Jennifer Foster

English scholar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jennifer Foster is an English scholar of prehistoric and medieval archaeology, who specializes in the study of artifacts, particularly metalwork.

Born
England
OccupationsArchaeologist, scholar
EmployerUniversity of Reading
KnownforPrehistoric and medieval archaeology; study of metalwork artifacts
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Jennifer Foster
Born
England
OccupationsArchaeologist, scholar
EmployerUniversity of Reading
Known forPrehistoric and medieval archaeology; study of metalwork artifacts
SpouseMartin Bell
Academic work
DisciplineArchaeology
Sub-disciplinePrehistoric and Medieval Archaeology, Artifact Studies, Metalwork
InstitutionsBritish Museum, Ashmolean Museum, University of Reading
Main interestsMetalwork, Iron Age and Roman Britain
Notable worksBronze Boar Figurines in Iron Age and Roman Britain, The Lexden Tumulus, Life and Death in the Iron Age, The Iron Age Moulds from Gussage All Saints
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Career

Foster is a scholar of prehistoric and medieval archaeology, who specializes in the study of artifacts.[1] She formerly worked at the British Museum, and at the University of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum.[1] She teaches at the University of Reading.[2] For the last 30 years she has taught archaeology to continuing education students at the university, with classes such as "The Ethics of Archaeology" and "The Legend and Archaeology of King Arthur."[1] She has given talks on subjects such as experimental archaeology, and Sutton Hoo.[3][4]

Personal life

Foster is married to Martin Bell,[5] a professor of archaeological science at the University of Reading.[6]

Publications

In addition to a number of articles and chapters, Foster has written four monographs, including one on Iron Age and Roman boar figurines, one on the Lexden tumulus,[7] and one an introduction to European archaeology before the Roman conquest, based on the collection in the British Ashmolean Museum.[8]

Foster's first book, Bronze Boar Figurines in Iron Age and Roman Britain,[9] described and illustrated 22 examples of bronze boars from the Iron Age and Roman Britain, and described the animal's millennia-long role in European cultures;[10] a related article that came out the same year, "A Boar Figurine from Guilden Morden, Cambs.", detailed the Guilden Morden boar, a sixth- or seventh-century Anglo-Saxon copper alloy figure of a boar that may have once served as the crest of a helmet.[11] In a 1995 article she argued that Iron Age smiths creating high quality metalwork in Britain might have travelled around stopping at different sites, rather than having a fixed abode, and would produce multiple pieces at each site, as at Gussage All Saints, Dorset.[12]

Books

  • Foster, Jennifer (1977b). "Bronze Boar Figurines in Iron Age and Roman Britain". British Archaeological Reports. 39. ISBN 978-0-904531-74-9.
  • Foster, Jennifer (1980). The Iron Age Moulds from Gussage All Saints. Occasional Papers. Vol. 12. London: British Museum. ISBN 0-86159-011-2.
  • Foster, Jennifer (1986). "The Lexden Tumulus: A Re-Appraisal of an Iron Age Burial from Colchester, Essex". British Archaeological Reports. 156. ISBN 0-86054-408-7.
  • Foster, Jennifer (2002). Life and Death in the Iron Age. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum. ISBN 1-85444-179-5.

Chapters

  • Foster, Jennifer (1993). "The identification of male and female graves using grave goods". In Struck, Manuela (ed.). Römerzeitliche Gräber als Quellen zu Religion, Bevölkerungsstruktur und Sozialgeschichte: internationale Fachkonferenz vom 18.-20. Februar 1991 im Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. Archäologische Schriften des Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. Vol. 3. Mainz: Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. pp. 207–212. ISBN 3-928957-02-3.

Articles

  • Includes "Copper alloy objects (excluding brooches)" (pp. 143–147), "Iron and copper alloy needles" (p. 186), "Copper alloy bracelets" (p. 192), "Copper alloy pins" (pp. 192–194), "Copper alloy rings" (p. 194), "Composite rings" (pp. 194–196), "Copper alloy buttons and dress fasteners" (p. 196), "Copper alloy sheet" (pp. 196–197), "Possible mirror" (p. 197), "Metal containers and container fittings: copper alloy" (pp. 227–228), "Harness equipment" (pp. 233–235), "Violence" (pp. 235–242), "Stone, clay, and copper alloy weighing equipment" (pp. 247–248), "Coral" (p. 262)

Reviews

References

Bibliography

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