Curriculum vitae
Research fellow at the University of Bologna working in the project 'Coastal lagoons and their hidden cultural heritage: the exploitation of lagoonal environments in Roman Italy', funded by the EU. He is primarily involved in the study and cataloguing of archaeological remains relating to fishing and documenting (via interviews with fishermen) the traditions and techniques of local fishing practices. At the same time, and since 2022, he has worked as assistant field director and fish bone specialist for the archaeological project of Casa della Regina Carolina, Pompeii (VIII.3.14). This is a collaboration between Cornell University (US) and the University of Bologna. He is also the primary editor in an upcoming publication: The Bloomsbury Handbook of Experimental Approaches to Roman Archaeology.
Education
Lee has acquired his BA in Ancient History and Archaeology from the University of Reading, UK (2009). He continued his studies with the University of Leicester, UK, where he completed an MA in Rome and its Neighbours (2012). His dissertation, titled The Roman Fishing Industry, focused on the Iberian fish processing facilities and would lead to his continued study in this field. After working in commercial archaeology for Oxford and for the University of Reading archaeological field school, he completed his PhD with the University of Reading in 2021. His thesis was titled: Romano British Fisheries: An interdisciplinary evaluation of the archaeological remains pertaining to halieutic practices in Roman Britain.
Career
From 2012 to 2017 Lee worked as a commercial archaeologist for Oxford Archaeology South (UK), working in over fifty sites across the UK, as an excavator, surveyor, geoarchaeologist, and in a supervisory roll. For two of those years he worked as environmental archaeologist under Dr Rebecca Nicholson, with whom he started his training as a fish bone specialist. Previously, he had worked for four years as an archaeologist and supervisor for the University of Reading, at the archaeological field school of Silchester (UK), where he was involved in the education of students in excavation and recording techniques (2009-2012). Since 2017, he has worked as a teacher in various schools in Murcia (Spain), while finishing his PhD and working on various excavations with Cornell University in Pompeii and for Historic England in the UK.
Research
Lee has participated in numerous research projects, both national and international. Since 2019, he has worked, first as a supervisor then as assistant field director, in the Casa della Regina Carolina excavation at Pompeii (VIII.3.14); a collaboration between Cornell University (USA) and the University of Bologna. In 2019, he has worked as a supervisor for Historic England at the Saxon burial site of Keston, Kent (UK). In 2018 he organised an international conference and workshop on the subject of experimental archaeology within Roman Studies. This was held at Vindolanda Roman Fort, UK, with support of the Vindolanda Trust and TRAC. The event resulted in a large publication, of which Lee is the primary editor: The Bloomsbury Handbook of Experimental Approaches to Roman Archaeology. Between 2010 and 2017, he has participated in numerous projects, working as an experimental blacksmith (with Dr David Sim), in additional experimental archaeology projects (with the Oxford Palaeolithic Technology Society), as an archaeological surveyor (with the Universities of Leicester and Brindisi at the site of Santa Maria d'Agnano, Ostuni), and in academic excavations (with the Universities of Reading and Oxford). Since 2017, in the final stages of his PhD, he has visited dozens of museums and commercial collections throughout the UK with the objective of studying and cataloguing the artefacts and ecofacts pertaining to ancient fishing practices.
Awards
03/2023 The Audrey Barrie Brown Memorial Fund and Donald Atkinson Fund. Awarded by The Roman Research Trust and the Roman Society.
06/2023 The Marc Fitch Fund
08/ 2018: Recipient of the Mick-Aston Grant. Awarded by the Council for British Archaeology and English Heritage.
2013-2014 Recipient of the Wardman Travel Award Fund. Awarded by the University of Reading.
Other Activities
Member of the Fish Remains Working Group (FRWG)
Member of the International Council for Zooarchaeology (ICAZ)
Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIFA)
Member of the Royal Archaeological Institute (RAI)
Member of the Experimental Archaeology Organisation (EXARC)
Certified diver (PADI + Dry Suit)
