RESEARCH ROUNDUP
36 ANNUAL REVIEW RESEARCH
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irector of Studies in Archaeology, Dr Katherine Boyle has completed extensive work this year on investigating Upper Palaeolithic adaptation to climate change. “This work has looked at the impact of deteriorating climate conditions on variability in the archaeological record around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum. It addresses adaptive tradeoffs triggered by this general climatic downturn in North-Western Europe, investigating the impact of local climate and habitat on behavioural variability in Gravettian technological organisation compared to the previous Aurignacian. It looks at two assemblages from Walou Cave, Belgium, one of few well-stratified sites in NorthWestern Europe with evidence for multiple occupation events accompanied by a fine-grained palaeoenvironmental record. Combining well established and new analytical techniques (AMS, LA-ICP-MS and ZooMS) to evaluate questions concerning hunter-gatherer adaptations, results suggest that Gravettian technologies are unlikely to be solely a result of heightened risk in relation to a significant reshuffling of food resources compared to the Aurignacian, but that the period is a significant, if frequently underestimated, episode in longterm development of prehistoric hunter-gatherer behavioural complexity.” Luc Moreau, Christelle Draily, Jean-Marie Cordy, Katherine Boyle, Michael Buckley, Erik Gjesfjeld, Peter Filzmoser, Valentina Borgia, Sally A. Gibson, Jason Day, Robert Beyer, Andrea Manica, Marc Vander Linden, Marjorie de Grooth & Stéphane Pirson (2021) Adaptive Trade-offs Towards the
Last Glacial Maximum in North-Western Europe: a Multidisciplinary View from Walou Cave. J Paleo Arch 4, 11 (2021). Fellow in Politics Dr Robin Bunce has contributed to various film and television projects over the past year. “October 2020 saw the premiere of Mangrove, a film by Oscar award-winning director Steve McQueen. I had been working on the film as a historical consultant since 2017, so it was a real thrill to see the movie complete. COVID meant that the film only had a limited run in cinemas, but I was really pleased with the reception it got when it aired on television, and the BAFTA nominations that followed. Following the film, Steve McQueen wanted to showcase the research on the British Black Power movement that went into the movie, so I collaborated with Rogan Productions on the documentary Black Power: a story of British resistance, which aired on BBC 2 in March. The documentary was subsequently picked up by Amazon, and is now reaching an international audience. I’m glad to say it has been nominated for a prestigious IDM award. Since the spring, I‘ve been working with BBC Studios and SKY Documentaries on a film about the British black radical Michael de Freitas. Michael X: Hustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw. came out in October, and was well received by audiences and critics.” Robin has also contributed a chapter, in collaboration with Samara Linton, to the book Rethinking Labour’s Past: Rethinking the History of the Labour Party. The essay explores the campaign to get black and Asian MPs elected to Parliament
