Dissertation Prize – Cambrian Archaeological Association

The Gwobr Archaeoleg Cambrian Archaeological Award

Each year the Cambrian Archaeological Association gives a prize for the most original contribution to the archaeology and/or history of Wales and the Marches by an Undergraduate or Master’s level dissertation. The Gwobr Archaeoleg Cambrian Archaeological Award (formerly the Blodwen Jerman Prize) is an opportunity for students and researchers, including those in continuing education, to share their research with the wider academic community and begin network building through the Association and its Members.

This prestigious prize was established in 1980 and over the years we have received a wide range of dissertations covering a breadth of topics and methodologies. In recent years we have particularly welcomed research that is innovative in its approach, and has the potential to be impactful not only to scholarship but also within the wider community.

Submissions can be made by the student, or their supervisor or department (N.B. there is no annual limit to the number of entries that can be made by a department). Dissertations should be dated from within the last two years. The deadline for submissions is the 30th November each year. Following this, submissions will be reviewed by a panel and the award will be announced in the summer or early autumn. The award winner will receive £300 in prize money and three years free membership of the CAA. An additional prize may be awarded at the discretion of the judges, for an undergraduate entry of exceptional quality that does not win the main prize, consisting of £100 and three years free membership of the CAA.

To make a submission please download and complete an entry form, available below as a PDF or a Word document, and email this together with a digital copy of the dissertation to Heather James, Secretary at: cambrians1846@gmail.com

Dissertation Entry Form in PDF format

Dissertation Entry Form in Word format

Any queries prior to submission should be addressed to Tudur Davies at cambrians1846@gmail.com

Prize Winner 2025

Fiona Gray-Davies

After obtaining an Economics degree from Cardiff University, I trained as a Chartered Accountant and specialised in insolvency. This was my career until I retired 5 years ago. I have always loved history, so when I retired I decided to pursue this interest and undertook a three year MSc course in Genealogy, Palaeography and Heraldry at the University of Strathclyde. My MSc course covered many different aspects of historical research in the UK and abroad.

In carrying out an emigration study on a family who had emigrated to the USA I discovered a major problem. Welsh migrants were legally recorded as “English” in passenger lists and emigration records until 1908. Many writers had considered this problem and described the difficulties but a practical solution for researchers was lacking. As 93.9% of Welsh immigrants had applied for naturalisation in 1900, I decided to focus on these US naturalisation records as a starting point for tracing Welsh migrants for my dissertation. The records proved to be a goldmine of information containing name, place of birth, occupation, spouses, children, address in the US and dates/places of departure/arrival and the name of the ship carrying them. This information could then be used to trace them back through passenger lists to birth records in Wales. It also enabled me to trace them throughout their lives in the USA and examine the extent to which they had assimilated in the US or maintained their Welsh identity.

I was delighted to receive the Gwobr Archaeoleg Cambrian Archaeological Award from such a prestigious organisation. It is truly humbling that the award recognises my research as making a significant contribution to Welsh historical research as this was what I hoped for when I chose my MSc topic.

My advice to fellow students- (1)follow your passions; (2)age is no limit to being able to make a useful contribution; (3) If you hit a brick wall, don’t give up, look for a way around it. Hopefully you may find a solution which will make it easier for researchers following you.

My website address is https://ancestorseeker.co.uk

Previous prize winners

Main Prize Winner 2024 (Postgraduate): Hannah Lycett-Smith

The main Gwobr Archaeoleg Cambrian Archaeological Award (Postgraduate) for 2024 is awarded to Hannah Lycett-Smith for her accomplished and engaging MSc dissertation entitled: Dietary reconstruction in Early Medieval South Wales: a comparative analysis of microwear and dental calculus at Llandough Monastic Cemetery, Glamorgan. Hannah’s dissertation was written as part of her MSc Archaeological Science at Cardiff University.

“Receiving the Gwobr Archaeoleg Cambrian Archaeological Award has been an incredible experience. Seeing my research recognised as significant to Welsh archaeology has been incredibly rewarding. I am so pleased to have contributed to an archaeological subject which I love so much.”

Undergraduate Prize Winner 2024: Siân Evans

This year, the CAA also decided to award an Undergraduate prize to Siân Evans for her excellent dissertation entitled: A Lost Medieval Priory? St Mary’s Nefyn and its History. Siân’s dissertation was written as part of her BA in Medieval and Early Modern History at Bangor University.

Prize Winner 2023: Sheridan Clements

“Receiving the Gwobr Archaeoleg Cambrian Archaeological Award means the world to me after gaining the confidence to not only move to the UK, but to also switch my topic to a less-considered, but equally fascinating aspect of prehistoric archaeology, not to mention the difficulties of altering and finishing the project with the advent of the pandemic. I am deeply encouraged by the recognition of my efforts to provide unique contributions to the field by such an institution as the Cambrian Archaeological Association!”

– Sheridan Clements, 2023