Personal statement

Dr Matt Law is an environmental archaeologist and Quaternary scientist specialising in multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, wetland archaeology, and the human ecology of coastal and estuarine landscapes. His research integrates biological proxies, including Mollusca, Foraminifera, Bryozoa, microvertebrates and parasitic worm eggs, with archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and sedimentological evidence to reconstruct past environments and human responses to environmental change and changing subsistence patterns.

Much of Matt's fieldwork and publication record centres on the Somerset region and the broader West of Britain, but also encompasses work in Iran, Iraq, Kenya and Japan. He is also interested in the ways in which long-term environmental and archaeological data can establish conservation baselines and inform the social value of heritage and environmental knowledge for present-day communities, connecting deep-time environmental change to questions of resilience, sustainability, sense(s) of place, and public benefit.

Matt is also active in studies of present-day molluscan ecology and conservation and in 2026 will be working as a regional assessor for the IUCN/JNCC Red List of non-marine Mollusca, contributing to national conservation status assessments for the UK's freshwater and terrestrial snail and slug fauna.

His teaching within the Geography team covers climate change, sustainability, Quaternary palaeoecology, GIS, and prehistory.

Professional memberships

  • Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Associate Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.

Other external roles

  • Joint Editor-in-Chief, Open Quaternary
  • STEM Ambassador.

Teaching specialism

Environmental change, in particular:

  • Environmental change
  • Quaternary science and environmental archaeology
  • GIS
  • geomatics
  • contemporary climate change.

Research supervision

Current supervision

Peter Moore (AHRC SWWDTP funded, co-supervised with Prof Nicholas Branch, University of Reading) - : A Non-Anthropocentric Study of the Prehistoric Calcareous Wetlands of North-West Europe.

Areas of supervision

I am interested in hearing from applicants looking to conduct research in the following topic areas:

  • Mollusc remains in archaeology and Quaternary science
  • Coastal, island and wetland archaeology
  • Global comparative approaches to the role of wild resources in prehistory
  • Archaeology of south-west Britain
  • The role of heritage and especially palaeoenvironmental heritage in placemaking/ sense(s) of place 
  • Creative engagement with climate change, sustainability and past environmental change.

Media appearances

  • Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard (BBC One, 2021) - on-screen expert
  • - Long lost shells returned: from Captain Cook’s voyage to Chesters Roman Fort (via a skip) (2024).

Research outputs

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Law, M (2020) 'Molluscs.' In: Young, A, ed. Eckweek, Peasedown St John, Somerset: survey and excavations at a shrunken medieval hamlet 1988-90. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 233-236. ISBN 9780367860318

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Law, M and Madgwick, R (2019) 'Hand-collected shell.' In: Greenslade, S, ed. Butrint 6 : excavations on the Vrina Plain. Volume 2, the finds. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 239-243. ISBN 9781789252170

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Law, M and Davies, P (2018) 'Land and freshwater molluscs.' In: L贸pez Varela, S.L, ed. The encyclopedia of archaeological sciences. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9780470674611

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Hill, T, Whittaker, J, Brunning, R, Law, M, Bell, M, Bronk Ramsey, C, Dunbar, E, Marshall, P and Reimer, P (2017) 'Palaeoenvironmental investigations of a Mesolithic鈥揘eolithic sedimentary sequence from Queen鈥檚 Sedgemoor, Somerset.' In: Williams, M, Hill, T, Boomer, I and Wikinson, I.P, eds. The archaeological and forensic applications of microfossils: a deeper understanding of human history. The Geological Society, Bath. ISBN 9781786203052

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Law, M and Thew, N (2017) 'Molluscs from dune-machair systems in the Western Isles: archaeological site formation processes and environmental change.' In: Allen, M.J, ed. Molluscs in archaeology: methods, approaches and applications. Oxbow, Oxford. ISBN 9781785706080

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Law, M (2017) 'Numerical approaches to land snail palaeoecology.' In: Allen, M.J, ed. Molluscs in archaeology: methods, approaches and applications. Oxbow, Oxford. ISBN 9781785706080

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Law, M (2016) 'Molluscs.' In: Glover, G, Flintoft, P and Moore, R, eds. 'A mersshy country called Holdernesse': excavations on the route of a National Grid pipeline in Holderness, East Yorkshire. Archaeopress Publishing, Oxford, pp. 246-247. ISBN 9781784913137

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Law, M (2014) 'Mollusc shells from archaeological building materials.' In: Szabo, K, Dupont, C, Dimitrijevic, V, Gomez Gastelum, L and Serrand, N, eds. Archaeomalacology: shells in the archaeological record. Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 253-256. ISBN 9781407313085

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Law, M (2012) 'Shellfish and coastal exploitation.' In: Parker Pearson, M, ed. From machair to mountains: archaeological survey and excavation in South Uist. Oxbow, Oxford, pp. 247-250. ISBN 9781842174517

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Evans, J.G, Law, M and Thew, N (2012) 'Stability and flux in the dune environment.' In: Parker Pearson, M, ed. From machair to mountains: archaeological survey and excavation in South Uist. Oxbow, Oxford, pp. 250-253. ISBN 9781842174517

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Baca, M et al (2026) 'The evolutionary history of the field vole species complex revealed by modern and ancient genomes.' Genome Biology, 27. e69. ISSN 1474-760X

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Law, M and Jones, J.R (2025) 'Changing tastes: a review of later prehistoric and Norse-period marine mollusc exploitation in Scotland鈥檚 Western Isles.' Quaternary, 8 (3). e49. ISSN 2571-550X

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Law, M (2025) 'Reflections on 50 years of 'Land snails in archaeology'.' Journal of Conchology, 45 (3). pp. 415-429. ISSN 2755-3531

