Valerie Maxfield

Valerie Maxfield FSA is a Roman archaeologist and emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of Exeter. She is a specialist in the archaeology of the Roman army and frontiers, and edited the Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society until December 2020.

Academic career[edit]

Maxfield completed an undergraduate degree in History at the University of Leicester and completed a Phd at Durham University in 1972, at Trevelyan College, supervised by Brian Dobson.^[1][2] She studied at the British School at Rome, and was then appointed as a Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Exeter.^[1] Maxfield retired from the university in 2008, coinciding with Bryony Coles' retirement. To mark their departure, the archaeology department held a conference dedicated to them titled 'From Desert to Wetland'.^[3] Valerie Maxfield is currently an emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of Exeter.^[4]

Excavations[edit]

In 1972 Maxfield excavated the Roman temporary camp at Eskbank, revealing its entrance complex, and in 1975 a series of pits at the camp.^[5] She excavated the Roman fort of Camelon, Falkirk from 1975–1977, and discovered a new camp at Lochlands through excavations in 1980–1984.^[6][7] Maxfield has worked in the Eastern Desert of Egypt since 1987 and excavated at Mons Porphyrites with David Peacock in the 1990s.^[8][9] This led to a grant of £5,595 from the British Academy in 2005 to fund post-excavation work on the project.^[10]

Archaeological societies[edit]

Maxfield co-founded the Hadrianic Society in 1971 with David Breeze and Brian Dobson and was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1978.^[11] Maxfield is a member of the Durham School of Archaeology.^[12] She has a longstanding involvement with both the Devon Archaeological Society and the Cornwall Archaeological Society, whose president she was in 2014.^[13] She is the current vice-president of the Devon Archaeological Society and edits the society's journal.^[14][13]

Selected publications[edit]

Scholia has an author profile for Valerie Maxfield.

• V. Maxfield 1972. Excavations at Eskbank Midlothian, 1972. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 141-150.
• V.A. Maxfield. 1981. The Military Decorations of the Roman Army. London: Batsford.
• V.A. Maxfield. 1986. Pre-Flavian Forts and their Garrisons. Britannia 17: 59-72.
• V. Maxfield. 1989. The Saxon Shore: A Handbook. Exeter: Exeter University Press.
• Dobson, B. and Maxfield, V. 1995. Some Inscriptions of Roman Britain. London: London Association of Classical Teachers
• V.A. Maxfield, D. Peacock. 2001. The Roman Imperial Quarries: Survey and Excavation at Mons Porphyrites 1994-1998 Volume 2. London: Egypt Exploration Society.
• V.A. Maxfield. 2001. Stone quarrying in the Eastern Desert with particular reference to Mons Claudianus and Mons Porphyrites. In D. Mattingly and J. Salmon. Economies beyond Agriculture in the Classical World.
• V.A. Maxfield and D. Peacock. 2001. Survey and Excavation. Mons Claudianus 1987-1993 II: Excavations part 1. Cairo: Institute francais d'archeologie orientale
• V.A. Maxfield and M.J. Dobson (eds). 2003. Roman Frontier Studies. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
• V.A. Maxfield. 2003. Ostraca and the Roman army in the Eastern desert. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 46: 153-173.

References[edit]