During 2023-24 I have been awarded a 12-month Senior Research Fellowship by the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust to work on https://thestone.stir.ac.uk/. My teaching duties are being undertaken by Dr Annalisa Christie. A further month of research time (AHRC-funded) is being devoted to the ECCLES project https://earlychristianchurchesandlandscapes.wordpress.com/.
I work in Stirling's History, Heritage and Politics Division as a Professor in Heritage and Conservation. I am a member of our cross-Faculty Environment, Heritage and Policy Centre and an active contributor to the University's Cultural Heritage research programme. From January to August 2023, I was the Faculty of Arts and Humanities' Deputy Dean of Research for Impact (Dr James Morrison is assuming this role 2023-24).
I spent over 20 years working in cultural heritage - mainly for Historic Scotland - before returning to academia in 2010. Graduating from University College London with a degree in Medieval Archaeology, I completed my archaeology PhD at the University of Glasgow. Before joining Stirling in 2014, I was an archaeology lecturer at Glasgow and Aberdeen universities.
My research is cited in the context of the archaeology and heritage of most of the world's continents and I have delivered talks in countries including Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, the USA and in all part of the UK.
Award
St Andrews Preservation Trust Murray Prize for History 2015
Prize for Foster et al 2014
Consultancy
Factual reviewer for Smithsonian Channel Program
Event / Presentation
Physical evidence for the early church in Scotland. Buildings for Worship in Britain: Celtic and Anglo-Saxon University of Oxford
Embodied energies, embedded stories: releasing the potential of casts of early medieval sculptures. Making Histories: The Sixth International Insular Art Conference 2011
The Thing about Replicas: Why Historic Replicas of Archaeological Material Matter. Mini-symposium on 19th-Century Replication and the Prehistory of Virtual Reality, Fort Worth, Texas
"19th Century Replication and the Prehistory of Virtual Reality," a mini-symposium, will take place 2:30-4:30 p.m., Nov. 7, 2014 (Debate Chamber, Scharbauer Hall). Funded by TCU's Research and Creative Activity Fund
CARE Isles: ECCLES. Pre-Romanesque architecture in Scotland in its European context. European Association of Archaeologists Annual Conference 2014, Istanbul European Association of Archaeologists
Picts, Gaels and Scots - What's New?. Appin Historical Society lecture programme 2014-15 Appin Historical Society
http://www.appinhistoricalsociety.co.uk/page3.htm Lecture on new developments in understanding the Picts, Gaels and Scots, following publication of 3rd editon of 'Picts, Gaels and Scots. Early Historic Scotland'.
A 'cemetery of bric-a-brac' or a 'nursery of living thoughts'? Why replicas of archaeological material culture matter. Centre for Environment, History and Policy Seminars
PI for project; Chair. Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: Workshop 1. Digital recording of carved stones for research. Where are we and where can we go? Glasgow School of Art University of Glasgow
Eigg's early church archaeology in context. The St Donnan's Seminar, Eigg
Smashing casts: replication of early medieval sculpture as a case study in the fragility of cultural value. Destroy the Copy! II, Berlin Freie University Berlin, Cornell University and Archaeological Institute of America
http://www.archaeological.org/events/18583 Sponsored by Free University Berlin, Cornell University Thursday, October 8, 2015 - 8:00am to Saturday, October 10, 2015 - 5:00pm Location:Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
PI for project; Chair. Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: Workshop 4. ScARF for carved stones in Scotland, University of Stirling
Discovery, recovery, replication and display: representing the medieval in nineteenth-century Scottish museums. European Association of Archaeologists Annual Conference 2015, Glasgow European Association of Archaeologists
Organiser (PI) and Chair. Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: Workshop 2. At the door of the church? Research and carved stones at ecclesiastical sites, Govan Old Church
Poster: Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland. European Association of Archaeologists Conference 2015, Glasgow University of Glasgow and European Association of Archaeologists
Picts, Gaels and Scots: What's new?. Landscape Encounters II: Exploring Environmental and Heritage Histories of Scotland
Lecture as part of Landscape Encounters II , the second in a series of free public lectures designed to showcase some of the past and current research projects undertaken by the staff at the Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy at the University of Stirling to a wider audience.
A 'cemetery of bric-a-brac' or a 'nursery of living thoughts'? Why replicas of archaeological material culture matter. Glasgow Archaeology Seminars Autumn 2014 University of Glasgow
Authentic replicas: the untold stories. Museums - Places of Authenticity Leibniz Research Alliances
http://web.rgzm.de/…uthenticity.html An international conference of the Leibniz Research Alliance "Historical Authenticity" Together with: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum - Archaeological Research Institute, Mainz, Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum , Deutsches Museum, München, National Maritime Museum - Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum, Bremerhaven, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg, Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Senckenberg Nature Research Society - World of Biodiversity, Frankfurt am Main, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig - Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity, Bonn, Knowledge Media Research Center - Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen
Replication of things: the case for composite biographical approaches. Victorians Institute Conference 2016, Raleigh, North Carolina Victorians Institute & Journal
Celtic collections: the curatorial appetite for 'Celtic crosses' in nineteenth-century Scotland. Celtic Revival: Authenticity and Identity conference University of Edinburgh and British Museum
http://www.britishmuseum.org/…spx?eventId=2642 The conference examined the Celtic Revival as a rewriting, recreation and re-imagining of the past, from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Leading art and design historians, archaeologists and curators discussed the themes of authenticity and innovation, the role of the copy, cultural heritage and reimagined identities. It was linked to the Celts: Art and Identity exhibition at the British Museum / National Museums Scotland.
