Dr Robert Wallis

Professional biography

I am interested in the archaeology and anthropology of art and religion, the re-presentation of the past in the present, and the anthropology and archaeology of human engagements with birds of prey. I focus on prehistoric art, rock art, shamanism, animism and their interface with modern and contemporary art, the uses of heritage by today’s Pagans, and the earliest evidence for falconry and human-raptor sociality.

I am a member of the University's Open Ecologies, Medieval and Early Modern and Objects, Museum and Collections research groups. My latest book, published October 2023, is entitled The Art and Archaeology of Human Engagements with Birds of Prey: From Prehistory to the Present (Bloomsbury). I recently co-edited a special issue of the open access journal Religions on Art, Shamanism and Animism (2021).

I currently have a co-authored book examining racist and anti-racist Heathenry in the UK in press with Manchester University Press.  I am also writing up an article on human-raptor body entanglements in early medieval England for the Open Arts Journal, as well as a book chapter on early medieval falconry for Animalia: Animal and Human Interaction in Daily Living in the Early Medieval English World (Liverpool University Press). 

My planned research output includes a monograph on the art and archaeology of falconry - a posthumanist approach to human-raptor co-operative hunting in deep-time.

PUBLICATIONS:

Books

Wallis, R. J. In preparation. The Art and Archaeology of Falconry: A Posthumanist Approach to Human-Raptor Co-operation in Deep-Time.

Wallis, R. J. (ed.) 2023. The Art and Archaeology of Human Engagements with Birds of Prey: From Prehistory to the Present. London: Bloomsbury.

Wallis, R.J. 2003. Shamans / neo-Shamans: Ecstasy, Alternative Archaeologies and Contemporary Pagans. London: Routledge (Short-listed for The Folklore Society’s Katherine Briggs Folklore Award 2003).

Wallis  R. J. and K. Lymer (eds) 2001. A Permeability of Boundaries: New Approaches to the Archaeology of Art, Religion and Folklore. BAR International Series 936. Oxford: BAR.

Aldrich, A. and R.J. Wallis (eds) 2009. Antiquaries and Archaists: The Past in the Past, the Past in the Present. Reading: Spire Books. (Launched at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, 12 Nov 2009; review by Rosemary Hill entitled ‘Giant Steps’ in the Times Literary Supplement, 13 November 2009: 38).

Alessio, D. and R. J. Wallis. In press 2025. Faith, Folk and the Far-Right: Racist and Anti-Racist Heathenry in Twenty-First Century Britain. Contract with Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Blain, J. and R. J. Wallis. 2007. Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Contemporary Pagan Engagements with Archaeological Monuments. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press.

Harvey, G. and R.J. Wallis. 2016. Historical Dictionary of Shamanism. Second edition. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. First published 2007, reprinted in paperback as The A to Z of Shamanism 2010, revised and expanded second edition 2016.

Recent Journal Articles

Wallis, R. J. and M. Carocci (eds) 2021. ‘Art, Animism and Shamanism’. Special Issue of Religions journal. Religions | Special Issue : Art, Shamanism and Animism (mdpi.com)

Wallis, R. J. 2020. The ‘North-West Essex Anglo-Saxon Ring’, falconry and pagan-Christian discursive space. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 30(3): 413-432.

Recent Chapters in edited volumes

Wallis, R. J. In press. ‘The Hawk in Hand: Falconry in Early Medieval England’. In: G. Owen-Crocker and M. Clegg Hyder (eds) Animals in Early Medieval England. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

- 2021. Hunters and Shamans, Sex and Death: Relational Ontologies and the Materiality of the Lascaux ‘shaft-scene’. In: M. Porr and O. Moro-Abadia (eds), Ontologies of Rock Art: Images, Relational Approaches and Indigenous Knowledge: 319-334. London: Routledge.

- 2021. Reproduction, Simulation and the Hyperreal: A Case Study of ‘Lascaux III’ 2015-2017. In: Andrzej Rozwadowski and Jamie Hampson (eds). Visual Culture, Heritage and Identity: Using Rock Art to Reconnect Past and Present: 132-144. Oxford: Archaeopress.

