taylor, M. (2011) From Riches to rags: Organic deterioration at Star Carr. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(10): 2818-2832.

Boreham, S., Conneller, C., Milner, N,. Taylor, B., Needham, A., Boreham, J. & Rolfe, C. (2011) Geochemical Indicators of preservation status and site deterioration at Star Carr. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(10): 2833-2857.

Hadley, P., Hall, A., Taylor, M., Needham, A., Taylor, B., Conneller, C., and Milner, N. (2010) To block lift or not to block lift? An experiment at the early Mesolithic Site of Star Carr, North-East Yorkshire, UK. Internet Archaeology 28  DOI:10.11141/ia.28.2.

• BA (Durham)
• MA (Durham)
• PhD (Manchester)