What's Happening?
24
25
Lecture Programme
Autumn/Winter
24-25
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The Society exists ‘to promote an active interest in archaeology’. This involves members in genuine educational effort, to grasp the widening range of archaeological activities, in time span, in site types, and in the application of new techniques. Our lecture programme aims to sustain this effort, as the list below reveals.
This year our meetings will be held in Lecture Theatre 2.03 in the John Percival Building, Column Road. This room has a smaller capacity (52 seats) than our previous home but we hope to be able to manage hybrid Zoom facilities from this location. All meetings are on Thursdays starting at 7:15pm. Members who wish to attend meetings in person should ensure that they arrive in good time, and those who have submitted an email address will be contacted with Zoom details shortly before each talk.
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The John Percival Building can be accessed from Colum Road, turning onto Colum Drive. From Corbett Road, follow the path past the Arts and Social Studies Library. Parking is available in the car park (that now incurs a charge) which is accessed from Column Road by turning into Column Drive
Details on how to find the lecture theatre can be seen below.
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23
24
Lecture Programme
Autumn/Winter
23-24
5th October 2023
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Fran Murphy MCIA
Head of DAT Archaeological Services, Dyfed Archaeological Trust
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St Saviours Dominican Friary, Haverfordwest – the consequences of construction within a Medieval town.
In 2022 DAT Archaeological Services carried out a 7 month excavation below what was the old Ocky White department store building in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. The archaeologists revealed the remains of a well-used cemetery, a cemetery believed to be associated with the Dominican medieval friary of St. Saviour’s, whose exact location has until now never been ascertained. The remains of more than 300 burials were excavated by the team of archaeologists, as well as the first phases of St Saviours Friary, established in the early 13th century.
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19th October
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Prof. Vicki Cummings
School of Natural Sciences
University of Central Lancashire
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New research on the Neolithic of the Northern
Isles of Orkney.
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This lecture presents the results of recent work in the Northern Isles of Orkney. Over the past few years new excavations have explored two Neolithic sites on Sanday: an early Neolithic settlement at Cata Sand and, just a short distance away, the chambered tomb at Tresness. These excavations have provided important insights into life on the Northern Isles in the early Neolithic. We have new information on the first farmers to arrive in these islands, as well as evidence for wider, ongoing connections throughout the early Neolithic. These were not people living on the edge of the Neolithic world, but at the centre of a vibrant and successful archipelago well-suited to an agricultural lifestyle, and very much in touch with wider Neolithic communities.
2nd November
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Madeleine Gray PhD, FRHistS, FSA, FRSA,
Professor Emerita of Ecclesiastical History, University of South Wales.
The fifteenth-century Herbert tombs in Tintern Abbey: fact, fiction or something in between?
We only know the tombs of William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, and his son William, earl of Huntingdon, from the drawings in a late seventeenth-century family history. Unfortunately, the author, Sir Thomas Herbert of Tintern, had form when it came to creative embroidery of the facts. His drawings cannot be completely accurate - but are they complete fiction, or do they have any basis in fact? And how far can we use them to add to our understanding of Wales during the Wars of the Roses?
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16th November
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Dr Tim Reynolds, Senior Lecturer, Department of History, Classics & Archaeology, Birkbeck, University of London.
Who Are You calling Neanderthal? Recent work at Shanidar cave, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Neanderthals have long suffered from being our nearest neighbours. They are a mirror we can hold up to judge how we think of ourselves and our ‘humanity’. Work at Shanidar in the 1950s challenged negative views of Neanderthals calling them ‘The First Flower people’ (Solecki 1971). It was said Neanderthals buried their dead respectfully with flowers. Since then Neanderthals have been found to contribute to Eurasian modern human DNA and lived as contemporaries with us for thousands of years. So where does this leave us, and our views on Neanderthal ‘humanity’? Recent work at Shanidar has been using modern science to explore the earlier claims for Neanderthal humanity.
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30th November
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Dr Andrew Shapland, Sir Arthur Evans Curator of Bronze Age and Classical Greece, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.
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Putting Knossos on show.
Since its discovery in 1878 the palace of Knossos on Crete has become one of the most well-known archaeological sites in the world. In 2023 the Ashmolean’s exhibition Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth and Reality brought together finds made by Sir Arthur Evans and other archaeologists to show how Knossos has come to be understood today. This talk will place this exhibition in its wider context of the presentation of Knossos to the public, from Evans’s concrete reconstructions to developments in digital technology.
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14th December (Zoom only)
Dr Rebecca Boyd, Senior Research Archaeologist, IAC Archaeology.
A Different Type of 'Viking': Life in Ireland's Viking-Age Towns.