Recent Public Reports

Alessio, D. and R. J. Wallis 2021. 'The Musical Is Political: Black Metal and the Extreme Right'. Fair Observer, 10 August 2021: https://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/dominic-alessio-robert-wallis-black-metal-extreme-right-music-scene-news-41994/

Alessio, D. and R. J. Wallis 2020. 'Racist occultism in the UK: behind the Order of Nine Angles (O9A)', Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right Blog: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/countering-radical-right/racist-occultism-uk-behind-order-nine-angles-o9a/

Other recent publications

Wallis, R. J. 2023. Cave Art, Sex and Death: An Archaeology of the Lascaux Shaft-Scene. Strange Attractor Journal 5: 147-158.

- 2021. Review of: Nurgaiv, A. with Liz Welch 2020. Eagle Huntress: The True Story of the Girl Who Soared Beyond Expectations. New York: Little Brown. The Falconer: 125-126.

- 2020. The Origins of Falconry in England: New Evidence in the Form of an Early Anglo-Saxon Gold Signet Ring from Essex. The Falconer: 65-78.

- 2020. Entangled in Ward’s Liberty Realm. In: Liberty Realm: Works by Cathy Ward: 15-18. London: Strange Attractor Press.

My teaching interests relate to my ongoing research on the archaeology and anthropology of art, representation and heritage. I have taught on archaeolgy at the University of Southampton, cultural studies at the University of Winchester, as well as art history and visual culture at Richmond University, and at The Open University I taught the module AA100 The Arts Past and Present.

Presently at the OU I cluster manage the level 1 module A111 Discovering the Arts and Humanities and level 3 module A336 Art and Its Critical Histories (Dissertation). I am a module team member and contributed teaching material to the MA in Art History and Visual Culture, A336 Art and Its Critical Histories (Dissertation), A236 Art History and Visual Culture in the Modern World and A237 Art and Life Before 1800.

I am very interested in supervising Doctoral research students, especially on topics which embrace a wide-range of themes relating to my research and teaching interests on the archaeology and anthropology of art, representation, heritage and human-animal relations. 

I have presented on my research on the archaeology and anthropology of art in a variety of public fora, including at such museums, galleries and art fairs as the National Portrait Gallery, Institute for Contemporary Art, Cuming Museum, Wellcome Collection, Horse Hospital, October Gallery, Arts Catalyst, Cob Gallery, Viktor Wynd Fine Art, and ArtRooms Art Fair. I have an Instagram account exploring art and archaeology, artarchaeologynow.

My research on contemporary Paganism and archaeology has been presented at many conferences including the British Association for the Study of Religion, Theoretical Archaeology Group, Association of Social Anthropologists, British Sociological Association Study Group on Religion and World Archaeological Congress. Most recently, I presented on anti-racist Heathen uses of Instagram at Inform (Information on New Religious Movements) Seminar, ‘New Media and New Religiosity: Possibilities and Pitfalls’, Kings College (July 2022). I have also presented at Pagan conferences, workshops and events, including the Pagan Federation Conference and I have written in a variety of public fora including British Archaeology, Strange Attractor Journal, Folkwitch, White Dragon, 3rd Stone, and Idunna: A Journal of Northern Tradition. I have also co-authored a book for Heathens entitled Galdrbok: Practical Heathen Runecraft, Shamanism and Magic (paperback 2022). I was a Trustee of the Dragon Project Trust exploring anomalous phenomena at archaeological monuments and 'sacred' sites.

Regarding my research on falconry and as a practicing falconer, I recently presented on early medieval falconry at the Cultural History of the Hunt Research Network (May 2024), International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) (November 2021) and the Raptor Research Foundation (October 2021). I am Academic Trustee of the British Archives of Falconry (2020-present), served as Council Representative for the Wessex Region of the British Falconers’ Club (2015-2023), and as Honorary Co-Editor of their journal The Falconer, for which I have written regularly on the archaeology of falconry.

In addition to public engagements noted above, I have written essays for artist's monographs by Jessie Bransfoot and Cathy Ward. I have done some PR work on falconry for English Heritage at Stonehenge and presented on the subject to the National Trust of Guernsey.

I am a member of the Humans and Other Living Beings (HOLB) Network, affiliated to European Association Social Anthropologists (EASA) and the Pagan Studies Network, affiliated to American Academy of Religion (AAR). I am also a member of the Prehistoric Society, Council for British Archaeology, La Société Guernesiaise, and an occasional member of the Folklore Society, College Art Association, Raptor Research Foundation, and International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism.