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After a first degree in Archaeology and Anthropology (Cambridge) and MA in Roman archaeology (Durham) my doctoral thesis Roman examined provincial burial practice (Durham). I worked at Oxford as research assistant on the Vindolanda writing tablets project and online editions of ancient documents before coming to King’s in 2003.

• Archaeology of the Roman Empire, especially Rome's north-west provinces and Roman Italy
• Archaeology of death and burial
• Archaeology of documents and literacy
• Archaeology of Roman and pre-Roman landscapes

My research interests lie in Roman archaeology, especially Italy and the provinces of north-western Europe. I am especially interested in funerary evidence as a source for understanding Roman society, including commemorative memorials, burial rituals and the remains of the dead themselves. From 2002-2007 I co-directed a survey project in the Marche region of Italy, which explored the urbanisation process in an upland landscape, characterised by spectacular Iron Age tombs and a dense network of Roman towns. I maintain an interest in Roman frontiers and the archaeology of documents.

Death & burial in the Roman world

I have a long-standing research focus in the archaeology of death and burial in the Roman world. My doctoral thesis investigated funerary data, both archaeological and epigraphic, as a source of evidence for Romano-British society. My thesis is currently in preparation for publication and I am planning a more general book on Romano-British funerary practice. I am also participating in the development of a collaborative project (directed by Profs. P. Garnsey and M. Millett, (Cambridge University) and Paola Catalano, Soprintendenza Archeologica for Rome) on the society of imperial period Rome and its hinterland, viewed through anthropological and archaeological data from recent large-scale cemetery excavations.

Writing tablets

Before coming to King's College London I worked as research assistant in the preparation of the third volume of writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda, just south of Hadrian's Wall (Vindolanda Tablets Online). In collaboration with colleages at the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, I published a web edition of the tablets that also includes an introduction to the archaeological context of the site and to the uses of writing tablets at Vindolanda. I continue to be involved in a similar project to make curse tablets available from south-western Britain. I am also exploring how archaeological evidence, including writing materials themselves and the contexts in which they are found, can inform the study of literacy and the use of documents in the Roman world.

Upper Esino Valley Survey

In conjunction with other researchers based at Oxford and Durham I have recently initiated a field survey project in the Marche, Italy, exploring the urbanisation process in an upland landscape, previously characterised by spectacular Iron Age tombs without a settlement context and a dense network of poorly understood Roman towns. The fifth season will take place in 2006.

