Nicky Milner


Nicky Milner is an archaeologist and academic. She is head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. Her research focuses on the Mesolithic period, and the transition between the Mesolithic and Neolithic. She has worked at the iconic site of Star Carr in the Vale of Pickering for over 15 years, and has directed excavations at the site since 2004.
Milner was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2019 and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2009.

Early career

Milner completed her BA in Archaeology in 1995 at the University of Nottingham, followed by a PhD at the University of Cambridge, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. Her doctoral research developed a method for analysing seasonality from the shell of the European oyster, and applied this method to Danish shell midden sites. Following her PhD she was awarded a Sir James Knott postdoctoral fellowship at Newcastle University in 1999, and was employed as a lecturer at the same institution in 2001. She moved to York in 2004 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2009, and Professor in 2012.

Research and professional career

Milner is the principal investigator on the European Research Council funded POSTGLACIAL project, investigating the occupation of north-west Europe and how people adapted to climate change during the early post-glacial period. The major case study for this research is Star Carr and other sites surrounding palaeo-lake Flixton. Her excavations at Star Carr were featured on a special episode of the UK Time Team, and her work in 2013 on the ‘earliest house in Britain’ was featured on several major news outlets worldwide, including the BBC in the UK, CBS in the USA and Sky News Australia.
She is senior editor of Oxford Research Reviews in Archaeology, and has been the editor for Mesolithic Miscellany journal since 2006, and co-author of popular book , linked to a major exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum. She is a member of the AHRC peer college, and a member of the assessment panel for the NERC radiocarbon facility.
In addition to her work at iconic Star Carr, she has also worked on shell midden sites in Ireland, Scotland, Spain and Portugal, and has co-directed excavations as Howick and Baylet.
In November 2019 Milner was Highly Commended in the category of 'Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year' at the Times Higher Education Awards.

Selected publications