The stereotypical 'Viking' is usually a hairy, male warrior, intent on destruction, pillaging and looting. But this is not the 'Viking' who is associated with the 10th, 11th and 12th century occupation in Viking-Age Dublin, Cork, and Waterford. In this lecture, we will explore the houses and streets of these Viking-Age towns and consider the lives and lifestyles of those who lived, worked and died in Viking-Age Ireland.
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2024
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11th January
Prof. Niall Sharples, Professor of Archaeology and Dr Oliver Davies,Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Civic Mission, Co- director CAER Heritage Project, SHARE, Cardiff University.
The 'Trelai Dig 2022/23
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An update on the site and findings.
25th January
Dr Rob Dinnis, Visiting Researcher, British Museum.
Early prehistoric occupation at Wogan Cavern, and why the site is so special
Recent test excavations at Wogan Cavern (Pembroke) have revealed impressive evidence for several early prehistoric occupations. Although only a small volume of deposits has so far been excavated it is already clearly a site of national and international significance. In this talk this recent work and discoveries are outlined, and the site’s importance is explained with reference to current gaps in our knowledge of the last Ice Age in Britain.
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8th February
Dr Mark Lewis FSA, Curatorial Officer Roman Archaeology National Roman Legion Museum
and Evan Chapman, Senior Curator Archaeology, National Museum Cardiff.
Roman Houses XXVI & XXVII at Caerwent
An Amgueddfa Cymru – Caerwent Historic Trust – Shirenewton Local History Society – Caerwent Parish Church Community Excavation, Summer 2023.
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Climate change has produced noticeably increasingly hot, dry, periods in Britain and elsewhere since the Millennium. At Caerwent, soil shrinkage and movement during the last decade began to expose a linear stone feature, at least 4.6m long, situated to the east of the medieval parish church’s chancel. Nobody connected with the church had any previous knowledge of its existence. Why did the feature not respect the Roman town grid or the alignment of the parish church? Why had it not been truncated by grave digging? This talk tells the story of a community research project to seek answers to these and other questions surrounding the history of this significant site.
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22nd February
Dr Tim Young, Teaching Associate, SHARE, Cardiff University.
In search of the early medieval monastery of Llaniltud, ‘the most beautiful of places'
This presentation will provide an overview of current research on the important early medieval monastic centre at Llantwit Major (Llanilltud Fawr), traditionally associated with St Illtud, later his cult centre and a royal burial ground.
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7th March
Annual General Meeting​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Plan of second floor, John Percival Building
3rd October 2024
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Dr Andy Seaman
Lecturer in Early Medieval Archaeology, SHARE, Cardiff
University
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Excavations at the Llancadle South II Cemetery
and the Early Medieval Landscape of the
Fonmon Castle.
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This talk will present initial results from the first 4 years of the Fonmon Castle Landscape Archaeology Project, focusing on excavations at the Llancadle South II early
medieval cemetery. The cemetery forms part of a wider complex of early medieval activity within the demesne of the later medieval castle, and displays unusual features,
including multiple enclosures, a diversity of burial practice, and high-status material, including imported glass.
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17th October 2024
Dr Timothy Penn
Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford.
Towards an archaeology of board games in
Roman society.
Board games are not a new phenomenon: they originate at least as early as ancient Egypt, but they’ve only started to be studied seriously by archaeologists relatively recently.
This means we’re now starting to learn lots of interesting new things about the ways that Roman people played games and had fun. This talk considers some of the most
exciting lessons that emerge from looking at the archaeological evidence for board games in Roman society.
31st October 2024
Sam Wilson
Archaeologist, Waterloo Uncovered.
Waterloo Uncovered: Combining world-class
archaeology on the Waterloo battlefield with
veteran care and recovery.
Waterloo Uncovered is a registered UK charity that combines a world-class archaeology project on the battlefield of Waterloo with a support programme for veterans and the military community. Working in partnership with some of Europe's top universities, and through the unique perspective of a team comprised of archaeologists, veterans and serving soldiers, Waterloo Uncovered aims to understand war and its impact on people
- and to educate the public about it.
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14th November 2024
Dr Henry Bishop Wright
Research Associate, SHARE, Cardiff University.
Beyond Egypt’s Southern Frontier: Nubia and
the Kingdom of Meroë.
Throughout the history of pharaonic Egypt, the area of present-day Aswan marked the frontier with Egypt’s southern neighbour, Nubia. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, the northernmost stretch of Nubia was the primary commercial corridor linking Ptolemaic Egypt with
the independent Kingdom of Meroë (c. 300 BC – AD 350) that controlled the Nile Valley to the south (present-day Sudan). This talk provides an accessible introduction to the
archaeology of Meroë and explores the results of its interaction (material-cultural) with Egypt and the wider Hellenistic-Roman worlds.
