Archaeology on the airwaves

26 Jul 2024

Archaeology PhD student performs live on BBC Radio 3 from the Roman fort of Vindolanda

Archaeology PhD student Letty Stott took to the BBC Radio 3 airwaves on Tuesday 23 July to discuss and demonstrate Iron Age and Roman horns – Live from the Roman fort of Vindolanda! 

Letty said:

“It was my pleasure to join Petroc Trelawney and the BBC Radio 3 team for their live broadcast from Vindolanda Roman Fort. The programme will be available for a month to listen back on BBC Sounds.

Mouthpieces and their study will play a major part in my own PhD research, working with ancient horns under the supervision of Professors Melanie Giles (UoM) and Fraser Hunter (National Museums Scotland). The Roman mouthpiece find at Vindolanda in 2021 has given me a special interest in the site and I am delighted that as a CDA student I can put my research into practice, working with museums and centres such as Vindolanda. 

My work to date incorporates manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing and uses experimental archaeological approaches to develop copies of Iron Age and Roman mouthpieces, measuring their impact upon instruments they might have been used with. 

I was delighted to be able to perform on three instruments as part of the BBC R3 broadcast: Cornu; Carnyx and Etruscan Lituus. This engagement with a public audience is again part of my PhD and I am extremely grateful to the Arts Council for funding my research.”

You can stream the show via BBC Sounds.