I have been a practitioner in field archaeology for over two decades and have in-depth knowledge of the profession and its pressures. For many years I worked as a Museum of London Archaeology project officer and was responsible for major sites with large field teams, where I gained extensive experience excavating and supervising complex urban Roman sites in London.

My work as an archaeologist led me to thinking about migration and the colonial endeavour – how archaeology has been framed within colonial contexts and the implications of this for communities. All these issues are hugely relevant when we think about diaspora communities, and particularly those with a strong political focus such as the Rastafarians.

My Fellowship allowed me to explore these themes, taking into consideration the challenges faced by people who believed they belonged somewhere else – that they had been displaced due to colonial slavery and their self-repatriation.

It was several years ago now and I can reflect with some honesty that my own research was in part ethnographic, with many of the negative connotations of that. However, I consciously use this self-knowledge in my archaeological work today.