Picts, Gaels and Scots: What's new?. Public lecture Tullibody History Group
Public lecture to Tullibody History Society
Replicas of early medieval sculpture. The art and science of replication. Copies and copying in the interdisciplinary museum, National Museums Scotland National Museums Scotland
NMS Collections Research Seminar. An informal discussion of the role of models across disciplinary boundaries. Organised by Dr Sam Alberti.
The Scottish experience of the place of value. Global Challenges in Cultural Heritage University of Stirling and Historic Environment Scotland
https://www.stir.ac.uk/…ltural-heritage/ This paper offered an introduction to the Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland project, in which understanding value has been central. It promoted the wider significance of this project, inviting wider critical review by heritage professionals and other users of this new model for a research framework, which is structured around the heritage cycle / a government strategy for the historic environment. See Framework at http://www.scottishheritagehub.com/content/future-thinking-carved-stones-scotland, Section 1.4 for the approach taken. The paper was presented on behalf of the Framework's co-authors, Dr Katherine Forsyth (University of Glasgow), Dr Susan buckham (University of Stirling) and Dr Stuart Jeffrey (Glasgow School of Art).
Inchinnan: releasing the potential. Launch of project '597 St Conval to All Hallows 1420 years and counting' Inchinnan Historical Interest Group
https://sites.google.com/…l-interest-group Short presentation on the significance of Inchinnan in the early medieval period and the potential of its surviving archaeology to answer important questions. Reference was made to the Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: A Research Framework, the objectives of which the All Hallows Project will contribute towards.
Concrete and non-concrete: an ethnographic study of the contemporary value and authenticity of historic replicas. 8th International Insular Art Conference University of Glasgow
http://www.gla.ac.uk/…nces/insularart/ Poster introducing ongoing research project with Professor Sian Jones, funded by Royal Society of Edinburgh, supported by Historic Environment Scotland
Scottish material evidence. Early Christian Churches and Landscapes: Academic Conference 1 University of Chester
Expiscation! George Buist and the early duplication of Pictish monuments and artefacts in Fife. Pictish Arts Society Annual Conference Pictish Arts Society
Launch of 'Listen to the Stones'; Workshop: Talking Stones - Carved Stones Research Framework. Scotland's Community Heritage Conference Historic Environment Scotland
https://archaeologyscotland.org.uk/…d-contributions/ Launch of 'Listen to the Stones', an initiative to promote wider audience engagement with Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: A Research Framework. Workshop to explore community interests in working with carved stones in the context of the Framework.
Listen to the Stones. Rock-art, public engagement and the future of the Cochno Stone workshop University of Glasgow
Short introduction to Listen to the Stones, and the Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland project
Material diasporas: an island perspective on the place and value of replicas. Our Islands, Our Past University of the Highlands and Islands
https://www.uhi.ac.uk/…conference-2017/ The paper, presently jointly with Professor Sian Jones, presented preliminary findings of the Concrete and non-concrete: an ethnographic study of the contemporary value and authenticity of historic replicas. It was accompanied by a poster.
‘I can’t think of anything more worthwhile doing’: contemporary attitudes to the Iona St John’s Cross replica. Public lecture as part of Concrete and Non-Concrete project
Presentation of the preliminary results of the 2017 fieldwork for the Concrete and Non-Concrete: An Ethnographic Study of the Contemporary Value and Authenticity of Historic Replicas project. Dr Stuart Jeffrey of Glasgow School of Art presented co-produced digital models of carved stones in Iona, including what the school children had produced in a Workshop the day before. With kind permission of Murdo MacKenzie, we presented his 1970 cinefilm of the creation and erection of the replica.
Invited respondee: Intangible Matters: Mackintosh, Authenticity & Conservation University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art
One-day symposium on 20 October 2018, Kelvin Halls, Glasgow, highlighting the recent conservation projects on Mackintosh Heritage. Jointly organised by The Glasgow School of Art and The Hunterian, University of Glasgow.
Listen to the Stones: Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland. HES staff lunchtime seminar Historic Environment Scotland
http://www.scottishheritagehub.com/ftcss_listen Presentation of the results of the Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland project, and promotion of its resources, including website and Listen to the Stones booklet. Targeted at relevance to heritage practitioners with a view to how they can use it themselves, and help others to do so. Co-presented with Dr Susan Buckham, University of Stirling, and Dr Katherine Forsyth, University of Glasgow
Untold stories: the biography of a replica University of East Anglia
12 November 2018 presentation at University of East Anglia's Medieval History Seminar programme
Participant in Round Table on 'How have perceptions of Iona evolved since Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation?'. BBC Civilisations Festival Friends of Govan Old
http://www.thegovanstones.org.uk/news.html A two-part event presented as part of the BBC Civilisations Festival. Dr Ewan Campbell (Archaeology, University of Glasgow) delivered the Reverend Tom Davidson Kelly lecture, titled ‘New Light on Columba’s Monastery on Iona’, at the Friends of Govan Old Annual meeting. Afterwards, Dr Heather Pulliam (History of Art, University of Edinburgh) lead a round table discussion on the question: ‘How have perceptions of Iona evolved since Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation?’ Panellists: Dr Katherine Forsyth, Peter Yeoman, Dr Ewan Campbell, Dr Adrian Maldonado, Dr Sally Foster. This was attended by c. 50 people.
