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New SPMA Journal Out Now:
Volume 43, part 2 of Post-Medieval Archaeology is now published.
The archaeology of mercantilism: clay tobacco pipes in Bavaria and their contribution to an economic system
By Natascha Mehler
Thomas Soane’s buildings near Billingsgate, London, 1640–66
By John Schofield and Jacqueline Pearce
The Notes and News section carries details of the exciting discoveries at Cupids, Newfoundland which have been hitting the headlines in the press recently.
Click here to read more
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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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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.
NEW! Conference Poster Session available - please contact Peter Pope (ppope@mun.ca) for further details
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
The recent past merges seamlessly with the present. In engaging with this past we explore the nature of our own society and we are confronted with questions about the role of archaeology in the contemporary world.
This three-day conference will reflect upon and debate the public nature of our engagement with the archaeology of the last 500 years. The conference will consider public archaeology, community archaeology and the politics of archaeology. Delegates will analyse , question and evaluate theory and practice and consider case studies from Scotland, England, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The conference will cover themes including:
- the politics, ethics, practice and pragmatics of archaeology in public and community contexts;
- community engagement in rural field projects and the representation of the rural past through museums;
- research, policy and public engagement in the archaeology of human remains and burial;
- urban and industrial communities past and present;
- the present-day resonance of battlefield and conflict archaeology.
The main conference venue is the University of Glasgow. On Friday 3rd September, the conference will open with a walking tour of medieval and post-medieval Glasgow, incorporating a visit to a Glasgow Museums exhibition ‘Digging up the past’. The tour will be followed, in the evening, by a keynote speech by Prof. Martin Hall and a wine reception in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum. There will be a conference dinner on the Saturday evening.
Click here for further information
Click here for abstracts and programme
Click here for a booking form |
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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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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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