Professor Jim Crow (M.Litt. BA. F.S.A., F.S.A. (Scot.))

Emeritus Professor of Roman and Byzantine Archaeology

Biography

Background

I studied Ancient and Medieval History at Birmingham University, with Anthony Bryer and Philip Rahtz, and went on to study Byzantine archaeology at Newcastle University with Martin Harrison, writing a thesis on the late Roman fortifications on the lower Danube, having spent 9 months in Sofia in 1975. I was later a research fellow at the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, and was subsequently director of excavations for the National Trust on Hadrian’s Wall from 1982-1989. After a year as lecturer in Ancient History and Archaeology at Warwick University, I was appointed to a lectureship in Archaeology at Newcastle University in 1990 and taught there until 2007. I came to Edinburgh in that year and have  helped to develop teaching and research in late antique and Byzantine studies.

Responsibilities & affiliations

I was Hon. Secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies from 1996-2006; I have a long association with the British Institute at Ankara and I’m currently a member of the research committee and council of managment. For many years I was on the Hadrian’s Wall management plan committee and currently in advisory roles on Hadrian's Wall and the Cheviots.

Undergraduate teaching

  • Archaeology 1A [[ARCA08004] (Contributor)
  • Archaeology 1B [ARCA08005](Contributor)
  • Archaeology 2A:Scotland before History [ARCA08005] (Contributor)
  • Roman World1B [CLGE08004] (Contributor)
  • Byzantine Archaeology: The archaeology of the Byzantine empire and its neighbours AD 500-850 [ARCA10055] (Convenor)
  • Archaeology of Architecture [ARCA10082] (Contributor)
  • Constantinople the history of a medieval megalopolis from Constantine the Great to Suleyman the Magnificent [CHCA 10005] (Convenor)
  • Hadrian's Wall and its stakeholders past and present [CHCA 10039] (Convenor)

Postgraduate teaching

  • Approaches for the Long Late Antiquity [PGHC 11360] (Contributor)
  • Byzantine Archaeology: The archaeology of the Byzantine empire and its neighbours AD 600-1000 [PGHC11260] (Convenor)
  • Constantinople the history of a medieval megalopolis from Constantine the Great to Suleyman the Magnificent [PGHC 11438] (Convenor)
  • Frontiers in Archaeology, Research seminars [PGHC 11001] (Convenor)
  • Space, Place and Time, the archaeology of built environments [PGHC 11412] (Contributor)

Current PhD students supervised

Name - Degree - Thesis topic - Supervision type - Link

      - PhD - A biocultural perspective on the health and socio-economic status of women in two Romano-British communities - Secondary -

Erskine, Graeme - PhD - Roman roads between the Antonine Wall and Hadrian's Wall - Primary - link

    - PhD - Ritual Landscapes in Later Prehistoric Northern Britain - Secondary -

Intagliata, Emanuele - PhD - Palmyra in late antiquity and early Islam - Primary -

Kennan, Lisa - PhD - Ceramic Archaeology in Context: Bridging the Gap Between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages in the Eastern Mediterranean. - Primary -

     -  PhD - Doors and Domestic Space at Pompeii - Primary -

McMath, Phillip - PhD - A bioarchaeological investigation into they Byzantine life way on the Black Sea Coast of Bulgaria. - Secondary -

Miller, Paul, Michael - PhD - Wood, Clay and Stone: defining the architecture of domestic structures in Etruria, 750-500 BC - Secondary - link

O’Donnell , Kathleen - PhD - TBC - Secondary - link

Reed, Fraser - PhD - The Economic Role of the Urbeo Thraciae from Diocletian to Maurice - Primary - link

Rocks-Macqueen, Doug - PhD - First Steps Towards a Dynamic Agent Based Predictive Model - Primary -

Scardina, Audrey - PhD - Ecclesiastical Architecture and Settlement in Byzantine Lycia - Primary - link