The story of Iona's St John Cross. Project workshop with Iona Primary School
https://sketchfab.com/…8cdd057f67835dd6 This full-day Workshop, co-presented with Dr Stuart Jeffrey of Glasgow School of Art, combined outreach for the Concrete and Non-Concrete project with ethically-approved research into children's perspectives on Iona's high crosses, particularly the story of the St John's Cross replica. On 23 February, we followed this up with a walk to the crosses in Iona Abbey with the whole school.
Concrete and non-concrete: an exploration of how replicas ‘work’, acquire meaning and can develop storytelling potential
St John's Cross Iona: a case study in the contemporary value and authenticity of replicas at heritage sites. HES staff lunchtime seminar Historic Environment Scotland
Presentation of the preliminary results of the 2017 fieldwork for Concrete and Non-concrete: an Ethnographic Study of the Contemporary Value and Authenticity of Historic Replicas project (funded by Royal Society of Edinburgh and Historic Environment Scotland). The event combines outreach with seeking feedback from heritage practitioners in advance of publication.
Invited keynote: Making it Real. Historical Authenticity in Museums and Collections in the UK, Germany, and Europe, Cambridge, 3-5 December 2019, What replicas can tell us about authenticity, if we let them speak
Invited keynote: Lasting Impressions 2019. Making and Re-Making the Replica. AHRC-funded Study Day. Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. Available on YouTube. See also @lastingimpression_ #lastingimpressions19 University of Oxford
Invited speaker: The Art of Anglo-Saxon Sculpture: Its Presentation, Curation and Care, King’s Manor, University of York. 27-28 September, Displaying early medieval sculpture University of York and Durham University
Invited speaker: University of Edinburgh Art History Seminar, My Life as a Replica: understanding the values and meanings of the St John’s Cross, Iona, from creation to present, 17 October
Invited Chair: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland public event, Creating Scotland: Assembling a Medieval Kingdom” an in-conversation event with Hamish Torrie FSAScot, Dr Heather Pulliam FSAScot and Dr Adrian Maldonado FSAScot, Edinburgh, 14 October 2020
Invited speaker: UCL Authenticity Reading Group, 13 November, in relation to authenticity and replicas in context of archaeology, heritage and museums University College London
Invited speaker: talk to Appin Historical Society about My Life as a Replica
Delivered in Port Appin in October 2021, postponed from 2020 because of pandemic.
Invited panellist: Celebrating Scotland's Rock Art Workshop 2: A Future for Scotland’s Rock Art? Organised by the AHRC-funded Scotland's Rock Art Project
Invited host: Deep-time dialogues: reflections on the SERF project, organised by Council for British Archaeology
https://t.co/lC8yqdpA9X?amp=1 Organised by Council for British Archaeology, with speakers Neil Redfern, Sally Foster (host), Stephen Driscoll, Kenny Brophy, Rebecca Jones and Ewan Campbell.
Invited speaker: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Monuments Matters series of online talks, Panel 4: Monuments and Community Identity, 16 June 2021
http://rsai.ie/monuments-matter/ ‘The human story’: social value, biography and carved stones. Recorded talk available on YouTube but initially, at least, restricted to subscribers to series: https://youtu.be/gvdgA3uVAI0 .
Invited speaker: Gotland 2nd Picture Stone Symposium, Sweden, August 2022
Letting stones ʻspeakʼ: a Scottish perspective on the benefits and implications of exploring contemporary social value
Invited keynote speaker: Early Medieval Sculpture in its International Context conference, 31 Aug-4 Sep 2022, University of Durham
Travels with carved stones: in search of new meanings and values
Invited co-chair: Columba and Iona - An Interdisciplinary Conference, session on modern legacy of Columba and Iona, organised by University of Glasgow University of Glasgow
Invited talk as part of Largo Parish Church 400th Anniversary
29 September
Invited speaker: Scottish Medievalists: Authenticity's child: contemporary meanings and future destinies for the Stone of Scone
66th conference of The Scottish Medievalists (The Society for Scottish Medieval and Renaissance Studies)
Invited discussant ('Beyond spolia' session) and speaker (Runes, Monuments and Memorial Carving Network round table), EAA Annual Meeting Belfast 1 September 2023 European Association of Archaeologists
Accepted speaker: V&A Dundee Culture in Crisis conference - Cracking yarns: lessons from the extended and composite life of the Stone of Scone / Destiny, its chips and copies (20 September 2024) V&A Dundee
Accepted speaker: ACHS 2024 Galway conference: Stone of destinies - lessons from a moving national icon (3-6 June 2024)
https://achs2024galway.com/ Accepted to speak in Association of Critical Heritage Studies session on Responsibility: cultural stewardship across borders
Co-organiser: session at EAA 2024 Rome: Early Christian Churches and Landscapes (ECCLES) - co-creating a web resource with strategic, educational and infrastructural stakeholders (28-31 August 2024)
External Examiner for UG Archaeology, Glasgow University
External for Archaeology Periodic Subject Review, University of Glasgow
MPhil externalling: University of Cork (2017)
MRes examination: Universities of Cork (2016), Glasgow (2019) and Strathclyde (2016)
PhD externalling: Universities of Cork (2014), Glasgow (2016, 2019), Manchester (2019), Northumbria (2021); Leicester (2021); Glasgow School of Art (2022); Trinity College Dublin (2023); University College London (2023)
Other Academic Activities
Workshop co-organiser: Replicas in museums and heritage contexts: putting theory into practice National Museums Scotland and International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
SGSAH Heritage Hub event. Partnership with National Museum of Scotland and ICOMOS (Foster & Jones). 28-29 November 2019.
