David Mullin

I am a pottery specialist, focussed on the Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery of southern and western Britain.  

I started working as a volunteer on excavations at West Heslerton in the late 1980s. Since then, I have worked in urban settings such as the city of Bristol as well as rural Somerset and Wales. I was trained by Anne Woodward in the analysis of prehistoric pottery and have worked as a freelance specialist for several years. I gained a PhD from the University of Reading in 2011 and taught on the Archaeology and Heritage degree at the University of Worcester for over ten years. Whilst there I coordinated the Worcestershire Historic Graffiti Survey, carried out several experimental pottery firings and co-directed the annual training excavation on several Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Somerset. More recently I worked for Historic England and was also funded by Arts Council England to carry out a project focussed on the archive of Jacquetta Hawkes.  

My interest in pottery grew out of unanswered questions at the end of my PhD research and resulted in a series of experimental prehistoric firings, the construction of a double-flue kiln and training to throw on the wheel at Winchcombe Pottery in Gloucestershire. Pottery is such a tactile medium and it’s fascinating to find the physical traces of potter’s actions from thousands of years ago. I particularly enjoy placing my fingernails inside fingernail impressions on Deverel-Rimbury bucket urns.  

When not obsessing over tiny, crumbly sherds, I am restoring an 19th century printing press located in Bradford. This is going to be used as a community press, producing letterpress printed pamphlets, leaflets and posters. I also volunteer with the Elmet Trust who look after the birthplace of Ted Hughes and help organise events such as poetry readings, guided walks and Heritage Open Days.