    - PhD - Binding Traditions: a study of mortairs in late Roman and early Byzantine construction - Primary -

Ulfik, Nicholas - MScR - Roman annexes in Britain - Primary -

Past PhD students supervised

Name - Degree - Thesis topic - Supervision type - Completion year - Link

Valente, Rossana - PhD - Unglazed pottery from Corinth, 8th to 13th Century CE - Primary - 2017 - link

Stammitti, Emily - PhD - Dam construction and Archaeology: Defining the Impacts of the Past, Present and Future - Primary - 2015 -

Research summary

Places: 

  • Britain & Ireland
  • Mediterranean
  • Near East

Themes: 

  • Ancient Civilisations
  • Landscapes & Monuments

Periods: 

  • Antiquity
  • Medieval

Research interests

Watch a short video of Professor Crow speaking about his research interests - Media Hopper

Current research interests

I have ran field projects in Northumberland at High Rochester and Harbottle, and in Turkey east of Trabzon and from 1994 in Thrace where we investigated the Anastasian Wall and the Water Supply System of Constantinople. Recent collaboration with Professor Derya Maktav from the Department of Remote Sensing of Istanbul Technical University has enabled a further programme of research on the Water Supply of Constantinople completed in 2009 and I remain committed to the application of archaeology for the study of urban history especially in the early medieval period. Arising from our studies of the Anastasian Wall and historic landscapes in Thrace in collaboration with Dr Sam Turner of Newcastle University we have investigated the application of Historic Landscape Characterisation for the understanding of historic landscapes from contemporary to classical periods. I see this work developing through further fieldwork and analysis concerning Byzantine and later landscapes and monuments in the Aegean and Anatolia.

Affiliated research centres

  • Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies

The list below is a subset of the information held on the University of Edinburgh PURE system, and includes Books, Chapters, Articles and Conference contributions. For a full list, including details of other publication types (e.g. reviews), please see the Edinburgh Research Explorer page for Professor Jim Crow.

Books - Authored

Crow, J., Bardill, J. and Bayliss, R. (2008) The Water Supply of Byzantine Constantinople. London: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Books - Edited

Crow, J. and Hill, D. (eds.) (2018) Naxos and the Byzantine Aegean: Insular Responses to regional change. Athens: Papers of the Norwegian Institute in Athens

Articles

Crow, J. (2023) 'The city thirsts': Water in Istanbul: Past, present and future. Current World Archaeology, 117

Crow, J. (2021) Las defensas de Constantinopla. Desperta Ferro Especiales, 29, pp. 70-74

Turner, S., Kinnaird, T., Varinlioğlu, G., Şerifoğlu, T., Koparal, E., Demirciler, V., Athanasoulis, D., Ødegård, K., Crow, J., Jackson, M., Bolòs, J., Sánchez-Pardo, J., Carrer, F., Sanderson, D. and Turner, A. (2021) Agricultural terraces in the Mediterranean: Medieval intensification revealed by OSL profiling and dating. Antiquity, 95(381), pp. 773 - 790DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.187

Crow, J. (2021) ‘Still waters run deep’: Cisterns and the hydraulic infrastructure of Constantinople and Alexandria. Antiquité tardive, 28, pp. 113-125DOI: https://doi.org/10.1484/J.AT.5.122357

Crow, J. (2019) The imagined water supply of Byzantine Constantinople, new approaches. Travaux et Mémoires , 22(1), pp. 211-235

Murphy, K., Gittings, B. and Crow, J. (2018) Visibility analysis of the Roman communication network in southern Scotland. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 17, pp. 111-124DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.10.047

Ruggeri, F., Crapper, M., Snyder, J. and Crow, J. (2017) A GIS-based assessment of the Byzantine water supply system of Constantinople. Water Supply, 17(6), pp. 1534-1543DOI: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2017.062

