Lindsey Buster

Based in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Education

Lindsey studied at University College London (2003-2006; BSc), the University of York (2006-2007; MA) and the University of Bradford (2009-2012), where she completed her PhD on Iron Age roundhouses in Scotland. Lindsey has since been a post-doctoral researcher (2014-2018) on the ENTRANS, Sculptor’s Cave and the Continuing Bonds projects at the University of Bradford, before becoming a Teaching Fellow in European Iron Age Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh (2018-2019). In addition to her role as Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology, she is funerary archaeology lead on the ERC-funded COMMIOS Project (based at the University of York), which uses socio-cultural and scientific approaches (osteology, stable isotopes and aDNA) to understand Iron Age population dynamics, connectivity and mobility across Britain and the Near Continent.

As Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology at CCCU, Lindsey teaches 'Themes in Holocence Prehistory', 'The Archaeology of Preshitoric Britain' and 'Foragers and Farmers in Prehistoric Europe'.

Lindsey’s research focuses on the intersection of ritual and domestic life in later prehistory. Her interests include the ritualisation of the domestic sphere, non-normative funerary practices and the application of contemporary social theory to past societies. Lindsey co-directs fieldwork at the Covesea Caves: a prehistoric mortuary landscape in north-east Scotland, and co-authored Darkness Visible: The Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea, from the Bronze Age to the Picts, published by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Her co-edited volume Between Worlds explores the enigmatic nature of cave landscapes at a global scale.

Inspired by her work on the AHRC-funded Continuing Bonds Project, which used archaeology as a catalyst for discussions around death, dying and bereavement among palliative care professionals today, Lindsey’s research also examines the insights that contemporary lived experiences can shed on our interpretation of cached objects in the archaeological record. Her publication on Problematic Stuff in Antiquity, has also recently featured in Sapiens magazine.

Research Projects

Exploring prehistoric experiences of child loss and grief: Navigating infant mortality in Iron Age Britain. Researcher(s): Miss Carrie Ann Woollard. Supervisor(s): Dr Lindsey Buster, Dr Jacqueline Wier. [Postgraduate Research Project]
The Influential Landscape: Understanding the dynamics of rural castle siting patterns on regional and local scales in the medieval southwest c. 1066-1200. Researcher(s): Miss Alison Norton. Supervisor(s): Dr Lindsey Buster, Professor Leonie Hicks. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Transitional Canterbury: Non-Conformist Graves as Markers of Place and People from Roman to Early Anglo-Saxon Eras. Researcher(s): Miss Adelina Teoaca. Supervisor(s): Dr Ellie Williams, Dr Lindsey Buster. [Postgraduate Research Project]

Research and knowledge exchange

Recognition

Winner of the Historic Environment Scotland Research Showcase (2016)
New Generation Thinkers 2017 Finalist (AHRC/BBC Radio 3)
Winner of the Saltire Society Research Book of the Year 2021
Short-listed for Current Archaeology Research Project of the Year 2022

Media

Underground Britain. Lion TV (for Channel 5). First broadcast 23rd October 2014.
Mystic Britain. Blink TV (for the Smithsonian Channel). First broadcast 4th June 2019.
Bone Detectives: Britain’s Buried Secrets. Tern TV (for Channel 4). First broadcast 11th January 2020.

Teaching and subject expertise

Membership

Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA)
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Prehistoric Society
European Association of Archaeologists

Committee Responsibilities

CIfA Scottish Special Interest Group

Conference organising committees

Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) 2015, University of Bradford
Iron Age Research Group Student Symposium (IARSS) 2010, University of Bradford
First Millennium Studies Group Day Seminar 2011, University of Edinburgh

Session Organisation

European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting

2014, Istanbul: Caves as Ritual Spaces in Later Prehistory (with Dimitrij Mlekuž, University of Ljubljana; Eugène Warmenbol, Free University of Brussels)

2015, Glasgow: Human Remains in Caves (with Eugène Warmenbol, Free University of Brussels)

2016, Vilnius: Transcending Borders in Later Prehistoric Europe (with Ian Armit, University of Bradford; Hrvoje Potrebica, University of Zagreb; Matija Črešnar, University of Ljubljana; and Philip Mason, Centre for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia)

Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting

2015, San Francisco: Biographies of Enclosure in Global Context (with Jennifer Birch, University of Georgia; Ian Armit, University of Bradford)

Publications and research outputs

Fowler, C., Olalde, I., Cummings, V., Armit, I., Büster, L., Cuthbert, S., Rohland, N., Cheronet, O., Pinhasi, R., and Reich, D. 2021. ‘Complex kinship practices revealed in a five-generation family from Neolithic Britain’, Nature 601: 584–587.

