Funding grant secured for groundbreaking research on early British voices and identities
Published: 26 November 2025
An innovative research project, which aims to uncover the diverse voices, identities, and cultural interactions that shaped early British history, has been awarded £1.4 million UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funding.
What did the voices of Britain sound like during and after the Roman period? How did early British communities construct and represent their identities? How did they interact with neighbours overseas?
An innovative research project, which aims to uncover the diverse voices, identities, and cultural interactions that shaped early British history, has been awarded £1.4 million UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funding.
The four-year project entitled Voices of Britain Under and After Rome, is led by the University of Nottingham with partners including the University of Glasgow, the British Museum, the Roman Baths Museum, the Classical Association and the charity Classics for All.
Alex Mullen, Nottingham’s Professor of Ancient History and Sociolinguistics, who will lead the project which is set to begin in October 2026, said: “We have a unique opportunity in this project to combine innovative methodological approaches and large datasets to transform our understanding of language and culture in early Britain. By reaching across the unhelpful boundaries of disciplines and time periods, the international team will tackle complex questions about the formation and representation of identities, and share the knowledge widely with the public."
Project Co-Lead, Katherine Forsyth, Professor of Celtic Studies at the University of Glasgow, said: “By breaking down the barrier between Roman Studies and Celtic Studies, and taking a long view which outlasts Roman rule in Britain, we are going to ask new questions of the datasets already amassed.
“We are now able to capitalize on what has been achieved in Digital Humanities thus far, I look forward to listening to ‘Voices of Britain’ and what they tells us about emerging identities in a multi-cultural and multi-lingual world.”
The project will analyse the evolution of languages and identities in Britain from the century before Roman rule to the seventh century AD. By integrating sociolinguistics, epigraphy, history, art history, and archaeology, the research will provide a comprehensive understanding of the cultural entanglements that influenced early British communities, emanating from within Britain itself and from Ireland, Scandinavia, and the northern Continent.
The project will leverage cutting-edge technology, including bespoke AI models developed in recent projects, to analyse millions of data points and images from extensive datasets, such as Roman Inscriptions of Britain Online and the LatinNow project. This approach aims to uncover new insights into regional and social patterns, connectivities, and the experiences of communities under and after Roman rule.
The key objectives of the project include:
- Producing the first comprehensive sociolinguistic analysis of Roman and early post-Roman Britain, examining linguistic differences across regions, social groups, and genders.
- Exploring the regional, social, and temporal dimensions of inscriptions, symbols, and images in stone to uncover their sociolinguistic messages.
- Investigating the development of writing systems such as Ogham and Pictish symbols during the later Roman period.
- Synthesizing findings to understand the impact of migration, Roman rule, and interactions with neighbouring regions on the identities and cultural heritage of early Britain.
- Collaborating with museums and educators to deliver societal impact through exhibitions, redisplays, teacher training, and school curriculum resources for Scotland, England and Wales.
First published: 26 November 2025