2nd October 2025
 

Julian Thomas

Professor of Archaeology, University of Manchester Arthur's Stone, Herefordshire: A Chambered Tomb in its Context
 

Since 2010, the Beneath Hay Bluff project has been exploring prehistoric activity in southwest Herefordshire, on the border between England and Wales. Excavations at Dorstone Hill have revealed a remarkable complex of Neolithic timber buildings, replaced on the same location by funerary long mounds, and a causewayed enclosure. These results have prompted the investigation of Arthur's Stone, a chambered long cairn on the next hilltop, overlooking the Golden Valley. This is a well-known monument in national ownership, but its character has previously been poorly understood. Three seasons of excavations have revealed a complex structural sequence and unusual mortuary practices.

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16th October 2025
 

Dr Ken Griffin

Curator, The Egypt Centre, Swansea University.

The Coffin of Ankhpakhered: A Story of Burial, Usurpation, and Conservation.
 

The anthropoid coffin of Ankhpakhered, a key piece in the Egypt Centre's collection at Swansea University, reveals a compelling narrative of ancient Egyptian funerary practice and later usurpation. This talk will trace its journey from its original use as a burial receptacle to its subsequent adaptation for a man named Djedher during the Ptolemaic Period. Furthermore, it will showcase the significant collaborative project with Cardiff University, where students dedicated over 1,000 hours to the cleaning, conservation, and detailed analysis of this remarkable artefact.

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30th October 2025
 

Prof Michael Edmunds

Emeritus Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University.

The Antikythera Mechanism Revisited.
 

It is now twenty years since the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project established the basic workings of this remarkable machine. Its structure and astronomical functions will be briefly summarised. The talk will examine what we have learnt since, and show how the Mechanism fits almost perfectly into the historical and literary context of the first century BCE. We will argue that it marks a real shift in human thought about the Universe, and try and discover what happened to its technology - which appears almost to vanish for a Millennium.

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13th November 2025
 

Nick Wells

Independent Archaeologist. Three Emperors at Trelai – Coin Use in Wales and Beyond in the 5th Century.
 

Recent coin finds from excavations at Trelai have placed it and the adjacent villa firmly within the narrative of 5th century Roman Britain. This paper examines late Roman coinage in Britain, it’s use and what it says about the nature of the Roman withdrawal.

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27th November 2025
 

Dr Adelle Bricking

Finds Officer, Department of History & Archaeology, Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Patterns in the Paucity: Mortuary Practices in the Iron Age of Southwest Britain.

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This presentation examines the varied and enigmatic burial practices of the Iron Age in Southwest Britain, a region often overlooked due to poor skeletal preservation and the prevalence of 'invisible' funerary rites that leave behind little or no archaeological trace. Through a combination of histological light microscopy of bone diagenesis, taphonomic analysis, and a large-scale review of burial data, this study investigates how the dead were treated across multiple stages of post-mortem processing and final deposition.

The results suggest that mortuary practices in the region were complex and multi-staged, with exhumation, rather than excarnation, emerging as the most common driver of skeletal disarticulation. This study provides new insights into the diverse funerary traditions of Iron Age peoples, highlights their nuanced approaches to death and commemoration, and demonstrates that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to burial evidence.

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1th December 2025  ZOOM ONLY
 

Chris Griffiths

Post Graduate Research Student, University of Reading.

Hoarding in a material world: making sense of metalwork deposition in Middle-Late Bronze Age south-east and west Wales.
 

Hoards are a vital part of deep history. Drawing on the results of an AHRC-funded PhD project with the University of Reading and Amgueddfa Cymru, this lecture explores the evidence for the deliberate and permanent burial of metalwork during the Middle-Late Bronze Age in south-east and West Wales. It examines the evidence for the selection, treatment, and destruction of ornaments, weapons, axes, and objects associated with the production of metalwork during this period, highlighting regional and chronological changes in depositional practices. The picture that emerges provides an important view of attitudes to metalwork, regional styles, and the cultural significance of the evidence during a period of significant change across Britain and Ireland

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15th January 2026  ZOOM ONLY
 

David Miles

Chief Archaeologist, English Heritage. Sun Horse: Moon Horse

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Hill figures or geoglyphs are a distinctive feature of the British landscape. The Uffington White Horse is the oldest: first documented in Anglo-Saxon charters and recorded as a medieval 'wonder' along with Stonehenge. David Miles will tell the story of his involvement with this magnificent, yet vulnerable, figure from the 1980s to the latest work in 2025. Why was it created; and how has it survived for three millennia?

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29th January 2026

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Amal Khreisheh

Senior Curator, South West Heritage Trust. The Chew Valley Hoard.

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The Chew Valley Hoard is the largest coin hoard ever found from the period of turmoil immediately following the Norman Conquest. It consists of 2,584 silver pennies that date to 1066 to 1068 and were likely buried for safekeeping in the turmoil following the Conquest. The hoard represents a turning point in English history (when England was successfully conquered for the last time) and a moment that defined national consciousness.

The hoard has been acquired for the nation by the South West Heritage Trust on behalf of Somerset Council under the Treasure Act 1996 thanks to a £4,420,527 development grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and an £150,000 grant from the Art Fund. The South West Heritage Trust, Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society and the Friends of the Museum of Somerset provided smaller but vital amounts of funding.

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12th February 2026

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Dr Lucy J E Cramp
Associate Professor in Archaeology, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol. Lifting the lid on ancient diet: organic residue analysis of lipids from pottery.
 

Organic residue analysis involves extraction of preserved biomolecules absorbed into the fabric of pots, identifying molecular ‘fingerprints’ that can be related to the original contents. Over the past few decades, the application of this method to many hundreds of pottery sherds from Britain has enabled new aspects of past dietary practices to be illuminated, from Medieval ‘stews’ through to the activities taking place on the mysterious Scottish Neolithic crannogs. This talk will give an overview of the field of organic residue analysis, illustrating how past studies have helped cast new light on dietary practices in the past.

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26th February 2026
 

Francesca Giarelli

Supervisor, Red River Archaeology. Excavation at Brookside Meadow: a summary

The presentation will be a summary of the archaeological discoveries made at Brookside Meadow, an ongoing excavation conducted by Red River Archaeology/Rubicon Archaeology in Oxfordshire. The preliminary results highlight the long occupation of the site from the late Bronze Age to the end of the Roman era, that culminated with the construction of the villa complex.

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12th March 2026

Annual General Meeting

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