Tom Williams - BA (Hons), MA

School: College of Humanities
Department: Archaeology

During the first year of my undergraduate course at the University of Reading I discovered how experimental research can contribute to our understanding of archaeology. Not only furthering our understanding of technological achievements in the past but also providing us with a window on prehistoric behaviour. It is this passion for experimentation, in particular stone tool technology that has led me to come to Exeter to study for my PhD.

My undergraduate dissertation focused on the projectile points of the Neolithic, and involved a series of carefully measured experiments to build accurate data on the penetrative forces of different types of Neolithic arrowheads (a brief summary of which can be found at http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/archaeology/arch_Williams_Wainwright.pdf).

My MA research led me in an entirely new direction, focusing on Blade technologies and landscape use during the Late Upper Palaeolithic, exploring the connections between upland living and resource gathering as well as the various connections between sites in the same geographic location.

My PhD research aims to expand on the Solutrean-Clovis hypothesis proposed by Dennis Stanford and Bruce Bradley. Using the skills i learnt during my MA studying Blade technologies I hope to expand on their theories by looking at the specific blade technologies from both continents from 22,000 - 10,000BP