Contact Peter Masters
- Tel: +44 (0) 1793 314465
- Email: p.masters@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Background
After reading for an HND in Conservation Sciences at Dorset Institute of Higher Education and a BA in Archaeology at the University of Southampton, Peter supervised an archaeological excavation on an important medieval site in Oslo, Norway.Returning to the UK, he worked for East Sussex County Council and North Hertfordshire District Council Museum Services before joining Northamptonshire County Council. He was employed by Northamptonshire County Council to assist with the English Heritage funded landscape project, the Raunds Area Survey. At this time Peter developed the interest in the application of geophysical surveys to archaeological sites and expanded this service on a commercial and research basis. In 2002, Peter joined a private company, Pre-Construct Geophysics, which provided an archaeological geophysics service for archaeologists and developers alike.
Peter joined Cranfield University in 2006 as a research fellow and has established the commercial and research arm of the department in geophysics.
Current activities
His current research is in Conflict Archaeology and has been working on the First World War archaeology in Belgium and on Salisbury Plain where the soldiers during the Great War dug practice trenches prior to deployment to the frontline in France and Belgium.Peter has also been carrying out research on detecting mass graves on historic battlefields in England. These are Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War. He has also been looking at battlefield features such as siege works and other fortifications. In 2009, Peter became a part-time panel tutor at the Institute of Continuing Education, Cambridge University. In that year, he taught a Diploma course entitled Conflict Archaeology: case studies from 20th century Europe with his co-tutor, Dr Gilly Carr.
He is also a guest lecturer at Keele and Lincoln Universities in Historical and Military Geoscience and the Introduction to Archaeology short course respectively. Peter is a current committee member on the Forensic Archaeology Special Interest Group Expert Panel, Institute for Archaeologists.
Peter is also engaged in community archaeology and training local groups in the techniques of geophysics, in particular magnetometry and resistivity.
Clients
- Defence Infrastructure Organisation
- Oxford Archaeology East (OAEast)
- Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd
- Environment Agency
- CLASP
- The National Trust
- English Heritage
- Nottinghamshire County Council
- The Flemish Institute, Belgium
- Ghent University
- Battlefields Trust
- West Midlands Police
- States of Jersey Police
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Evers R & Masters P (2018) The application of low-altitude near-infrared aerial photography for detecting clandestine burials using a UAV and low-cost unmodified digital camera, Forensic Science International, 289 (August) 408-418.
- Masters & P (2017) Geophysics of Lager Wick forced labour camp, Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands, Journal of Conflict Archaeology, 11 (2-3) 158-165.
- De Clerq W, De Smedt P, De Reu J, Herremans D, Masters P, Saey T, Stichelbaut B & Van Meirvenne M (2012) Towards an integrated methodology for assessing rural settlement landscapes in the Belgian lowlands, Archaeological Prospection, 19 (2) 141-145.
- Stichelbaut B & Masters P (2011) Vu d’en haut et sous le sol: la découverte et la mise sur carte de tranchées de la Première Guerre Mondiale à Warneton, hameau de Saint-Yvon, Memoires de la Societe d’histoire de Comines-Warneton et de la Region, 41 Article No. 8579432 289-296.
- Juerges A, Pringle JK, Jervis JR & Masters P (2010) Comparisons of magnetic and electrical resistivity surveys over simulated clandestine graves in contrasting burial environments, Near Surface Geophysics, 8 (6) 529-539.
- Masters P & Stichelbaut B (2010) From the air to beneath the soil - revealing and mapping Great War trenches at Ploegsteert (Comines-Warneton), Belgium, Archaeological Prospection, 16 (4) 279-285.
- Shortland AJ, Masters P, Harrison K, Williams A & Boston C (2008) Burials of eighteenth-century Naval personnel : preliminary results from excavations at the Royal Hospital Haslar, Gosport (Hants), Antiquity, 82 (317).
- Maull A & Masters P (2005) A Roman farmstead and Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Clapthorn Road, Oundle, Northamptonshire Archaeology, 33 47-78.
Conference Papers
- Masters P (2017) Ripples in the sand: locating a complete aircraft in the inter-tidal zone. In: 2017 12th International Conference of Archaeological Prospection (ISAP), Bradford, 12-16 September 2017.
- Masters P & Cooper G (2017) Built to last: building a magnetometer cart - advantages and disadvantages in the construction of a bespoke system. In: 2017 12th International Conference of Archaeological Prospection (ISAP), Bradford, 12-16 September 2017.
Books
- Masters P (2018) Chapter 4 – Geophysical Survey 2010: Necropolis and Town. In: The Late Minoan III Necropolis of Armenoi I: Introduction and Background, Philadelphia, PA: INSTAP Academic Press, p. 53-66.
- Masters P (2016) Chaper 3. Contested landscape: La Boisselle and the glory hole. In: Landscapes and Archaeology from Above, Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
- Masters P (2009) Not all who wander are lost (Chapter 4 - Finding the front). In: Digging up Plugstreet: The Archaeology of a Great War Battlefield, Yeovil, UK: Haynes Publishing UK, p. 73-77.