Patterson, N., Isakov, M., Booth, T., Büster, L., Fischer, C.-E., Olalde, I., Ringbauer, H.... [et al] ... Pinhasi, R., Armit, I. and Reich, D. 2021. ‘Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age’, Nature 601: 588–594.

Armit, I. and Büster, L. 2020. Darkness Visible. The Sculptor’s Cave, NE Scotland: From the Bronze Age to the Picts. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Büster, L., Warmenbol, E. and Mlekuž, D. (eds) 2019. Between Worlds: Understanding Ritual Cave Use in Later Prehistory. New York: Springer.

Armit, I., Potrebica, H., Črešnar, M., Mason, P. and Büster, L. (eds) 2016. Cultural Encounters in Iron Age Europe. Budapest: Archaeolingua, Minor Series 38.

Büster, L. 2021. ‘Problematic stuff: death, memory and the reinterpretation of cached objects’. Antiquity 95(382): 973–985. Doi: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2021.81

Büster, L. 2021. ‘Iron Age mnemonics: a biographical approach to dwelling in later prehistoric Britain’. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000263

Croucher, K., Büster, L., Dayes, J., Green, L., Raynsford, J., Comerford Boyes, L. and Faull, C. 2020. ‘Archaeology and contemporary death: using the past to provoke, challenge and engage’, PLoS ONE 15(12): e0244058. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244058.

