Melanie Giles

Melanie Giles is a Professor in European Prehistory at the University of Manchester's Archaeology Department. Her research focuses on Iron Age studies, funerary archaeology, and bog bodies. She holds a BA/MA from the University of Sheffield and a PhD on East Yorkshire landscapes. Current projects include the AHRC-funded Grave Goods Project and Continuing Bonds: Creative Dissemination. She teaches modules like 'Dealing with the Dead' and supervises PhD students in Iron Age studies. Recognized with the 2022 Archaeology Book of the Year Award, her work explores material culture's role in understanding past communities. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and leads interdisciplinary research on mortuary rituals and heritage dissemination.

Education:

• BA Archaeology, University of Sheffield
• MA Landscape Archaeology, University of Sheffield
• PhD: Iron Age Landscapes of East Yorkshire, University of Sheffield

Key Projects:

• Grave Goods Project (Manchester/Reading/British Museum)
• Bog Body Network (Worsley Man studies)
• Whitworth Park Community Archaeology Project

Awards:

• Archaeology Book of the Year Award 2022

Teaching & Supervision:

• UGPD for Classics, Archaeology & Heritage Studies
• Supervises PhDs on Iron Age populations, Celtic art, and mortuary practices

External Roles:

• Fellow, The British Academy (2022–present)
• Membership: The Prehistoric Society (2017–2021)