Council Member/Trustee, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Chair, National Committee on Carved Stones in Scotland
Trustee, Kilmartin Museum
Workshop co-organiser: Historic replicas in north-west Europe: current research, future prospect
Historic replicas in north-west Europe: current research, future prospects (Foster and Jones), University of Stirling, 8 January 2020.
Invited member: The Stone of Destiny Expert Panel, Perth and Kinross Council, chaired by Sir Mark Jones
Invited member of Advisory groups for major projects and organisations: Ancient Images 2.0 [Gotland Picture Stones]; Iona's Namescapes; Scotland's Rock Art Project (-2021); George Bain Collection Advisory Panel (Groam House Museum, 2022-); Digital Atlas of Early Irish Carved Stones (2022-)
Professional Career
Honorary Research Fellow: University of Glasgow, Department of Archaeology University of Glasgow
Elected Hon Editor of Medieval Archaeology
Hon Secretary, Medieval Europe Research Community
Elected Secretary of European Association of Archaeologists
Professional membership
FSA (Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London)
Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists
Professional qualification
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority Higher Education Academy Fellowship reference number: PR142119.
Supervision of Research Assistants
PhD supervision: Rhona Ramsay (submitted 2021), Tim Meek (submitted 2023), Georgina Ritchie (University of Edinburgh)
University Contribution
Divisional Chief Examiner
Co-organiser Divisional Seminar Series
Organiser Centre for Environment Heritage and Policy Tuesday Lunchtime Seminar Series
Deputy Associate Dean for Research - Impact ('Impact Champion) for Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Stirling University representative on the SGSAH Archaeology, Art History, Classics, Museums Studies Panel and the Cultural and Museums Studies Discipline+ Catalyst, now Archaeology and Classics.
Research (8)
My background as an academic and heritage practitioner shapes how my interdisciplinary research focuses on generating meaningful and impactful narratives about the value and significance of places and things for people. This involves evidencing how heritage resources are, and could be, relevant to the present and future. Examples include New Future for Replicas (https://replicas.stir.ac.uk) and Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland (https://scarf.scot/thematic/future-thinking-on-carved-stones-in-scotland/).
My research is multifaceted, and I am keen to supervise students wanting to adopt similar approaches. It:
cuts across heritage and museum discourses and practices
is explicitly about putting heritage theory into practice
works with and bridges ‘traditional’ and ‘social’ knowledge, discourse and methodologies, looking for new ways to work with diverse communities of practices to create new understandings, awareness, attitudes and practices
champions the undervalued and often ignored
celebrates and employs temporal dimension of values not just contemporary
combines and seeks to balance understanding of heritage resources from local, national and international perspectives
seeks to inform and add to international perspectives, whatever its geographical focus.
Key words in my current research include:
authenticity, value, significance
historic replicas
cultural / composite biographies
histories of heritage bodies and museums
carved stones (all periods but especially early medieval)
early medieval church in Scotland (see www.earlychristianchurchesandlandscapes.wordpress.com)
Picts and their northern European early medieval neighbours.
My publications include single-authored, multi-authored and edited books, articles in international peer-reviewed journals and guidebooks. My bestseller Picts, Gaels and Scots is now in its third edition and this has been reprinted several times. My most recent book (with Sian Jones) is My Life as a Replica: St John's Cross, Iona, which you can preview at https://issuu.com/casematepub/docs/foster_jones2020
I am the recipient of grants including: Anderson Dunlop Fund; AHRC Network Grant; British Academy Small Grant; British Academy / Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship; Henry Moore Foundation; Historic Environment Scotland PIC Archaeology Projects; Iona Cathedral Trustees; Royal Society of Edinburgh Network Grant, and Small Project Grants; Scottish Universities Insight Institute; Society of Antiquaries of London; Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; Strathmartine Trust.
Foster S (2024) Making the contemporary 'human story' of our monuments and their replicas matter. In: Thomas C & Murphy P (eds.) Ireland: The Matter of Monuments. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, pp. 97-112.
Foster S (2024) 'The Stone that just keeps on giving'? in Celebrating Archaeology in Scotland 2024. Historic Environment Scotland. Edinburgh. https://archaeologystrategy.scot/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/spreads-HES-ARCHAEOLOGY-MAGAZINE-ISSUE-7-2024.pdf
Foster S & Mattingly D (2023) This is archaeology. Impacting heritage, landscape and lives. British Archaeology, (188), pp. 44-51. https://www.archaeologyuk.org/what-we-do/british-archaeology-magazine.html
Foster S (2022) Smashing casts: replication of early medieval sculpture as a case study in the fragility of cultural value. In: Alexandridis A & Winkler-Horacek L (eds.) Destroy the Copy – Plaster Cast Collections in the 19th–20th c.: Demolition, Defacement, Disposal in Europe and Beyond. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 375-400. https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783110757965/html
Foster S (2022) Beyond the Corpus: a heritage perspective on new and future lives for Anglo-Saxon sculpture. In: Semple S & Hawkes J (eds.) Art, Image, Power and Place: Contextualising the Stone Sculpture of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Oxbow Books Ltd. https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/art-image-power-and-place.html
Foster S, Lewis C, Mina M & Taloni M (2022) EAA Statement on Nurturing the Cycle of Good Archaeological Practice. European Association of Archaeologists. Prague, Czechia. https://www.e-a-a.org/2022Statement
Pickles T & Foster SM (eds.) (2022) Early Christian Churches and Landscapes in Britain and Ireland. Studies in the Early Middle Ages (SEM). Turnhout: Brepols. http://www.brepols.net/Pages/BrowseBySeries.aspx?TreeSeries=SEM
Foster S (2021) Review of Conceiving a Nation. Scotland to AD 900. Review of: Conceiving a Nation. Scotland to ad 900. (The New History of Scotland Volume 1).: By Gilbert Márkus. 14 x 22 cm. xiv +295 pp, 13 b&w figs. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017. isbn 978-0-7486-7899-0.. Medieval Archaeology, 65 (1), pp. 206-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2021.1923890
Foster S (2020) Carved Stones. Perspectives from Iona Abbey on Values and Significance. Historic Churches. The Conservation and Repair of Ecclesiastical Buildings. The Buildings Conservation Directory. Special Report on Historic Churches. 2020, pp. 15-18.
Foster S & Jones S (2020) The concrete and non-concrete. In: My Life as a Replica: St John's Cross, Iona. Oxford: Windgather Press / Oxbow Books, pp. 1-4. https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/my-life-as-a-replica.html
Foster S & Jones S (2020) My Life as a Replica: St John's Cross, Iona. Oxford: Windgather Press / Oxbow Books. https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/my-life-as-a-replica.html
Foster S (2020) New Futures for Replicas. News in Conservation, (80), pp. 14-19. https://www.iiconservation.org/system/files/publications/journal/2020/b2020_5.pdf
Foster S (2020) The lives and value of replicas. AskHistorians Podcast Episode 157 [Podcast] 24.09.2020. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/iz5xmu/askhistorians_podcast_episode_157_the_lives_and/
Foster S & Jones S (2020) New Futures for Replicas: Principles and Guidance for Museums and Heritage. New Futures for Replicas. Stirling: University of Stirling.
Foster S (2020) Letting the St John's Cross speak. Iona Research Group [Blog post] 13.01.2020. https://ionaresearchgroup.arts.gla.ac.uk/index.php/2020/01/13/letting-the-st-johns-cross-iona-speak/
Foster S (2019) Manx crosses: a handbook of stone sculpture 500-1040 in the Isle of Man. Review of: by David M. Wilson, Oxford, Archaeopress Archaeology 388, 2018, iv and 182 pp., Illus. 63, ISBN: 978 1 78491 757 9. Archaeological Journal, 176 (2), pp. 395-396. https://doi.org/10.1080/00665983.2019.1590955
Foster S (2019) "A bright crowd of chancels": whither early church archaeology in Scotland?. In: Blackwell A (ed.) Scotland in Early Medieval Europe. Leiden: Sidestone Press, pp. 35-49. https://www.sidestone.com/books/scotland-in-early-medieval-europe
Foster SM & Jones S (2019) Concrete and non-concrete: exploring the contemporary authenticity of historic replicas through an ethnographic study of the St John's Cross replica, Iona. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 25 (11), pp. 1169-1188. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2019.1583272
Foster SM & Jones S (2019) The untold heritage value and significance of replicas. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 21 (1), pp. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2019.1588008
Graham E, Hambly J, Robson L, Rockman M, Gao Q, Foster S, Miller S & Dawson T (2018) Learning from Loss Climate Stories. [Web]. https://issuu.com/joannahambly/docs/learning_from_loss_climate_stories
Foster S (2018) Society for Medieval Archaeology. In: Smith C (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2
Foster S (2018) Replication of things: the case for composite biographical approaches. In: Codell J & Hughes L (eds.) Replication in the Long Nineteenth Century: Re-makings and Reproductions. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 23-44. https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-replication-in-the-long-nineteenth-century-hb.html
Foster S (2017) Churches and Social Power in Early Medieval Europe. Integrating archaeological and historical approaches. Review of: J Sanchez-Pardo and M G Shapland (eds). Brepols, Turnhout, Belgium, xvi + 553 pp. ISBN 978 2 5035 4555. Landscape History, 38 (1), pp. 101-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/01433768.2017.1322274
Foster S (2017) Icolmkill: the ruins of Iona. In: Carter M, Lindfield P & Townsend D (eds.) Writing Britain's Ruins. London: British Library, pp. 158-161. http://bookshop.nationalarchives.gov.uk/9780712309783/Writing-Britain%27s-Ruins/
Foster S, Blackwell A & Goldberg M (2017) The legacy of nineteenth-century replicas for object cultural biographies: lessons in duplication from 1830s Fife. St Andrews Preservation Trust Annual Report and Year Book, 2016, pp. 43-60. http://www.standrewspreservationtrust.com/STAPTyearbooks/79-2016/index.htm
Foster S (2016) Expiscation! Disentangling the later biography of the St Andrews Sarcophagus. In: Hunter F & Sheridan A (eds.) Ancient Lives: Object, People and Place in Early Scotland. Essays for David V Clarke on his 70th birthday. Leiden: Sidestone Press, pp. 165-186. https://www.sidestone.com/books/ancient-lives
Hobma H, O'Donnell D, Karkov C, Foster S, Graham J, Osborn W, del Turco R, Broatch R, Broatch S, Callieri M & Dellepiane M (2016) Modern impact on the fabric of the Ruthwell Cross. Old English Newsletter, 46 (1). http://www.oenewsletter.org/OEN/issue/ruthwell.php
Foster S, Forsyth K, Buckham S & Jeffrey S (2016) Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: A Research Framework (Core Text). Scottish Archaeological Research Framework: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. http://www.carvedstones.scot/uploads/4/4/0/3/44032535/cs_scarf_full.pdf
Foster S, Forsyth K, Buckham S & Jeffrey S (2016) Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: A Research Framework. ScARF: Scottish Archaeological Research Framework, 24.08.2016. http://www.scottishheritagehub.com/content/future-thinking-carved-stones-scotland
Foster S, Forsyth K, Buckham S & Jeffrey S (2016) Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: A Research Framework (Case Studies). Scottish Archaeological Research Framework: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. http://www.carvedstones.scot/uploads/4/4/0/3/44032535/cs_scarf_case_studies.pdf
Foster S & Curtis N (2016) The thing about replicas - why historic replicas matter. European Journal of Archaeology, 19 (1), pp. 122-148. https://doi.org/10.1179/1461957115Y.0000000011
Foster S (2015) Physical evidence for the early church in Scotland. In: Barnwell P (ed.) Places of Worship in Britain and Ireland, 300-950. Buildings for Worship in Britain: Celtic and Anglo-Saxon, Oxford, 08.01.2010-10.01.2010. Donington: Paul Watkins Publishing, pp. 68-91. https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/infosysfiles/O09P125HCR_1_Application.pdf
Foster S (2015) Early Victorian replicas of the St Andrews Sarcophagus and their legacy. History Scotland, 15 (4), pp. 32-37. https://www.celebrate-scotland.co.uk/Shop/801-22/Back_Issues/History_Scotland_-_Vol15Issue4_JulAug15/
Foster S (2015) Circulating agency: The V&A, Scotland and the multiplication of plaster casts of 'Celtic crosses'. Journal of the History of Collections, 27 (1), pp. 73-96. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhu008
Foster S (2015) Celtic collections and imperial connections. The V&A, Scotland and the multiplication of plaster casts of 'Celtic crosses'. History Scotland, 15 (2), pp. 16-21.
Foster S (2015) The Hirsel Excavations. Review of: R Cramp, Leeds, Society for Medieval Archaeology, 2014, 359pp, ISBN 978 1 909662 35 3.. Speculum, 90 (1), pp. 233-235. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0038713414003066
Foster S (2014) Medieval Archaeology. In: Smith C (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. New York: Springer, pp. 4736-4737. http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1774
Foster S (2014) Society for Medieval Archaeology. In: Smith C (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. New York: Springer, pp. 6775-6776. http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1787
Foster S, Blackwell A & Goldberg M (2014) The legacy of nineteenth-century replicas for object cultural biographies: lessons in duplication from 1830s Fife. Journal of Victorian Culture, 19 (2), pp. 137-160. https://doi.org/10.1080/13555502.2014.919079
Foster S (2013) Embodied energies, embedded stories: releasing the potential of casts of early medieval sculptures. In: Hawkes J (ed.) Making Histories: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Insular Art, York 2011. Donington: Shaun Tyas, pp. 339-357. http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/making-histories.html
Foster S (2013) Pagan and Christian. Religious Change in Early Medieval Europe. Review of: D Petts, London, Bristol Classical Press, 2011. 144 pp. ISBN 978-0-7156-375408. Medieval Archaeology, 57 (1), pp. 353-355. https://doi.org/10.1179/0076609713Z.00000000028
Foster S (2013) An Animate Landscape: Rock Art and the Prehistory of Kilmartin, Argyll, Scotland. Review of: A M Jones, D Freedman, B O’Connor, H Landin-Whymark, R Tipping and A Watson, Oxford, Windgather Press, 2011. 400 pp. ISBN 978-1-905119-41-7. European Journal of Archaeology, 16 (4), pp. 742-747. https://doi.org/10.1179/146195713X13721618716118
Foster S (2013) The Chapel and Burial Ground on St Ninian’s Isle, Shetland: Excavations Past and Present. Review of: R Barrowman, London, Society for Medieval Archaeology, 2011. 256pp. ISBN 978-1-907975-46-2. Medieval Archaeology, 57 (1), pp. 357-358. https://doi.org/10.1179/0076609713Z.00000000028
Foster S (2012) Pictish parallels for Gotland’s picture stones?. In: Karnell M (ed.) Gotland's Picture Stones: Bearers of an Enigmatic Legacy. Reports from the Friends of the Historical Museum Association, 84. Visby, Sweden: Fornsalen Publishing, Gotlands Museum, pp. 171-182. http://shop.textalk.se/en/article.php?id=18478&art=14310497
Foster S (2011) Historic Whithorn: Archaeology and Development. Review of: Historic Whithorn: Archaeology and Development (The Scottish Burgh Survey), R D Oram, P F Martin, C A McKean and T Neighbour, York: Historic Scotland/Council for British Archaeology, 2010, 69pp. ISBN 978 1 902771 82 3. Medieval Archaeology, 55 (1), pp. 402-403. https://doi.org/10.1179/med.2011.55.1.378
Foster S (2011) Churches in Early Medieval Ireland. Review of: Churches in Early Medieval Ireland. Architecture, Ritual and Memory, Tomas Ó Carragain, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2011, 400pp. ISBN 978 0 300 15444 3. Medieval Archaeology, 55 (1), pp. 343-344. https://doi.org/10.1179/174581711X13103897378726
Foster S (2010) The curatorial consequences of being moved, moveable or portable: the case of carved stones. Scottish Archaeological Journal, 32 (1), pp. 15-28. http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.3366/saj.2011.0005; https://doi.org/10.3366/saj.2011.0005
Foster S (2010) Shaping up rock art in Scotland: past progress, future directions. In: Barnett T & Sharpe K (eds.) Carving a Future for British Rock Art. New Directions for Research, Management and Presentation. Oxford: Oxbow Books, pp. 82-93. http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/carving-a-future-for-british-rock-art.html
Foster S (2010) West Over Sea. Studies in Scandinavian Sea-Borne Expansion and Settlement before 1300. Review of: West Over Sea. Studies in Scandinavian Sea-Borne Expansion and Settlement before 1300. A Festschrift in honour of Dr Barbara E. Crawford, ed Beverley Ballin Smith, Simon Taylor and Gareth Williams, Leiden: Brill, 2007; 586pp. ISBN 978 90 04 15893 1. English Historical Review, CXXV (512), pp. 139-141. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cep388
James H, Henderson I, Foster S & Jones S (2008) A Fragmented Masterpiece: Recovering the Biography of the Hilton of Cadboll Pictish Cross-slab. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/sas_books_2016/bookcontents.cfm?mono=1369067
Clarke DV & Foster S (2008) The Project. In: James H, Henderson I, Foster S & Jones S (eds.) A Fragmented Masterpiece. Recovering the Biography of the Hilton of Cadboll Pictish Cross-slab. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, pp. 1-11. http://www.socantscot.org/partnumber.asp?pnid=236437
Foster S & Jones S (2008) Recovering the biography of the Hilton of Cadboll cross-slab. In: James H, Henderson I, Foster S & Jones S (eds.) A Fragmented Masterpiece. Recovering the Biography of the Hilton of Cadboll Pictish Cross-slab. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, pp. 205-284. https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/sas_books_2016/bookcontents.cfm?mono=1369067
Foster S (2007) The topography of people’s lives: geography until 1314. In: Clancy T & Pittock M (eds.) The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature, Volume 1. From Columba to the Union (until 1707). Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 44-51. http://www.euppublishing.com/book/9780748616152
Foster S (2006) Kisimul Castle: recent work by Historic Scotland. In: Kruse A & Ross A (eds.) Barra and Skye: Two Hebridean Perspectives. Edinburgh: Scottish Society for Northern Studies, pp. 47-65. http://www.ssns.org.uk/publications/books.html
Downes J, Foster S & Wickham-Jones C (eds.) (2005) The Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site Research Agenda - Part 1. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland. http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/publicationsresultsdetail.htm?id=12721
Foster S & Cross M (eds.) (2005) Able Minds and Practised Hands: Scotland’s Early Medieval Sculpture in the 21st Century. Society for Medieval Archaeology Monographs, 23. Leeds: Maney Publishing for Society for Medieval Archaeology. http://www.maney.spiralcom.co.uk/index.php/books/sma23/
Foster S (2005) Introduction. Able Minds and Practised Hands: historical fact, 21st-century aspiration. In: Foster S & Cross M (eds.) Able Minds and Practised Hands: Scotland’s Early Medieval Sculpture in the 21st Century. Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph, 23. Leeds: Maney for Society for Medieval Archaeology, pp. 1-12. http://www.maney.spiralcom.co.uk/index.php/books/sma23/
Foster S (2005) Know your properties, recognise the possibilities: Historic Scotland’s strategy for the interpretation of early medieval sculpture in its care. In: Foster S & Cross M (eds.) Able Minds and Practised Hands: Scotland’s Early Medieval Sculpture in the 21st Century. Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph, 23. Leeds: Society for Medieval Archaeology per Maney, pp. 315-323. http://www.maney.spiralcom.co.uk/index.php/books/sma23/
Foster S (2004) Leslie Alcock, Kings and Warriors, Craftsmen and Priests in Northern Britain AD 550-850. Review of: Kings and Warriors, Craftsmen and Priests in Northern Britain AD 550-850, Leslie Alcock, Edinburgh, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 2003, 460pp, ISBN 0 903903 24 5. The Innes Review, 55 (2), pp. 224-5. https://doi.org/10.3366/inr.2004.55.2.224
Foster S (2003) Lane and Campbell, Dunadd: An early Dalriadic Capital. Review of: Dunadd: an early Dalriadic Capital, Alan Lane and Ewan Campbell, Oxford, Oxbow Books, 2000, pp.295. ISBN 978-1842170243. Scottish Historical Review, 82 (1), pp. 130-131. http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/shr.2003.82.1.130; https://doi.org/10.3366/shr.2003.82.1.130
Foster S & Stevenson JB (2002) 'The Auchenlaich long cairn’ in G Barclay, K Brophy and G MacGregor ‘Claish, Stirling: an early Neolithic structure in its context’. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 132, pp. 114-119. http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_132/132_065_137.pdf
Foster S (2002) Analysis of spatial patterns in buildings. In: Carr G & Stoddart S (eds.) Celts from Antiquity. Antiquity Papers, 2. Cambridge: Antiquity Publications Ltd, pp. 303-314. http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/celts-from-antiquity.html
Foster S (2002) Planning for early medieval sculpture. The recovery and recognition of sense, place and setting. In: Green L & Bidwell P (eds.) The Heritage of the North Sea Region. Conservation and Interpretation. Shaftesbury: Donhead, pp. 151-72.
