Dr. Ken Dark

"After taking his PhD at the University of Cambridge, Ken Dark has taught at Cambridge, Oxford and Reading Universities, and currently holds a lectureship at the University of Reading. He is Chair of the Late Antiquity Research Group, holds honorary professorships from European and American universities, and is the author of numerous publications, including Britain and the End of the Roman Empire, Civitas to Kingdom, Theoretical Archaeology and The Landscape of Roman Britain. He has directed archaeological excavations and surveys in Britain, and is currently director of the Istanbul Archaeological Rescue Project.

Chair of GCMS, Director of the Research Centre for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies

Main Area of Work: Archaeology (Roman, Dark Age, Celtic, Byzantine, Theory);History (Roman, Dark Age, Celtic, Byzantine, Theory); Byzantine studies (including Istanbul. Constantinople);
Global political and economic change

Director of the Research Centre for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies;

Research Interests:

Archaeology (Roman, Dark Age, Celtic, Byzantine, Theory);
History (Roman, Dark Age, Celtic, Byzantine, Theory);
Byzantine studies (including Istanbul. Constantinople);
Global political and economic change

The archaeology and history of Europe (including Britain) and the Middle East in the 1st millennium AD (including Roman, Late Antique, Byzantine and Viking Age studies).

Archaeological and historical method and theory.
Field archaeology (excavation, geophysical and surface survey) and artefact studies (esp. ceramics and sculpture).
The study of large-scale, long-term, social, political and economic change (especially the formation and collapse of states and regional political and economic systems).

Other Expertise
Detailed knowledge of theory and academic debate in cognate discplines (especially political science, economics, anthropology and social theory)

Detailed knowledge of Complexity Theory and its application to human societies.

Contact: k.r.dark@reading.ac.uk