CITiZAN – MoLA’s new nationwide coastal erosion project

Museum of London Archaeology, in partnership with the Council for British Archaeology, the National Trust, the Crown Estate, and the Nautical Archaeology Society, has recently been successful in achieving a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to support its new CITiZAN project. CITiZAN, or Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network, is a nationwide survey and monitoring system of exposed, but significant archaeological sites under threat from coastal erosion.

The funding, which has been matched by the Crown Estate Marine Stewardship Fund and the National Trust, will enable MoLA’s community archaeologists to deliver the three-year community programme and they will be recruiting volunteers from spring 2015. For more information, visit the website at http://www.mola.org.uk/projects/research-and-community/citizan and follow the project on Twitter @CITiZAN1 and on Flickr.

A tribute in memory of Professor Peter Drewett

Archaeology and Landscape of South-East England to 1066 (edited by Michael J. Allen & David Rudling)

A new peer-reviewed book on the archaeology of South-East England, written by the leading authorities in their field, is to be published by Oxbow books in late 2015/early 2016. It provides an overview the archaeology of the region, broadly defined as Sussex, Surrey and Kent, presenting intra-regional analyses of a wide range of data, from across the Chalk Downs, the Weald, the Coastal Plains, including the Thames valley and estuary regions.

The book will provide an informed narrative of the archaeological history of the South-East, from the Palaeolithic to the post-medieval period, and it aims to re-address, renew and re-evaluate previous analytical work and interpretation. It will be the new textbook for the South-East and, as such, we hope it provides a fitting tribute to the late Peter Drewett who inspired many in the current generation of archaeologists (professional and amateur) working in South-East England. Peter published a series of major excavations in Sussex and southern England 1974-82, and this book will be dedicated to Peter Drewett with great thanks, admiration and affection.

It is hoped that the official book launch for this publication will be at the CBA South-East annual conference in November 2015 or it will be launched at a separate event in early 2016

Early Medieval Monasticism in the North Sea Zone: Examining New Research And Fresh Perspectives (Conference: Fri 24th-Sun 26th April 2015)

Dr Alexandra Knox of the Lyminge Archaeological Project draws our attention to this forthcoming conference, to be held at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

2015 marks the conclusion of a major AHRC-funded campaign of excavation at Lyminge, the first archaeological investigation to provide a detailed account of the origins and development of a royal monastery in the kingdom of Kent.  The results shed light on many themes central to the interpretation of early medieval monastic foundations in their contemporary contexts.

The aim of the conference is to contextualise the results of this research by bringing together an international body of scholars to examine the theme of early medieval monasticism in the North Sea Zone from a variety of archaeological, historical and cross-disciplinary perspectives.

Sessions include:  ‘Power and Place: the Politics of Monastic Foundation’, ‘What did Monasteries Look Like? Architecture and Layout’, and ‘Production, Consumption and Surplus: Monasteries as Economic Central Places’.  The conference will conclude with a round table discussion to identify priorities for future research and opportunities for new scholarly collaboration. There is an optional excursion to Lyminge and other local sites on Friday afternoon followed by a keynote address by Professor John Blair and a wine reception.

Among confirmed speakers are:

Justine Bayley (London), John Blair (Oxford), Rosemary Cramp (Durham), Rosamond Faith (Oxford), Zoe Knapp (Reading) Elizabeth Lorans (Tours), Mark McKerracher (Oxford), Tomás Ó Carragáin (Cork), David Petts (Durham), Thomas Pickles (Chester), Gabor Thomas (Reading), Dries Tys (Brussels), Ian Wood (Leeds), Barbara Yorke (Winchester).

Conference registration fee is £42 which includes lunch and refreshments. The optional field trip to Lyminge is £10 per person. Please go to www.lymingearchaeology.org for details and registration. Please contact a.knox@reading.ac.uk with inquiries.

This conference is sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and project partners Kent Archaeological Society. Flyer: Early Medieval Monasticism in the North Sea Zone