Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
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Last updated 20th August 2025
Biography
Kevin is a professional archaeologist and Reader of Archaeology working for the Centre of Archaeology based at the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom. For 24 years, he has directed and published archaeological projects throughout the United Kingdom and Europe and has widely travelled to sites across the world. He specialises in the application of new and innovative digital techniques for archaeological survey, forensic and conflict archaeology, and community archaeology. He has trained undergraduate and postgraduates students in a number of key subjects (including forensic archaeology, archaeological science, archaeological surveying, geophysical survey and archaeology and heritage management). He has completed investigations at Treblinka Death and Labour Camps in Poland, mass grave investigations in Ukraine, Poland, and Croatia, and completed field investigations at the forced labour camps on the island of Alderney in the Channel Islands. Kevin also works with numerous police forces as an external consultant associated with the search for buried human remains.
Of his recent global archaeological projects, the highest profile is the prestigious ‘Finding Shakespeare’ Project in Stratford upon Avon, U.K. This internationally important project focuses two key sites; the excavation of the final residence of William Shakespeare (called New Place) and the house in which the Bard passed away, and his grave site at Holy Trinity Church, his final resting place of Shakespeare. This project, and his work on the Scottish Islands, has led to several high-profile appearances on mainstream television programmes for the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, and National Geographic. He has recently led a new project in Namibia, carrying out one of the first archaeological investigations into the Herero and Nama genocides in collaboration with Forensic Architecture based at Goldsmiths.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research Expertise and Interests
- Hybrid search and survey methodologies
- Advances in archaeological field practice
- Forensic Archaeology – the search for, and recovery of, clandestine burials
- Island Archaeology
- General archaeology in the UK
- Forensic Archaeology – in particular, the search and recovery of buried remains
- The archaeology of Shakespeare
- Holocaust Archaeology
- Conflict Archaeology
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Active
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Documenting Genocide: Forensic Archaeology, Impact and Education relating to the Slave Worker Graves in Swakopmund, Namibia
Colls, K. (PI) & Mitchell, W. (CoPI)
1/08/25 → 31/01/26
Project: Research
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Mass graves of the Holocaust era in Ukraine as archaeological sites: strategies for searching, documenting and protection
Cherkaska, D., Sturdy Colls, C. & Colls, K., 13 Aug 2025, (Accepted/In press) Redefining cultural heritage in Ukraine. Verpoest, L. (ed.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis GroupResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Winter Research Festival: Documenting the Namibian Genocide
Mitchell, W. (Curator) & Colls, K. (Curator), 3 Dec 2025Research output: Non-textual form › Exhibition
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The Lord Pickles Alderney Expert Review
Sanders, P., Carr, G., Buggeln, M., Cherkaska, D., Colls, K., Fings, K., Glees, A., Lemmes, F., Luc, B., Sanchez, A. M., Partridge, C., Sturdy Colls, C. & van Pelt, R. J., 22 May 2024, UK Government. 93 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open Access -
‘Getting Closer to the Place’: Stakeholder Experiences and Impact During Archaeological Research at Sobibór
Colls, K., Sturdy Colls, C., Grzybowska, K. & Sendyka, R., 1 Mar 2024, Excavating Sobibór: Holocaust Archaeology between Heritage, History and Memory. Eickhoff , M., Somers, E. & Take, J. (eds.). Zwolle: WBOOKS, p. 121-144 24 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Open Access -
Archaeological Approaches in Investigations of Holocaust-Related Mass Graves: A Ukrainian Perspective
Cherkaska, D., Sturdy Colls, C. & Colls, K., 1 Dec 2023, In: Ukraina Moderna. 35, 1, p. 89-123 35 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Seeking the Truth: Forensic Archaeological Approaches to Transitional Justice
Sturdy Colls, C. (Speaker) & Colls, K. (Speaker)
4 Jun 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
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3rd International Workshop ‘Reimagining victims' reparation: building new perspectives on empathy, dignity, and justice for victims of serious human rights violations in the Global South’
Tamayo Gomez, C. (Organiser), Snell, M. (Organiser), Rios Oyola, S. (Organiser), Sturdy Colls, C. (Participant) & Colls, K. (Participant)
3 Jun 2025 → 4 Jun 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Organising a conference, workshop, ...
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Virtual Book Talk: ‘Adolf Island’: The Nazi Occupation of Alderney
Sturdy Colls, C. (Speaker) & Colls, K. (Speaker)
28 Apr 2022Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
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“Harry was here 1945”: Graffiti and the Nazi Occupation of Alderney
Sturdy Colls, C. (Speaker), Colls, K. (Contributor to Paper or Presentation), Bolton-King, R. S. (Contributor to Paper or Presentation), Harris, T. (Contributor to Paper or Presentation) & Weston, C. (Contributor to Paper or Presentation)
Sept 2015Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
Press/Media
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Huddersfield archaeologists help to reveal Namibian genocide grave sites
19/08/25
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Review into Alderney camps determines truth around death toll during Nazi occupation
Sturdy Colls, C., Colls, K. & Cherkaska, D.
22/05/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Staffordshire University archaeologists helping discover true death toll linked to Channel Island Nazi occupation
Sturdy Colls, C., Colls, K. & Cherkaska, D.
10/08/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Staffordshire archaeologists uncover remains of Nazi camps on British soil
18/03/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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