Matthew Harrison

My research focusses on the use of procedural modelling technologies such as grammars in archaeological 3D visualisations, as well as other generative modelling technologies such as cellular automata and agent-based systems. My interests lie in how these tools can improve visualisation in archaeology in terms of providing transparency, exploring uncertainty and adaptability, as well as how they can be used to model complex and large scale sites such as urban environments.

My AHRC funded PhD project uses these technologies to model and visualise the medieval city of Fustat, Egypt. The project aims to address how fragmentary sources can be drawn together into a holistic model of the site, and to explore both the underlying generative processes of the urban fabric and how it may have functioned and have been experienced in the Fatimid period (10th-12th Century AD).

I completed a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Cambridge in 2007. I then worked in commercial archaeology before beginning a masters in Archaeological Computing at the University of Southampton in 2010. I am now undertaking a PhD with the ACRG focussing on the visualisation and analysis of medieval Cairo, with particular emphasis on simulating movement, visibility and acoustics.

My research interests include procedural modelling, visualisation of ancient cities, the visualisation of uncertainty in archaeological reconstructions, medieval and Roman urbanism, the archaeology of early Christianity and Islam.


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I completed a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Cambridge in 2007. I then worked in commercial archaeology before beginning a masters in Archaeological Computing at the University of Southampton in 2010. I am now undertaking a PhD with the ACRG focussing on the visualisation and analysis of medieval Cairo, with particular emphasis on simulating movement, visibility and acoustics. My research interests include procedural modelling, visualisation of ancient cities, the visualisation of uncertainty in archaeological reconstructions, medieval and Roman urbanism, the archaeology of early Christianity and Islam.

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