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28th November 2024
Professor Howard Williams BSc MA PhD FSA
Professor of Archaeology, University of Chester.
Once were Vikings?: New Archaeologies of
Today’s Viking Worlds.
The ‘Vikings’ remain a topic of popular public enthusiasm and academic contention and implicate a wide range of archaeological research and heritage sites, monuments and
landscapes. This presentation will explore recent debates surrounding the interpretation of the Viking Age and their use and misuse in politics and popular culture. I will argue
for the need for a systematic overhaul of both (a) how we conduct our academic interdisciplinary research in the public gaze and share our results about the Viking period, as
well as (b) how we investigate contemporary Viking receptions and engage with public debates on the significance of the Vikings today. Both dimensions have ethical and socio-political ramifications and involve actively combating old and new misinformation and actively
promoted disinformation about ‘the Vikings’ in contemporary society via sustained and responsible strategies. I’ll use a range of case studies of how we might do this better.
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12th December 2024 ZOOM ONLY
Dr Toby Driver, FSA
Senior Investigator (Aerial Survey) , Royal Commission
Wales.
Landscapes of fear and respect : exploring the
hillforts of Iron Age Wales.
This lecture will look at the people, landscape and monuments of Iron Age Wales, including the design and construction of the great hillforts and defended farms which dotted the countryside. The Iron Age in Wales was a time of innovation and international contacts, and the talk will also
look at some of the key finds from the period.
2025
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9th January 2025
Professor George Nash
Associate Professor in Geosciences Centre at Coimbra University, Portugal and Honorary Researcher within the
Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology,
University of Liverpool.
Making sense of engraved rock art in the later
prehistoric ritualised upland landscapes of
South Wales.
Based on current regional and national databases in Wales, the valleys of South Wales has around 22 rock art sites, the majority of which are constructed using the humble
engraved cupmark. This motif is used extensively across much of the so-called Atlantic Facade, from the Iberian Peninsula to Southern Scandinavia. This lecture will discuss the various sites and recent discoveries within the Valleys' catchment area and suggest that they sit within a
landscape/monument pattern that is repeated across much of Continental Europe.
23rd January 2025
Richard Clammer
Author, The Tidenham Historical Group.
Sudbrook, its Shipyard & South America.
This talk will tell the fascinating story of Sudbrook village in Monmouthshire, its forgotten shipyard and the many vessels built there as well as providing personal and
professional biographies of T.A. & C.H. Walker who, despite being two of Britain's foremost civil engineering contractors of their age and responsible for several major projects in
South Wales, have never previously received the recognition they deserve. It explores the Walkers' world-wide achievements, Sudbrook's surprising links with South America, and the continuing existence of a second Walker company village in Uruguay. Clear remains of the shipyard survive on the Sudbrook foreshore and deserve further archaeological investigation.​
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6th February 2025
Dr Graeme Lawson
Archaeologist with a special interest in music and tradition.
Sound Tracks: the Crwth and the Lyre, 1000 BC
to AD 1000.
No-one familiar with the cultural traditions of Wales can be unaware of the musical phenomenon known as the crwth. It is, and was, a Welsh stringed instrument with a fingerboard, played latterly like a violin, with a bow, and its image and name can be traced back to the Middle Ages and even beyond. While only a handful of historic crwths have been preserved, and only two of those remain in Wales, 'crowthers' are mentioned in the household accounts of
princes, including (in the early years of the 14th century 'Audowen le Crouther' a minstrel to Edward of Carnarvon, son of Edward I; and similar instruments can be seen in early medieval images. With little surviving of their repertoire, the source of the crwth's appeal is unclear, and
its origins are likewise shrouded in mystery: the documents and images only take us so far. To get to the heart of the riddle we need archaeology. With the aid of replicas of actual finds, this talk will tell the story (so far) of the quest for solutions, through archaeological collections here in the West of Britain and across the continent of Europe.​
20th February 2025
Tom Hicks
Experimental Archaeologist, CAER Heritage Project.
Learning Through Doing:
Experimental Archaeology
Partnerships that build learning opportunities for the community of Caerau and Ely are to be kick-started in latest
developments at the CAER Heritage Centre. Taking the Pathway to Archaeology in Lifelong Learning in 2015, Tom
Hicks (BA 2018, MA 2023) progressed to an undergraduate degree at the university before completing his Master’s
degree in Archaeology. Now Tom returns in his new role creating community partnerships at the award-winning
centre, and he will speak to the Society specifically on his experimental archaeology work there.​
13th March 2025
(N.B. Three Weeks Later)
Annual General Meeting.​
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