Contact
Biography
I explore what the production and use of ceramic material culture can tell us about identity, knowledge transmission, learning networks, social behaviour, and spheres of contact and exchange. My research focuses on the Neolithic and Bronze Age of Southeastern Europe and the Aegean, where I combine traditional archaeological approaches, such as pottery typology, with experimental archaeology, laboratory analysis, and theoretical frameworks drawn from archaeology, ethnography, and sociology.
Expertise Summary
- Ceramic analyses (including thin section petrography and SEM-EDS)
- Material culture and theory
- Neolithic and Bronze Age
- Professional archaeological practice
Teaching Summary
For academic year 2025-26 I will be teaching on the following modules:
CLAR1022 Comparative World Prehistory
CLAR1020 and CLAR1021 Understanding the Past I and II
CLAR2011 Archaeology: Theory and Practice
CLAR2022 Archaeological Finds: post-excavation analysis to publication
I am module convener for:
CLAR3118 Pottery and People: Understanding Ceramic Analysis
I am also the Archaeology subject advisor and personal tutor for Natural Sciences
Research Summary
Using a range of archaeological and lab-based techniques, my research explores how, where, and why pottery and ceramic material culture were made and used. I focus on what these objects reveal about… read more
Recent Publications
CLARE BURKE, LAURA BURKHARDT, YANA DIMITROVA, NICHOLAS GROAT, BARBARA HOREJS and HRISTO POPOV, 2025. Journal of Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 17, 181
CLARE BURKE and MARIJA SVILAR, 2025. . In: BARBARA HOREJS and ALEKSANDAR BULATOVI膯, eds., Svinjari膷ka 膶uka in Serbia. 小胁懈褮邪褉懈褔泻邪 褔褍泻邪, 小褉斜懈褬邪
Highlights from 8000 to 3000 years ago. 袙懈褕械褋谢芯褬薪芯 薪邪谢邪蟹懈褕褌械 芯写 锌褉械 8000 写芯 锌褉械 3000 谐芯写懈薪邪 Austrian Archaeological Institute, Arheolo拧ki institut u Beogradu, Narodni muzej Leskovac. 172-193
CLARE BURKE and PETER. M. DAY, 2023. Journal of Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 15, 77
EVA ALRAM-STERN, CLARE BURKE, KATIE DEMAKOPOULOU and PETER M. DAY, 2023. . In: DAVID MICHAEL SMITH, WILLIAM G. CAVANAGH and ANGELOS PAPADOPOULOS, eds., The Wider Island of Pelops: Studies on Prehistoric Aegean Pottery in Honour of Professor Christopher Mee Archaeopress. 1-18
Current Research
Using a range of archaeological and lab-based techniques, my research explores how, where, and why pottery and ceramic material culture were made and used. I focus on what these objects reveal about identity, knowledge transmission, learning networks, social behaviour, and patterns of trade and exchange, bringing together site level and broad geographic scales of investigation. I am interested in the Neolithic and Bronze Age of Southeastern Europe and the Aegean, particularly in longue dur茅e perspectives.
I am currently involved with a range of projects including the UKRI Horizon Guarantee funded project I designed - 'Technology and Use of Neolithic Ceramics from North Macedonia' (grant EP/Y025113/1) - and undertaking analysis as part of the , both of which involve lipid analysis of pottery content in collaboration with colleagues at the University of York.
I am also working with international teams to finalise and publish ceramic analyses for the Austrian Science Funded projects , the and the .
Past Research
I have participated and published work on multiple projects including:
Bronze Age Gold Road of the Balkans - Ada Tepe Mining FWF Stand Alone Grant P23619. PI Barbara Horejs, Austrian Archaeological Institute.
Filling in the Gaps: Ceramic raw materials analysis at the Prehistoric goldmine of Ada Tepe, Bulgaria. Anton Oelzelt-Newin Foundation Grant PI Clare Burke
Local Production and External Contacts of the Central Peloponnese: Scientific Analyses of the Middle Bronze Age Pottery from Pheneos (Arcadia). INSTAP Grant. PI Dr Michaela Zavadil, Austrian Archaeological Institute, in cooperation with Anno Hein National Center for Scientific Research, 'Demokritos', Athens.
Prehistoric Anatolia: From Sedentism to Protourban Societies in Western Anatolia. PI Barbara Horejs, Austrian Archaeological Institute. FWF START Programe Grant Y 528 and ERC Starting Grant 263339.
Future Research
I am always keen to develop collaborations, particularly with colleagues from a range of disciplinary backgrounds both within and outside of archaeology.
I am especially interested in building research that takes diachronic and spatial perspectives to investigate the development and trajectory of ceramic crafts, consumption practices, and foodways, particularly considering periods of significant socio-cultural and/or economic transformations, and the role of human mobility.
I am also eager to integrate cross-craft and multi-material perspectives into future research.