About Us

What is Recycle Archaeology?  

Every year archaeologists throw away thousands of excavated finds that are not able to find homes in museums. Recycle Archaeology creates new uses for these “de-selected” materials so they do not end up in landfill. We aim to help more people engage with artefacts in ways that matter to them.

What do we want to do? 

  • Preserve and share the values of de-selected archaeological materials 

  • Discover new social uses for artefacts suggested by our participants

  • Raise awareness of recycling and circular economies in past and present societies

  • Most archaeological projects in the UK are funded through the construction industry. According to the UK Green Building Council construction produces more waste than any other sector in the UK economy and “little is being recycled or re-used”. Recycle Archaeology supports the development of circular economies in construction, providing archaeologists with creative options for reusing de-selected archaeological finds.

  • The Chartered Institute for Archaeologists ensures that every archaeological project has a policy on de-selected finds agreed in advance before excavation starts.

    The process of discarding artefacts is carefully managed. Nothing is thrown away without specialist advice. The objects that are de-selected are usually the less visually impressive finds such as animal bone, bricks and tiles, oyster shells, and the by-products from making stone tools, pottery and iron.

    There are also some objects that are “unstratified” - meaning they have not been recovered from sealed deposits and have limited scientific value.

  • Although less valuable to science, unstratified and de-selected objects can still be curious and wonderful. Accessioned museum objects are surrounded with red tape making them less accessible to ordinary people. Recycle Archaeology puts archaeological artefacts into the hands of students, gardeners, artists, builders, makers and writers. How would you reuse this new old rubbish?

 Our Team

Dr Helen Wickstead MCIfA FHEA

Dr Helen Wickstead is Senior Lecturer in Museum and Gallery Studies at Kingston University, London. Working as an archaeologist and curator, she has spent decades excavating rubbish and rescuing forgotten, neglected, stigmatised or hidden phenomena. Her publications include; histories of aerial archaeology and old maps; the world's first dedicated study of Soho Bibles (including the discovery of 21 smuggled into the British Library); an archaeology of concrete megaliths; an investigation of suburban folklore; nineteenth-century photographs from the secret museum inside the British Museum; a study of phallus collecting; an account of the Edwardian Cult of Kata and assorted archaeological excavation reports. Her research has been funded by English Heritage, AHRC, and Wellcome Trust.

Helen has worked as an archaeologist and museum professional in the UK, France, Czech Republic, Turkey and Sudan. As Director of Art + Archaeology she created 21 funded short residencies for visual artists working at excavations, laboratories and museums and co-curated exhibitions at venues including Whitworth Art Gallery and Salisbury International Arts Festival. In 2012, when the government introduced huge rises in university tuition fees, Helen founded the Free University of Seething to encourage free learning for all.  She is currently Archaeologist of Today at the Museum of Today and Professor of the Overlooked at the Free University of Seething. She is a member of the AHRC Early Career Peer Review Panel and a Museum Mentor for the Society for Museum Archaeology. She has a doctorate from UCL and has been elected to the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) at the highest corporate level.

Kerryan Dawson, BA(hons), MA, MSc

Kerryan studied at Kingston University to achieve the degrees BA Museum and Gallery Studies and MA Contemporary Practice of Heritage. He then furthered his academic career at UCL, where he studied MSc Bioarchaeological and Forensic Anthropology.

Marley Treloar, BA(hons), MFA, MA, PhD (Student)

Marley Treloar is a PhD researcher at Coventry University studying digital participatory practice and community engagement. She graduated from Kingston University MA Museum and Gallery Studies in 2019, and has worked across the arts and heritage sector working as a freelance Curator and Education and Engagement officer. Marley is a member of the Artworks Alliance participatory network and Museums Association. Say hi and reach out via social media @MarleyTreloar.

Pete Knowles, BSc(Hons), PhD (Student)

Pete is a Palaeolithic archaeologist and PhD researcher at Durham University, studying whether the varying types of Palaeolithic handaxes are evidence of different cultures in early humans.  This work involves the reassessment of museum collections, to improve the provenance of historic collections of Paleolithic material;  he uses a novel 3D photogrammetric process to analyze the handaxes. Pete is also: the volunteer curator of the lithics collection at the Seaside Museum - Herne Bay, volunteer archivist and social media advisor for the Herne Bay Historical Record Society, and he also works part-time in archaeology as a field archaeologist and a consultant for lithics and specialist Paleolithic archaeological work. He is working towards an associate-level with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA).