Kenneth Brophy
I am Senior Lecturer in archaeology at the University of Glasgow (where I have taught since
2000) with research specialisms in the British Neolithic, Contemporary Archaeology, and
Public Archaeology. I have over 25 years of experience of directing fieldwork projects across
Scotland, working on sites spanning the Stone Age up to the 1980s, have published
extensively on a wide variety of topics, and given over 100 conference papers across
Europe. I also write a popular blog, The Urban Prehistorian, and have over 11,000 followers
on X / BlueSky. I have an established track record in communicating archaeology to the
public, having worked on numerous community archaeology projects, and I have a public
profile in advocating for the discipline and also engaging in public debates about the role,
relevance, and public perception of archaeology and prehistory. Between 2020 and 2023 I
was President of the Glasgow Archaeological Society. My most recent book, on The
Contemporary Archaeology of Prehistory, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2026.
Summary of talk
In this talk I will share results of archaeological fieldwork I carried out across the site if the
1988 Glasgow Garden Festival between 2022 and 2025. I will answer the question: what can
archaeology tell us about something that we think we already know there is to know and talk
about some of the exciting discoveries we have made. This work, funded by Glasgow City
Heritage Trust, is part of the After the Garden Festival project, where we are exploring the
physical legacy of the Festival. For more on the project see:
https://www.glasgowgardenfestival.org/ Please bring along your memories, photos and
merchandise from the Festival!