Fabulous Professor Mark Horton attaches to Sacred Land documentary!

Professor Mark Horton, TV presenter, archaeologist, author, has agreed to be part of Sacred Land documentary which focuses on the rise in suicides and mental health sufferers especially since Covid-19 and lockdowns and how we can derive a sense of well-being and healing by just being in nature.

In his own words …

I am an archaeologist with global interests and a passion to understand and to communicate how the modern world was formed through historical process. My research employs field and scientific methodologies, and an eagerness to discover new information through investigation. I believe that as scientists, we have a mission to inform, communicate, educate, and through our research make the world a better place for all its inhabitants.

My research as an archaeologist has taken me on fieldwork to East Africa, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, the Caribbean, Panama, Eastern US, France and the UK. I have a keen interest in field methods, especially in extreme and difficult environments, and to work with archaeological scientists to generate new data from often hard to reach locations.

I also specialise in landscape approaches to archaeology, to look beyond the site, to develop ways of recording and understanding the wider context. In this work, I have been an early adopter of UAV/drone technology and exploring the potential new imaging methods, both in the UK and overseas.

Throughout my career, I have been a passionate advocate for the public understanding of the past – through TV, radio and media. I was closely involved in the early series of Time Team (Channel 4), and presented Time Flyers (BBC2, 2002-4), and Coast (BBC2 2005-2016) and have worked with the History, National Geographic and Discovery channels. I am currently appearing on Science Channel’s What on Earth.

I have had an amazing career as an archaeologist. In joining RAU, I hope that I may be able to give something back to help train the next generation in archaeology and cultural heritage, so that as we look to the future we can be guardians of our past.