Ward, K., Crapper, M., Altug, K. and Crow, J. (2017) The Byzantine cisterns of Constantinople. Water Supply, 17(6), pp. 1499-1506DOI: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2017.053

Crow, J., Turner, S. and Jackson, M. (2017) Landscape and settlement on Byzantine Naxos: Apalirou Environs Project 2015 and 2016. Bulletin of British Byzantine Studies (BBBS), 43, pp. 43-51

Crow, J. (2014) Perspectives on the archaeology of Byzantine Greece 600-1000 AD. Pharos, 20(1), pp. 291-311DOI: https://doi.org/10.2143/PHA.20.1.3064545

Crow, J. (2012) Layered Historic Landscapes of Istanbul’s European side. Sürdürüdebilr Kent Yapmak Arnavutköy İlcesi Yaklaşımı/Making a Sustainable City The Arnavutköy Approach , pp. 38-43

Crow, J. (2012) Ruling the waters: managing the water supply of Constantinople, AD 330–1204. Water History, 4(1), pp. 35-55DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-012-0054-y

Crow, J., Turner, S. and Vionis, A. (2011) Characterizing the Historic Landscapes of Naxos. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 24(1), pp. 111-137

Crow, J. and Turner, S. (2010) Unlocking historic landscapes in the Eastern Mediterranean: two pilot studies using Historic Landscape Characterisation. Antiquity, 84(323), pp. 216-229

Crow, J., Maktav, D., Kolay, C., Yegen, B., Onoz, B., Sunar, F., Coskun, G., Karadogan, H., Cakan, M., Akar, I., Uysal, C., Gucluer, D., Geze, B. and Ince, G. (2009) Integration of remote sensing and GIS for archaeological investigations. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 30(7), pp. 1-11DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01431160902909026

Crow, J. (2009) Silivri and the Thracian hinterland of Istanbul: an historic landscape. Anatolian Studies: Journal of the British Institute at Ankara, 59, pp. 167-81

Crow, J. (2007) Tracing the Busy Gap Rogues. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 11(4), pp. 322-335DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-007-0034-6

Crow, J. and Bayliss, R. (2004) Water for the Queen of Cities: A review of recent research in the Byzantine and early Ottoman water supply of Constantinople. Basilissa, 1, pp. 28-49

Crow, J., Bono, P. and Bayliss, R. (2001) The water supply of Constantinople: archaeology and hydrogeology of an Early Medieval city. Environmental Geology, 40(11-12), pp. 1325-1333DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002540100365

Chapters

Crow, J. (2022) Waters for the capital: Hydraulic infrastructure and use in Byzantine Constantinople. In: Bassett, S. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Constantinople. Cambridge: Cambrige University Press, pp. 67-86DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108632614.007

Crow, J. (2021) Karadeniz: Üç önemli kıyı şehiri ve ötesi. In: Akyurek, E. and Durak, K. (eds.) Bizans Dönemi’nde Anadolu. Istanbul: Yapi Kredi Bank, pp. 388-399

Crow, J. (2021) The monastery of Christ the Saviour in Sourmaina and the hagiographical dossier of St Eugenios. In: Nicholson, O. and Scott, R. (eds.) After the Text: Byzantine Enquiries in Honour of Margaret Mullett. London: Routledge, pp. 289-302DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003021759-27

Crow, J. (2021) Travels of an exarch: Smaragdus and the Anastasian Walls. In: MacMaster, T. and Matheou, N. (eds.) Italy and the East Roman World in the Medieval Mediterranean: Empire, Cities and Elites, 476-1204. London: Routledge, pp. 97-108DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315108094-5-8

Crow, J. (2020) Power and glory: Ceremonial gates in Constantinople and the Balkans: Prototypes and legacy. In: Intagliata, E., Courault, C. and Barker, S. (eds.) City Walls in Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 65-76DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv138wsz8.11