Foster S (2002) Carved Stones Policy – new developments. In: Dakin A (ed.) Conservation of Historic Graveyards. Guide for Practitioners, 2. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, pp. 1-4. http://conservation.historic-scotland.gov.uk/publication-detail.htm?pubid=7158
Foster S & Linge L (2002) World Heritage Site buffer zones: statements of fact or aspiration?. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 5 (3), pp. 141-150. https://doi.org/10.1179/135050302793138055
Foster S (2001) Place, Space and Odyssey. Exploring the Future of Early Medieval Sculpture. Groam House lecture series. Rosemarkie: Groam House Museum.
Foster S (1998) Discovery, recovery, context and display. In: Foster S (ed.) The St Andrews Sarcophagus: A Pictish Masterpiece and its International Connections. Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 36-62.
Foster S (1998) Before Alba: Pictish and Dál Riata power centres from the fifth to late ninth centuries AD. In: Foster S, Macinnes A & MacInnes R (eds.) Scottish Power Centres: from the Early Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Glasgow: Cruithne Press, pp. 1-31.
Foster S (1997) The strength of belief: the impact of Christianity on early historic Scotland. In: de Boe G & Verhaeghe F (eds.) Religion and Belief in Medieval Europe. Papers of the ‘Medieval Europe Brugge 1997’ Conference, Volume 4. Zellik: IAP Rapporten, pp. 229-240.
Foster S (1997) The Picts: ''Quite the darkest of the Peoples of Dark Age Britain”?. In: Henry D (ed.) The Worm, the Germ and the Thorn. Pictish and Related Studies Presented to Isabel Henderson. Balgavies: Pinkfoot Press, pp. 5-17. http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/the-worm-the-germ-and-the-thorn.html
Foster S (1997) The Early Historic period. In: Barclay G (ed.) State-funded ‘Rescue’ Archaeology in Scotland. Past, Present and Future. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, pp. 32-33.
Foster S & Hingley R (1995) The potential and significance of field system remains. In: Foster S & Smout T (eds.) The History of Soils and Field Systems. Aberdeen: Scottish Cultural Press, pp. 135-144.
Foster S (1992) The state of Pictland in the age of Sutton Hoo. In: Carver M (ed.) The Age of Sutton Hoo. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, pp. 217-234. http://www.boydellandbrewer.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=6687
Barrett J & Foster S (1991) Passing the time in Iron Age Scotland. In: Hanson W & Slater E (eds.) Scottish Archaeology: New Perceptions. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, pp. 44-56.
Foster S (1990) Pins, combs and the chronology of Later Atlantic Iron Age Settlement. In: Armit I (ed.) Beyond the Brochs: Changing Perspectives on the Later Iron Age in Atlantic Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 143-174.
Foster S (1989) Analysis of spatial patterns in buildings (access analysis) as an insight into social structure: examples from the Scottish Atlantic Iron Age. Antiquity, 63 (238), pp. 40-50. http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/063/Ant0630040.htm
Foster S (1988) Early Medieval Inscription at Holcombe, Somerset. Medieval Archaeology, 32, pp. 208-211. http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/med_arch/
Alcock L, Alcock EA & Foster S (1986) Reconnaissance excavations on Early Historic fortifications and other royal sites in Scotland, 1974-84: 1, Excavations near St Abb's Head, Berwickshire, 1980. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 116, pp. 255-279. http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_116/116_255_279.pdf
Teaching
In 2023-24 my undergraduate and taught postgraduate teaching is being undertaken by Dr Annalisa Christie.
Normally, I mostly teach on the MSc Heritage, but I also provide the BA Heritage and Tourism core Heritage module, and a History option. I supervise PhDs and also have experience of being an Industry Co-Supervisor.
Teaching
HISUJ06 Picts in Perspective: Archaeology for Historians
ENHPPPD Dissertations and Work-based Projects
ARTUHT5 Heritage Protection: Theory and Practice (module co-ordinator)
HERPP02 Research Skills (module co-ordinator)
HERPP03 Heritage as Practice: Conservation, Management and Interpretation
HERPP07 Understanding and Managing Historic Environments: a Scottish Perspective (module co-ordinator)
HERPPD1-4 Dissertation/Work-Related Dissertation (module co-ordinator and supervision)