Letting go of attachment objects: Insights from the ‘Problematic Stuff’ of later prehistoric Britain and beyond Lindsey Buster, (15 Nov 2024), Archaeologies of Attachment: Emotional Attachments in the Archaeological Record. Cham: Springer. [Book chapter]
Kinship practices in Early Iron Age southeast Europe: genetic and isotopic analysis of burials from the Dolge njive barrow cemetery, Dolenjska, Slovenia Armit, I., Fischer, C.-E., Koon, H., Nicholls, R., Olalde, I., Rohland, N., Buckberry, J, Montgomery, J., Mason, P., Crešnar, M., Buster, L., Reich, D., (Apr 2023): Cambridge University Press. [Journal article]
Mediating worlds: the role of nurses as ritual specialists in caring for the dead and dying Buster, L., Croucher, K., Green, L., Faull, C., (17 Apr 2023, 02 Jul 2024): Informa UK Limited. [Journal article]
Rural settlement: relating buildings, landscape, and people in the European Iron Age rural settlement: relating buildings, landscape, and people in the European Iron Age, edited by D. C. Cowley, M. Fernández-Götz, T. Romankiewicz and H. Wendling, Leiden, Sidestone Press, 2019, 286 pp., Illus. 118, €135.00 (Hardback), ISBN 9789088908194, €45.00 (Paperback), ISBN 9789088908187, open access (e-book) Buster, L., (09 May 2023, 03 Jul 2023): Informa UK Limited. [Journal article]
From human remains to powerful objects: Ancestor research from a deep-time perspective Buster, L., (10 Mar 2022): MDPI. [Journal article]
Prospections géophysiques sur le plateau, en 2010 et 2011 Armit, I., Gaffney, C., Hayes, A., Parkyn, A., Friel, R., Buster, L., (10 Jan 2022), Entremont, une agglomeration de Provence au IIe siècle avant notre ère. [Book chapter]
Signs from the Pictish underground: Early medieval cave ritual in Scotland Buster, L., Armit, I., (28 May 2022), Cave Rituals in Medieval Europe, AD 500-1500. Oxford: Oxbow Books. [Book chapter]
'Problematic stuff': death, memory and the reinterpretation of cached objects Buster, L., (22 Jun 2021): Cambridge University Press, Antiquity Publications. [Journal article]
A high-resolution picture of kinship practices in an Early Neolithic tomb Fowler, C., Olalde, I., Cummings, V., Armit, I., Buster, L., Cuthbert, S., Rohland, N., Cheronet, O., Pinhasi, R., Reich, D, (22 Dec 2021, 27 Jan 2022): Springer Nature. [Journal article]
A summary round-up list of Scottish archaeological human remains that have been sampled/analysed for DNA between January 2019 and November 2021 Knight, M. G., Sheridan, A., Skoglund, P., Booth, T., Brown, L., Riech, D., Armit, I., Bonsall, C., Anastasiadou, K., Boyle, A., Buster, L., Carver, M., Gilardet, A., Kelly, M., McCabe, J., Montgomery, J., Pickard, C., Rhodes, D., Silva, M., Williams, M.: Archaeology Scotland. [Journal article]
Iron Age mnemonics: A biographical approach to dwelling in later prehistoric Britain Buster, L., (07 May 2021): Cambridge University Press. [Journal article]
Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age Patterson, N., Isakov, M., Buster, L., Booth, T., Fischer, C-E., Reich, D., others, (22 Dec 2021, 27 Jan 2022): Springer Nature. [Journal article]
Le projet COMMIOS. Un nouveau regard sue les populations de l’Age du Fer en Europe Fischer, C-E., Bleasdale, M., Buster, L., Primeau, C., Booth, T., Reich, D., Armit, I., (2021): L’Association française pour l’étude de l’âge du Fer. [Journal article]
Manuel Fernández-Götz and Nico Roymans, eds. Conflict Archaeology: Materialities of Collective Violence from Prehistory to Late Antiquity (Themes in Contemporary Archaeology 5. Oxford: Routledge, 2018, xiv and 236 pp., 122 figs., 2 tables, hbk, ISBN 978-1-138-50211-6) Buster, L., (27 Jan 2021): Cambridge University Press. [Journal article]
Materialising memories: Inheritance, performance and practice at Broxmouth hillfort, south-east Scotland Buster, L., Armit, I., (2021), Gardening time: Reflections on memory, monuments and history in Scotland and Sardinia. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. [Book chapter]
Prospections géophysiques sur la plateau, en 2010 et 2011 Armit, I., Bryant, A., Gaffney, C., Parkyn, A., Friel, R., Buster, L., (2021), Entremont: Une Agglomération de Provence au IIe Siècle Avant Notre Ère. Montpellier. [Book chapter]
Redefining the timing and circumstances of the chicken's introduction to Europe and north-west Africa Best, J., Doherty, S., Armit, I., Boev, Z., Buster, L., Cunliffe, B., Foster, A., Frimet, B., Hamilton-Dyer, S., Higham, T., Lebrasseur, O., Mepham, L., Miller, H., Peters, J., Seigle, M., Skelton, C., Symmons, R., Thomas, R., Trentacoste, A., Maltby, M., Larson, G., Sykes, N., (07 Jun 2022): Cambridge University Press, Antiquity Publications. [Journal article]
Why couldn’t Iron Age people throw some stuff?away? Buster, L., (14 Sep 2021): Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, University of Chicago Press. [Journal article]
A brief consideration of the later prehistoric appearance and possible significance of the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) in the Covesea Caves of north-east Scotland Fitzpatrick, A., Bond, J., Buster, L., Armit, I.: Andersonian Naturalists of Glasgow. [Journal article]
Archaeology and contemporary death: Using the past to provoke, challenge and engage Karina Croucher, Buster, L., Jennifer Dayes, Laura Green, Justine Raynsford, Louise Comerford Boyes, Christina Faull, (29 Dec 2020): Public Library of Science. [Journal article]
