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Post-Medieval Fieldwork in Britain and Northern Ireland is now online
An on-line version of Post-Medieval Fieldwork in Britain and Northern Ireland (PMFBNI) is now avaiable via the Archaeological Data Service. This is an exciting new venture for the Post-Medieval Archaeology journal, featuring a searchable digital database for these annually submitted excavation summaries. Generously supported by grants from English Heritage, this new resource has been developed in tandem with the Society for Medieval Archaeology.
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Forthcoming Conference:
Things Medieval
A conference in tribute to Alan Vince
MOLAS, London
27 February 2010
The Society for Medieval Archaeology and the Medieval Pottery Research Group are co-hosting a one-day conference in memory of Alan Vince, a great archaeologist and a fine ceramicist, who died in February 2009. The programme addresses three themes that represent Alan’s major interests; towns, trade and ceramics. The aim is to look forward with new approaches, ideas and interpretations as well as reflecting on the great contribution Alan made in all these areas of our discipline. There will be three speakers talking to each theme, including Paul Blinkhorn, Duncan Brown, Christopher Dyer, Christopher Gerrard, David Hinton, Maureen Mellor, David Stocker and Mats Roslund.
The proceedings will conclude with a wine reception in the museum. Registration is £10 to cover the costs of tea and coffee. Lunch is not provided but can be found close by, or at the museum cafe. Students and OAPs are welcome to attend free of charge. Any surplus will be donated to the St. Barnabas Day Hospice, Lincoln, the cause supported by a collection at Alan’s funeral.
Click here to download a registration form
Click here to download the programme
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Forthcoming Conference:
Forum Archaeologiae Post-Mediaevalis
Prague, Czech Republic
23-24 March 2010
Details have been announced for the next international conference of the Forum Archaeologiae Post-Mediaevalis to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, on 23rd and 24th of March 2010. The working languages are Czech and English, but for non-czech-speakers a simultaneous interpreter will be provided. The presented papers will then be published in the series Studies in Post-Medieval Archaeology.
Click here to download a registration form |
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Call for Papers Now Open:
Exploring New World Transitions: From Seasonal Presence to Permanent
Settlement
St John’s, Newfoundland
16-19 June 2010
This Conference will highlight early European exploitation of the New World, with a particular focus on Northeastern North America. The conference marks the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the Cupers Cove Plantation in Newfoundland by Bristol merchant John Guy - the first English colony in what is now Canada. The theme of New World Transitions, with its emphasis on the historical shift from seasonal to permanent occupation, will include Native contacts, the role of fisheries, the development of colonies in the early 17th century, coastal and maritime archaeology, as well as material culture studies relevant to this period.
The Conference is being jointly organized by Memorial University of Newfoundland, Bournemouth University and the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology.
Click here for more information |
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Forthcoming Conference:
Engaging the Recent Past: Public, Political, Post-medieval Archaeology
Glasgow
3-5 September 2010
This conference, organised by the Society for Post-medieval Archaeology and due to be held at the University of Glasgow on 3-5 September 2010, will offer an opportunity for reflection and debate on the public nature of our engagement with the archaeology of the recent past (the period from c.1500 A.D. to the present). The conference will consider subjects including public archaeology, community archaeology and the politics of archaeology.
Proposals for papers on relevant subjects are being sought from established and emerging academics and professionals. A title and an abstract of up to 200 words should be sent to Chris Dalglish no later than 11 December 2009.
Click here to view the call for papers |
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Forthcoming Conference:
CHAT 2010: North
Aberdeen, Scotland
12-14 November 2010
The Eighth Annual Meeting of the CHAT Conference Group for Contemporary and Historical Archaeology will be held in Aberdeen this November. This year's theme is: northern worlds in contemporary and historical archaeology.
Papers are invited that focus on the north broadly defined. Questions addressed by the conference may include, but are not limited to:
- How have changing perceptions of ‘north’ and ‘northern’ been articulated within historical and contemporary archaeology?
- To what extent has northern as a relational concept contributed to the formulation and negotiation of social and cultural identities?
- How has north been couched within colonial and post-colonial dialogues?
- To what degree has capitalism and industry reshaped landscapes of the north?
- What is the place of the north in relationships between modernity and aesthetics?
- What is the value of northern studies in historical and contemporary archaeology?
The organising committee would like to invite papers on the broad theme of ‘North’ by May 31st 2010. Please send a short title and abstract to CHAT2010@abdn.ac.uk. Any queries should be sent to the same email address.
For further information click here. |
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Yorkshire SPMA Members Wanted!
The SPMA is looking to find members who are engaged in research in Yorkshire to represent the Society in the creation of the new Yorkshire Regional Research Framework.
If you would like further information then please contact David Cranstone.
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New SPMA Monograph Launched:
Crossing Paths or Sharing Tracks?
Future directions in the archaeological study of post-1550 Britain and Ireland
Edited by Audrey Horning and Marilyn Palmer
The SPMA recently launched new monograph, Crossing Paths or Sharing Tracks? at Leicester University. The impetus for this volume lies in the expansion of interest in post-medieval archaeology in university, commercial, and voluntary sectors. The study of post-medieval archaeology is a relatively new discipline but, within archaeology as a whole, it represents one of the fastest growing areas of study. Archaeologists seek to avoid the fragmentation of a still small discipline into subfields such as pre-1750 post-medieval archaeology, post-1750 industrial archaeology, or the incorporation of theory as somehow outside of the purview of the work of the older organisations. This important and timely volume brings together articles that consider the commonalties between approaches as well as the unique contributions made by members of each organisation towards the study of the material heritage of the post-1550 period.
Click here to find out more about the SPMA monograph series and to order your own copy of this volume.
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Correspondents Wanted!
The Notes and News Section of Post-Medieval Archaeology Needs You
The Society is looking to appoint a number of overseas correspondents to inform us of significant new discoveries to help broaden the scope of the Notes and News section in Post-Medieval Archaeology.
If you are interested in becoming one of our 'own correspondents' then please contact either John Allan or Hugo Blake for more information.
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SPMA Journal Article Hits the Headlines:
The Real Robinson Crusoe – evidence of Alexander Selkirk’s desert island campsite
David Caldwell's recent article in Post-Medieval Archaeology 41:2 presents evidence from an archaeological dig on the island of Aguas Buenas, since renamed Robinson Crusoe Island, which reveals evidence of the campsite of an early European occupant. The most compelling evidence is the discovery of a pair of navigational dividers which could only have belonged to a ship’s master or navigator, as evidence suggests Selkirk must have been.
Alexander Selkirk was born in the small seaside town of Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland in 1676. A younger son of a shoemaker, he was drawn to a life at sea from an early age. In 1704, during a privateering voyage on the Cinque Ports, Selkirk fell out with the commander over the boat’s seaworthiness and he decided to remain behind on Robinson Crusoe Island where they had landed to overhaul the worm-infested vessel. He cannot have known that it would be five years before he was picked up by an English ship visiting the island.
Published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe is one of the oldest and most famous adventure stories in English literature. Whilst it is unclear whether Defoe and Selkirk actually met, Defoe would certainly have heard the stories of Selkirk’s adventure and used the tales as the basis for his novel.
Click here to read more in the press release
Click on the links below to see some of the coverage of this story
The BBC/The Times/The Telegraph/The Daily Mail/Science Daily |
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