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Rowson, B, Law, M, Miller, J.M, White, T, Shipton, C, Crowther, A, Ndiema, E, Petraglia, M and Boivin, N (2024) 'A Quaternary sequence of terrestrial molluscs from East Africa: a record of diversity, stability, and abundance since Marine Isotope Stage 5 (78,000 BP).' Archiv f眉r Molluskenkunde / International Journal of Malacology, 153 (1). pp. 61-86. ISSN 1869-0963

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Grant, M.J, Hill, T, Evans, S and Law, M (2024) 'Coastal lagoonal evolution within the Early Holocene Humber Estuary, eastern England.' Journal of Quaternary Science, 39 (2). pp. 234-247. ISSN 1099-1417

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Hogue, J.T, Wilkinson, K.N, Allison, E, Hill, T, Knul, M.V, Law, M, Perez-Fernandez, M, Russ, H, Schreve, D, Sherriff, J.E, Toms, P, Young, D, Westcott-Wilkins, L and Wilkins, B (2023) 'Pleistocene environments, climate, and human activity in Britain during Marine Isotope Stage 7: insights from Oak Tree Fields, Cerney Wick, Gloucestershire.' Journal of Quaternary Science, 38 (6). pp. 840-865. ISSN 0267-8179

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Hood, A, Clough, S, Holmes, M, Timby, J, Percival, S, Anderson-Whymark, H, Sheridan, A, Needham, S, Troalan, L, O'Connor, S, Cameron, E, Young, T, Simmons, E and Law, M (2022) 'Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon activity in the Upper Thames Valley: archaeological investigations at Lechlade Memorial Hall and Skate Park in 2017.' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 139. pp. 15-54. ISSN 0068-1032

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Law, M, Corbin, S, Wilkins, M, Harris, V, Martin, G and Lowe, R (2021) 'The Last Hurrah (and The Long Haul): co-creation of theatre as climate change education.' Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 45 (4). pp. 549-562. ISSN 0309-8265

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Gaffney, V et al (2020) 'Multi-proxy characterisation of the Storegga tsunami and its impact on the early Holocene landscapes of the southern North Sea.' Geosciences, 10 (7). e270. ISSN 2076-3263

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Law, M (2020) 'Thinking about variable preservation within land snail assemblages.' Archaeo+Malacology Newsletter, 33. pp. 7-9. ISSN 2055-7604

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Thomas, R, Law, M, Browning, E, Hill, A and Small, R (2020) 'The changing exploitation of oysters (Ostrea edulis L. 1758) in late medieval and early modern England: a case study from Dudley Castle, West Midlands.' Environmental Archaeology, 25 (1). pp. 82-95. ISSN 1749-6314

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Lewis, J, Rosen, C, Booth, R, Davies, P, Allen, M and Law, M (2019) 'Making a significant place: excavations at the Late Mesolithic site of Langley鈥檚 Lane, Midsomer Norton, Bath and North-East Somerset.' Archaeological Journal, 176 (1). ISSN 0066-5983

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Richardson, L-J, Law, M, Dufton, J.A, Ellenberger, K, Eve, S, Goskar, T, Ogden, J, Pett, D and Reinhard, A (2018) 'Day of Archaeology 2011鈥�2017: Global Community, Public Engagement, and Digital Practice.' Internet Archaeology, 47. ISSN 1363-5387

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Roberts, D et al (2018) 'Recent investigations at two long barrows and reflections on their context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and environs.' Internet Archaeology, 47. ISSN 1363-5387

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Hollinrake, A and Law, M (2018) 'Further Neolithic wooden structures at Walpole Landfill Site, Somerset, UK.' PAST (88). pp. 15-16.

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Wright, E and Law, M (2016) 'Introduction: emerging approaches to public archaeology.' Arquelogia Publica: Online Journal in Public Archaeology, SV2. pp. 1-4. ISSN 2171-6315

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Law, M, Reynolds, F and Mulville, J (2016) 'Back to the future? Presenting archaeology at the Green Man Festival.' Arquelogia Publica: Online Journal in Public Archaeology, SV2. pp. 57-68. ISSN 2171-6315

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Herridge, V, Pilaar Birch, S and Law, M (2015) 'Open Quaternary: a new, open access journal for Quaternary research [editorial].' Open Quaternary, 1. ISSN 2055-298X

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Law, M and Thew, N (2015) 'Land snails, sand dunes and archaeology in the Outer Hebrides.' Journal of the North Atlantic, 9 (sp). pp. 125-133. ISSN 1935-1933

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Law, M and Hollinrake, N (2014) 'The Walpole Landfill Site: wet, muddy and rewarding.' British Archaeology, 138. pp. 28-33. ISSN 2514-3409

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Law, M and Morgan, C (2014) 'The archaeology of digital abandonment: online sustainability and archaeological sites.' Present Pasts, 6 (1) (2). pp. 1-9.

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Law, M (2013) 'Bryozoans in archaeology.' Internet Archaeology (35). ISSN 1363-5387

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Law, M (2016) Palaeoparasitology and histories of environmental justice. In: Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, 19 - 21 December 2016, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.

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Law, M and Thew, N (2016) Land snails and environmental change in the Western Isles and Orkney. In: Islands: Isolation and connectivity - Association for Environmental Archeology (AEA) Spring Conference, 1-2 April 2016, St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall, Orkney, UK.

other

Law, M (2018) The Gwithian landscape: molluscs and archaeology on Cornish sand dunes [book review]. The Holocene, 28 (10). pp. 1680-1681. ISSN 1477-0911

other

Law, M (2018) The historic landscape of the Mendip Hills [book review]. Environmental Archaeology. ISSN 1749-6314

other

Lodwick, L and Law, M (2017) Camilla Dickson [blog post]. Trowelblazers.