Darkness visible: The Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea, from the Bronze Age to the Picts Armit, I., Buster, L., (Sep 2020). Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . [Book]
New light on the Covesea Caves, north-east Scotland Buster, L., Armit, I., Fitzpatrick, A., (2020): The Prehistoric Society. [Journal article]
Between worlds: bridging the divide between method and theory in understanding the ritual use of caves in later prehistory Buster, L., Warmenbol, E., Mlekuz, D., (2019), Between Worlds: Understanding Ritual Cave Use in Later Prehistory. Cham: Springer. [Book chapter]
Between worlds: Understanding ritual cave use in later prehistory, (2019). Cham: Springer. [Book]
From macro to micro: multi-scalar digital approaches at The Sculptor’s Cave, NE Scotland Buster, L., Evans, A., Armit, I., Kershaw, R., Sparrow, T., Wilson, A. S., (2019), Between Worlds: Understanding Ritual Cave Use in Later Prehistory. Cham: Springer. [Book chapter]
The Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea: Shining new light on an old archive Buster, L., Armit, I., (2014): Archaeology Scotland. [Journal article]
Animated worlds: digital capture technologies at the Sculptor’s Cave Buster, L., Armit, I.: Archaeology Scotland. [Journal article]
Bodies and embodiment Buster, L., (26 Nov 2018), Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. [Book chapter]
From plastered skulls to palliative care: what the past can teach us about dealing with death Buster, Lindsey, Karina Croucher, Jennifer Dayes, Laura Green, Christina Faull, (2018): Open Journal Systems. [Journal article]
The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe Olade, I., Brace, S., Buster, L., Allentoft, M., et al., (21 Feb 2018, 08 Mar 2018): Springer Nature. [Journal article]
Underworld encounters: recent archaeological research at the Covesea Caves Buster, L., Armit, I., (2018), Forgotten, Hidden and Lost: Unearthing Moray’s Archaeology. Proceedings of the Elgin Museum Archaeology Conference 2017. Elgin, Scotland: Moray Society. [Book chapter]
Can the Victorians teach us to talk about death? Buster, L., (13 Aug 2017). [Journal article]
Death and Burial in Iron Age Britain, by D. W. Harding Buster, L., (02 Mar 2017). [Journal article]
Habiter à Broxmouth : une approche biographique des roundhouses de l'âge du Fer Buster, Lindsey, (2017), Interdisciplinarité et nouvelles approches dans les recherches sur l'âge du Fer. Brno: Masarykova univerzita. [Book chapter]
Review: Marion Dowd (ed.). 2016. Underground Archaeology: Studies on Human Bones and Artefacts from Ireland's Caves, Oxbow Books Buster, L., (2021): The Prehistoric Society. [Journal article]
Review: Underground Archaeology by Marion Dowd (ed) Buster, L., (2017): The Prehistoric Society. [Journal article]
See the Sculptor’s Cave in 3D Buster, L., (Nov 2017): Current Publishing. [Journal article]
What we can learn from death rites of the past will help us treat the dead and grieving better today? Buster, L., Dayes, J., (11 Aug 2017): The Conversation Trust. [Journal article]
What we can learn from death rites of the past will help us treat the dead and grieving better today? Buster, L., Dayes, J., (19 Aug 2017): Independent. [Journal article]
Cultural encounters in Iron Age Europe, (2016). Budapest: Archaeolingua. [Book]
Developing the 3D imaging of Iron Age art in the ENTRANS Project Buster, L., Evans, A., Armit. I., Kershaw, R., (2016), Cultural Encounters in Iron Age Europe. Budapest: Archaeolingua. [Book chapter]
Meet the Barbarians: Taking a fresh look at the Iron Age of South-East Europe Armit, I., Buster, L., (2016): Current Publishing. [Journal article]
Ancestral homes? Roundhouses, memory and tradition at Broxmouth hillfort Armit, I., Buster, L., McKenzie, (2015): Current Publishing. [Journal article]
The Covesea Caves Project Armit, I., Buster, L.: Moray Field Club. [Journal article]
Caves as ritual spaces in later prehistoric Europe Buster, L., Warmenbol, E., Mlekuž, D., (2014): European Association of Archaeologists. [Journal article]
Encounters and Transformations in Iron Age Europe: the ENTRANS Project Armit, I., Potrebica, H., Crešnar, M., Mason, P., Buster, L., (Dec 2014): Department of Archaeology, Durham University. [Journal article]
Chapter 7- Phase 6: The Late Iron Age village Buster, L., (Dec 2013), An Inherited Place: Broxmouth Hillfort and the South-East Scottish Iron Age. [Book chapter]
Chapter 9 - Chronology: Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling Hamilton, D., McKenzie, J., Armit, I., Buster, L., An Inherited Place: Broxmouth Hillfort and the South-East Scottish Iron Age. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . [Book chapter]
CPD from both sides of the fence: Academic vs vocational training Buster, L., (2013): Chartered Institute for Archaeologists. [Journal article]
Dennis W. Harding, The Iron Age Round-House: Later Prehistoric Building in Britain and Beyond (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 350 pp., 16 pp. colour plates, 50 figs., hbk, ISBN 978-0-19-955857-5) Buster, L., (25 Jan 2017): Cambridge University Press. [Journal article]

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lindsey.buster@canterbury.ac.uk

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Faculty of Arts Humanities and Education

School of Humanities and Educational Studies

Dr Lindsey Buster