Crow, J. and Turner, S. (2019) Unlocking sacred space on early medieval Naxos: Digital approaches to an historic landscape. In: Papantoniou, G., Morris, C. and Vionis, A. (eds.) Unlocking Sacred Landscapes: Spatial Analysis of Ritual and Cult in the Mediterranean. Nicosia: Astrom, pp. 85-98

Turner, S. and Crow, J. (2019) The Christianization of island landscapes in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages: New perspectives from Naxos in the Aegean. In: Cau Ontiveros, M. and Mas Florit, C. (eds.) Change and Resilience: The Occupation of Mediterranean Islands in Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 217-234DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjsf3rt.16

Crow, J. (2019) Constantinople in the Long-Sixth Century. In: Jacobs, I. and Elton, H. (eds.) Asia Minor in the Long Sixth Century, Current Research and Future Directions. Oxford: Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 167-180DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjsf69w.12

Crow, J. and Turner, S. (2018) The Archaeology of the Aniconic Churches of Naxos. In: Crow, J. and Hill, D. (eds.) Naxos and the Byzantine Aegean: Insular Responses to Regional Change. Athens: Papers of the Norwegian Institute in Athens, pp. 223-238

Crow, J. (2017) New cities of Late Antiquity: Theodosiopolis in Armenia. In: Rizos, E. (ed.) New Cities in Late Antiquity: Documents and Archaeology. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 101-116

Crow, J. (2017) Fortifications. In: Niewöhner, P. (ed.) The Archaeology of Byzantine Anatolia: From the End of Late Antiquity until the Coming of the Turks. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 90-108DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190610463.001.0001

Crow, J. (2017) Amastris. In: Niewoehner, P. (ed.) The Archaeology of Byzantine Anatolia, From Late Antiquity to the Coming of the Turks. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 389-394

Crow, J. (2017) Sinope. In: Niewoehner, P. (ed.) The Archaeology of Byzantine Anatolia, From Late Antiquity to the Coming of the Turks. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 395-400

Crow, J. (2017) Blessing or security?: Understanding the Christian symbols of a monumental Aqueduct Bridge in the hinterland of Late Antique Constantinople. In: Garipzanov, I., Goodson, C. and Maguire, H. (eds.) Graphic Signs of Identity, Faith, and Power in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Essays on Early Graphicacy. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 147-174

Crow, J. (2016) A Tale of Two Davids: The Russell Trust Expedition to conserve the wall paintings of the church of Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) at Trabzon 1957-1962. In: Eastmond, A. (ed.) Byzantium's Other Empire Trebizond. Istanbul: Koç University Press, pp. 239-260

Crow, J. and Turner, S. (2015) L'archeologie des eglises aniconiques de Naxos. In: Campagnolo, M., Magdalino, P., Martiniani-Reber, M. and Rey, A. (eds.) L'aniconisme dans l'art religieux byzantin. Geneva: La Pomme d'Or, pp. 193-204

Crow, J. (2015) Water and the creation of a new city. In: Ergin, N. and Magdalino, P. (eds.) Istanbul and Water. Leuven: Peeters, pp. 111-124

Crow, J. (2014) A history of water at Byzantine and Ottoman Constantinople. In: Tvedt, T. and Oestigaard, T. (eds.) A History of Water: Water and Urbanization. London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 221-241

Crow, J. (2014) Sinop, the citadel walls, description and commentary. In: Redford, S. (ed.) Legends of Authority: The 1215 Seljuk inscriptions of Sinop Citadel, Turkey. Istanbul: Koç University Press, pp. 21-60

Crow, J. (2013) Water and the Great Palace in Constantinople. In: Necipoğlu, N., Ödekan, A. and Akyürek, E. (eds.) The Byzantine Court: Source of Power and Culture: Second International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium Proceedings ISTANBUL, 21-23 JUNE, 2010. Istanbul: VEHBI KOÇ VAKFI, pp. 28-34

