I’m an archaeology researcher working on the origins of the agricultural revolution and prehistoric technology. To find solutions to our collective madness – mass extinctions, pollution and societal alienation, we need to look to the past. I’m politically homeless but interested in bioregionalism, localism and decentralisation.
Giants of the Deep: A Prehistory of Whaling
I want to track this strange oscillating vision, of whales as powerful spiritual beings but also a target of relentless persecution. Human nature is not endlessly malleable, and it contains all sorts of destructive impulses, but we would do well to turn this on those destroying our seas and not on those who call it home.
July 14, 2021
The Forest People: Life and Death under the Green Revolution
This is a story about those people of the Congolese forests, about how their unique way of life is threatened by the very people who should be defending them and how rainforests actually thrive when humans adapt to a different way of life.
May 5, 2021
The Paradoxes of Localism
I want my grandchildren to visit other places and countries and see different, unknown foods. I want them to feel like the world isn’t one giant airport lounge with sourdough and avocado toast on every menu.
April 1, 2021
What Can we Learn from the Collapse of Bronze Age Cultures?
When major systemic events like this occur, are they singular in nature or do they combine with existing forces? One of the best prehistoric case studies is the ‘Bronze Age Collapse’ which occured in the decades of approximately 1150 BC.
April 21, 2020