Kirsty Lilley

Thesis title: Carving out communities: funerary architecture as expressions of identity in Pre-Nuragic Sardinia

Background

I studied MA (Hons) Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh (2013-18) and completed my MPhil in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge (2018-19). Although my main focus is now the funerary architecture of Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic Sardinia, my studies have taken me from personhood in Neolithic and Bronze Age Scotland, to anthropological archaeology during a year abroad in Canada, and the archaeology of Africa in my MPhil.

My PhD at Edinburgh explores the relationships between architecture, funerary monuments, and social identity and society in prehistoric Sardinia, using computational and geospatial approaches in combination with more traditional anthropological methods. Alongside my own research, I am a director of the Caithness Broch Project, and co-chair the online Postgraduate Prehistory Reading Group in HCA. I love any and all archaeological fieldwork - in Sardinia, Scotland, or elsewhere - and have been a keen volunteer on several longer-term projects including Scotland's Rock Art Project (ScRAP) and the Book of Deer Project.

Qualifications

MPhil Archaeology (European Prehistory), University of Cambridge

MA (Hons) Archaeology, University of Edinburgh

Undergraduate teaching

Tutor, Archaeology 1A (2019, 2022-2023)

Tutor, Archaeology 1B (2020-2024)

Demonstrator, Archaeology 2A (2023)

Research summary

My primary research areas are Pre-Nuragic Sardinia, social identity, funerary archaeology, and archaeological theory. I am also interested in Scottish archaeology, prehistoric personhood, and the relevance and applications of archaeology in modern society (especially through community archaeology).

  • Robin, G., F. Soula, P. Tramoni, L. Manca, and K. Lilley. 2021. ‘The Dead are Watching Us’: A Landscape Study of Prehistoric Rock-cut Tomb Cemeteries in Ossi, Sardinia, Italy. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 87: 1-30.

  • Robin, G., F. Soula, P. Tramoni, K. Lilley, L. Manca, and N. Canu. 2022. Les relations spatiales entre nécropoles à hypogées et établissements de plein air en Sardaigne du Ve au IIe millénaire av. J.-C.: l'exemple de Mesu 'e Montes à Ossi, in J. Sicurani (ed), Sépultures et rites funéraires. Actes du colloque organisé par l’Association de Recherches Préhistoriques Corses (ARPPC) Calvi - 2019: 79-97. Calvi: ARPPC.

  • Robin G., F. Soula, P. Tramoni, G. Bruniaux, K. Lilley, R. Locci, C. Lugliè, and L. Manca. 2023. L’habitat de Monte Mannu à Ossi (Sardaigne, Italie): premiers résultats des campagnes 2019 et 2021, in V. Ard et al. (ed), Pierre à bâtir, pierre à penser. Systèmes techniques et productions symboliques des Pré et Protohistoire méridionales. Toulouse: AEP.