SASA Book Club: "Footmarks: A Journey Into Our Restless Past" by Jim Leary

Hosted by Cassandra May.

Join us as we interview author Dr. Jim Leary and discuss his new release: Footmarks: A Journey Into our Restless Past" along with a live Q&A!

About the Book: All too often we think of the past as static, “frozen in time,” and indeed movement is not always easy to decipher from the archaeological record. With Jim Leary's expert eye we explore the tangible remains, from fossilized footprint tracks to prehistoric wooden trackways, ridgeways, holloways, driveways, green ways, corpse roads, and Roman roads. Isotope studies and archaeogenetics now allow us to see the arduous journeys that people made across continents and oceans, proving that migration has been continuous throughout our past, an endless ebb and flow of populations.

This new story of our past shows that history was warm and full of life, but also at times cold, dark and miserable – but it was never motionless. Footmarks will make you look at the landscape around you with fresh eyes.

About the Author: Dr Jim Leary is an archaeologist with over twenty-five years of professional experience. He lectures in archaeology at the University of York and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He was formerly an archaeologist with English Heritage and, before that, he worked as a professional archaeologist on development sites in London. Jim has directed major excavations across Britain, including Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, the largest Neolithic monument in Europe, and Marden Henge, a vast prehistoric monument that lies between Avebury and Stonehenge. In 2018 he was one of three people nominated for the prestigious ‘Archaeologist of the Year’ award by the popular magazine Current Archaeology.

Purchase the book here.