• John Pearce (2011)  'BURIAL RITUALS AND FUNERARY CULT IN ROMAN IMPERIAL TIMES' JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES, 101, pp. 258-259.
  [Book Review (Print)]
• G Cook, G H Jackson, G J Morgan, N Russell, K Kirkland, J Lee, R Pearce, D I Marks, A Pagliuca (2011)  'The outcome of high-dose chemotherapy and auto-SCT in patients with multiple myeloma: a UK/Ireland and European benchmarking comparative analysis' Bone Marrow Transplantation, 46 (9), pp. 1210-1218.
  [Article in print Journal]
• John Pearce (2010)  'The Beautiful Burial in Roman Egypt Art, Identity and Funerary Religion' CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, 20 (3), pp. 468-470.
  [Book Review (Print)]
• W A Stewart, R Pearce, K E Kirkland, A Bloor, K Thomson, J Apperley, G McQuaker, D I Marks, C Craddock, S McCann, N Russell, G Cook, P D Kottaridis (2010)  'The role of allogeneic SCT in primary myelofibrosis: a British Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation study' Bone Marrow Transplantation, 45 (11), pp. 1587-1593.
  [Article in print Journal]
• John Pearce (2009)  'Mortuary Landscapes of North Africa, vol 43' CLASSICAL REVIEW, 59 (1), pp. 239-241.
  [Book Review (Print)]
• John Pearce (2008)  'THE BURIAL OF THE URBAN POOR IN ITALY IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC AND EARLY EMPIRE' JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES, 98, pp. 264-264.
  [Book Review (Print)]
• Richard Pearce, C Riva, M Pretzler (2005) 'The Upper Esino Valley Survey: methods and interpretation in a transitional landscape', in Papers in Italian Archaeology VI. Communities and Settlements from the Neolithic to the early medieval period. Proceedings of the 6th Conference of Italian Archaeology held at the University of Groningen, Groningen Institute of Archaeology, Netherlands, April 15-17 2003,  pp. 1016-1023
  [Chapter]
• Richard John Pearce (2004)  'Archaeology, writing tablets and literacy in Roman Britain' Gallia, 61, pp. 43-51.
  [Article in print Journal]
• John Pearce, Maria Pretzler, Corinna Riva (2004) 'La carta archeologica del territorio Fabrianese', , Ancona:pp. 69-73
  [Conference Paper in Book (Print)]
• Alan K Bowman, J David Thomas, John Pearce (2003) Vindolanda Tablets (Tabulae Vindolandenses) Volume III London: British Museum Press 
  [Authored Book in print]
• Alan Bowman, Charles Crowther, John Pearce, J David Thomas (2003) Vindolanda Tablets Online
  [Web site]
• John Pearce (2002) 'Food as substance and symbol in the Roman army: a case study from Vindolanda', Limes XVIII - the XVIIIth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies held in Amman, Jordan (September 2000), Amman, Jordan 16-DEC-2002 Oxford:Archaeopress BAR pp. 931-944
  [Conference Paper in Book (Print)]
• Richard John Pearce (2002)  'Ritual and interpretation in provincial Roman cemeteries' BRITANNIA, 33, pp. 373-378.
  [Article in print Journal]
• John Pearce, Gwyn Davis, Andrew Gardner, Kris Lockyear (2001) 'Constructions of infancy - mortuary rituals for infants in the Roman provinces', Proceedings of the 10th Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Institute of Archaeology, University College London (6-7 April 2000) Oxford:Oxbow pp. 125-142
  [Conference Paper in Book (Print)]
• J Pearce (2001)  'Fasold, P., Fischer, T., von Hesberg, H., and Witteyer, M. (eds), Bestattungssitte und kulturelle Identitat. Grabanlagen und Grabbeigaben der fruhen romischen Kaiserzeit in Italien und den Nordwest-Provinzen' BRITANNIA, 32, 410
  [Book Review (Print)]
• John Pearce, J-C Goffroy (2001) 'Placed with the dead: depositional practice in burial and other contexts in southern Britain in the first and second centuries AD', Les nécropoles à incinération en Gaule Belgique. XIXe colloque internationale 12-13 decembre 1996, pp. 154-164
  [Conference Paper in Book (Print)]
• John Pearce, Martin Millett, Manuela Struck (2000) Burial, society and context in the Roman world Oxford: Oxbow 
  [Edited book in print]
• John Pearce, John Pearce, Martin Millett, Manuela Struck (2000) 'Burial, society and context in the provincial Roman World', , Durham, 1997 18-APR-1997 - 20-APR-1997 Oxford:Oxbow pp. 1-12        [Conference Paper in Book (Print)]

Undergraduate

• 4AACAHC1 The Ancient City
• 4AACCAC1 Archaeological Method I
• 4AACFY15 Entertainment Cultures in Greece and Rome
• 4AACFY31 Greek & Roman Antiquities in the British Museum
• 4AACFY33 The Archaeology of Capital Cities: Athens and Rome
• 5AACAR06 Roman Art    
• 5AACAR10 Building Greece & Rome   
• 5AACHI06 Roman Britain     
• 6AACAR09 Archaeology of the Western Roman Provinces  

Postgraduate

• 7AACM700 Research Training & Dissertation in Classical Archaeology     
• 7AACM731 Latin Epigraphy     
• 7AACM855 Archaeology of the Western Roman Provinces  
• 7AACM900 Roman Britain 

I am interested in supervising PhD students in:

• Archaeology of the Roman empire
• Archaeology of the dead
• Roman Britain

• Chair of MA programme board, Department of Classics
• First year tutor, Department of Classics
• Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (elected 2007)
• Member, Institute of Classical Studies Library Committee and Roman Society grants panel
• Honorary secretary, Roman Research Trust