ARCHAEOLOGICAL FUTURES: A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC

North Atlantic Biocultural Organisation Conference 2008 - University of Bradford

Friday 29th August - Monday 1st September

The Bradford meeting is designed to review and report on existing research projects and to formulate an Agenda for Future Archaeological Research in the North Atlantic. The conference is in two parts; discussant-led theme sessions with invited specialist contributions will provide the framework for the research agenda, alongside open sessions on current research.

Contact: NABO08.bradford@googlemail.com

Further information can be found here.

The Archaeology of Post-Medieval Religion

12th-14th September 2008 , Norwich

The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology and the Society for Church Archaeology are pleased to announce a forthcoming joint conference on the archaeology of religion in Britain from 1580 to 1900.

The joint SPMA/SMA (2001) conference 'The Archaeology of Reformation, 1480-1580' demonstrated the huge potential for the study of landscapes, buildings and material culture for understanding complex religious change.

The 2008 joint conference, which will be held from the 12th-14th September in Norwich , seeks to extend these insights to explore the development of religious ideologies and practices in the post-medieval world. The seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were a period of profound religious and cultural change; of sustained theological debate and violent religious conflict. Beyond the upheavals of the Reformation, traditional religious spaces, objects and symbols were transformed and incorporated in the service of a distinctive and vibrant Protestant culture. At the same time this period saw the fragmentation of the Christian community, as new denominations, sects and religious groups emerged to challenge the hegemony of the established Church.

Proposals are sought for 20-minute papers dealing with any aspect of the archaeology of religious institutions, communities and identities in Britain in the period 1580-1900. 'Archaeology' in this context is held to include any aspect of the spatial and material context of religious belief and identity, and may incorporate the study of rural and urban landscapes, buildings, monuments, objects, rituals, practices and representations. Themes and issues of particular interest are:

* The practice of Anglican religion in the period 1580-1900, in
urban and rural communities, in different countries and regions, in
various types of religious institution

* The impact of theological and political debates on the physical
context of religious life, such as between Arminianism and Puritanism in
the seventeenth century

* The emergence, spread, and distinctive identities of
Nonconformist communities, in landscapes, buildings, monuments and
burial practices

* The activities and identities of independent and non-Protestant
religious groups, and the development of religious pluralism

* Post-medieval burial practices and strategies of commemoration

* The legacy of folk beliefs, ritual practices and witchcraft in
this period

Proposals for papers on these or other related topics are welcomed from established academics, PhD students, professional archaeologists, those involved in heritage management and independent researchers. The aim of
the conference is to highlight the rich diversity of religious life in post-medieval Britain , to explore the potential of physical evidence for the study of religious belief and practice in this period, and to work towards a research agenda for understanding the growth and development of religious communities and identities in the post-medieval world.

The conference venue will be The Maid's Head Hotel, Tombland, in the centre of Norwich opposite the Cathedral. The conference programme will include the opportunity to visit many of the churches, nonconformist
chapels and other religious buildings for which the city is famous.

Please send abstracts of c.300 words to Dr Chris King at cnk4@leicester.ac.uk by the end of December 2008. Papers may be considered for publication in the journal of one or other of the two societies, subject to refereeing.

For further information and booking forms, please visit www.spma.org.uk or www.britarch.ac.uk/socchurcharchaeol/

Alternatively, contact the conference organiser: Dr Chris King , School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH Tel: 0116 252 2175 cnk4@le.ac.uk

Follow this link for a printable pamphlet: The Archaeology of Post-Medieval Religion

Society for Landscape Studies/ University of Sheffield , Department of Archaeology

Autumn Conference 2008

The Landscapes of South Yorkshire and the North Midlands

11 th October, 2008 , Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield 

This conference is jointly organised by the Society for Landscape Studies and the Department of Archaeology, and features papers of a selection of current research projects on the medieval and post-medieval landscapes of South Yorkshire and the North Midlands .

Programme

10.00-10.30: Registration and tea/coffee

10.30: Welcome

10.35: Excavations at the Shrunken Medieval Village of West Halton , Lincolnshire – Dawn Hadley ( University of Sheffield ) and Hugh Willmott ( University of Sheffield )

11.15: Bradbourne, Derbyshire: Closing the Gaps in the History of a Peakland Landscape - John Moreland ( University of Sheffield )

11.55: Fieldwork at the Brodsworth Estate, South Yorkshire - Colin Merrony ( University of Sheffield )

12.35:  Lunch and SLS Annual General Meeting

14.00: The Industrial Landscape of the Rivelin Valley , Sheffield – Anna Badcock (ARCUS) and Bob Johnston ( University of Sheffield )

14.55: The Designed Landscape of Cusworth Hall, near Doncaster – Mike Klemperer (Cusworth Hall and Park)

15.50: Summing up

16.10: Tea (conference to close at 16.30)

For contact details and a booking form please click here.

Debating Urbanism: Within and Beyond the Walls
A day conference on life within and around towns from c. AD 300-700

Saturday 15th November 2008, School of Archaeology & Ancient History

A conference hosted by the School of Archaeology of the University of Leicester and overseen by two PhD students (Denis Sami and Gavin Speed) will contain papers and discussion on late Roman and early medieval urban change in Europe from both an archaeological and historical perspective from c. AD.300 - 700.

Recent published conferences have seen a gradual change in focus, from ‘rebirth’ (Hodges & Hobley 1988), to ‘transition’ (Christie & Loseby 1996), and most recently with ‘decline’ (Slater 2000). The focus of this conference shall be more wide reaching by looking at urban centres both within the town walls and at the extra-mural suburbs and hinterland. By framing the urban centres in this way a more rounded image should emerge of activity/inactivity/change.

This conference will provide a forum in particular to post-graduate researchers, with discussions framed by established scholars. This will stimulate debate and discussion to illustrate the ways in which towns were constantly changing and evolving or decaying from the late Roman Empire into early medieval Europe. The papers cover a variety of the provinces within the Roman world with a central theme of urban change within the following themes:

* Changing Urban Forms (chair: Prof. A. Poulter, University of Nottingham)

* Walls and Town Life (chair: Prof. D. Mattingly, University of Leicester)

* Altering Spaces & Economies (chair: Dr. J. Moreland, University of Sheffield)

* Christianisation of the Townscape (chair:Dr. G. Sears, University of Birmingham)

The full programme details can be found here

Registration bookings are now open (download registration form)

Fee includes lunch and tea / coffee: £20 (£10 for students).

The conference papers and discussions will be published as part of the Leicester Archaeology Monograph Series.

For further information contact: Gavin Speed or Denis Sami, School of Archaeology & Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH.

AGM

1st December

London