Crow, J. (2013) Fortification and the Late Roman East: From Urban Walls to Long Walls. In: Sarantis, A. and Christie, N. (eds.) War and Warfare in Late Antiquity. Leiden: Brill, pp. 397-432

Crow, J. (2013) Sinope and Byzantine Citadels and Fortresses on the Black Sea. In: Redford, S. and Ergin, N. (eds.) CITIES AND CITADELS IN TURKEY: FROM THE IRON AGE TO THE SELJUKS: Ancient Near Eastern Studies Supplement 40. Leuven: Peeters, Leuven, pp. 229

Crow, J. (2012) Water and Late Antique Constantinople: “It would be abominable for the inhabitants of this Beautiful City to be compelled to purchase water". In: Grig, L. and Kelly, G. (eds.) Two Romes: Rome and Constantinople in Late Antiquity. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 116-135DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199739400.003.0005

Crow, J. (2010) Archaeology. In: James, L. (ed.) Companion to Byzantium. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp. 291-300

Crow, J. (2009) Byzantine Castles or Fortified Places in Paphlagonia and Pontos. In: T Vorderstrasse, J. (ed.) Archaeology of the Countryside in Medieval Anatolia. NINO, pp. 25-44

Crow, J. (2009) Housesteads Roman Fort: the grandest station: excavation and survey at Housesteads, 1954-95. In: English Heritage Archaeological Reports: Swindon. English Heritage, pp. 249-262

Crow, J. (2008) Archaeology. In: Jeffreys, E., Haldon, J. and Cormack, R. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press, pp. 47-58

Crow, J. (2008) Byzantine Archaeology. In: Cormack, R., Haldon, J. and Jeffrey, E. (eds.) Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press

Crow, J. (2008) Gertrude Bell - Fotografin und Archaologin. In: Trumpler, C. (ed.) Das Grosse Spiel - Archaologie und Politik zur zeit des Kolonialismus. Koln, pp. 596-607

Crow, J. (2007) The Anastasian Wall and the Danube frontier in the sixth centry. In: Vagalinski, L. (ed.) The Lower Danube in Antiquity (the fifth century BC - the beginning of the seventh century AD). Tutrakan, Bulgaria, pp. 397-410

Crow, J. (2006) Der Anastasische Wall: Die letzte Grenze. In: G Klos, A. (ed.) Grenzen des Romischen Imperiums., pp. 181-187

Crow, J. (2004) The n orthern frontier of Britaian from Trajan to Antoninus Plus: Roman builders and native Britons. In: Todd, M. (ed.) Blackwells companion to Roman Britain., pp. 114-135

Crow, J. (2004) The romans at High Rochester (Bremenium), survey and excavations 1992-98 and Excavations and survey at Harbottle Castle, Coquetdale, 1997-99. In: Fordsham, P. (ed.) Archaeology in Northumberland., pp. 136, 213-24, 246-62

Crow, J. (2002) Late antique cities in easter Thrace. In: L Slokoska, A. (ed.) Proceedings of the Conference on Classical and late antique urbanism. Veliko Turnovo, pp. 342-51

Crow, J. (2002) Romany military sites. In: Brooks, C., Daniels, R. and Harding, A. (eds.) Past, Present and Future, the archaeology of northern England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research, pp. 99-105

Crow, J. (2001) Recent Research on Late Antique Urbanism. In: Lavan, L. (ed.) Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement 21. Journal of Roman Archaeology, pp. 91-107

Conference contribution

Crow, J., Turner, S. and Lekakis, S. (2019) Tοπιο και οικισμος στη βυζαντινη Nαξο. In: Πρακτικά του 6ου Πανελληνίου Συνεδρίου με θέμα "Η Νάξος μέσα στους αιώνες"., pp. 370-380

Teba, T., Theodossopoulos, D. and Crow, J. (2016) Exposing the sacred monumentality in Ugarit: Remodelling the Temple of Baal. In: Porceedings for the Structural analysis of historical structures SAHC 2016.

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