The last 12 months have been an exciting time for archaeology in Britain, and we have enjoyed sharing the latest discoveries with you. It is hard to believe almost a year has passed since our last conference, but we are already preparing for Current Archaeology Live! 2012. Following the success of last year we have moved to a bigger venue for 2012: the University of London’s Senate House.

Timetable
This year, the conference will take place on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd March.  For the full session schedule, click here.

How to book
Click here for more information about tickets and booking.

Current Archaeology Awards
The voting is now open for the Current Archaeology Awards 2012.

The categories are:

Archaeologist of the Year 2012
Book of the Year 2012
Rescue Dig of the Year 2012
Research Project of the Year 2012

Click here to read more about the nominees, and to cast your vote.

Tickets for Current Archaeology Live! 2012 are now on sale.

This year we’re offering tickets to subscribers for the bargain price of £79 (both days included). Non-subscribers can buy them for £119.

Click here to book online
Once you have logged in, click on ‘Buy Other Items’ under the ‘Subscriptions’ heading on the right of the page, and you will be able to purchase ticket for the conference.

To book by phone, or if you are having any problems, please call 0208 819 5580.

Friday 2 March

Registration from 9am
Sessions run from 9.30am to 6pm

Stonehenge and megalithic monuments
Professor Timothy Darvill (Bournemouth University)  - Stonehenge and Preseli: its only rock ‘n’ roll
Dan Lee (Orkney College UHI)
Julian Richards (Meet the Ancestors) - West Kennet Long barrow – an old megalithic friend

Re-excavating Roman urbanism
Professor Mike Fulford (University of Reading) - Silchester: into the Iron Age, a Roman town before the Roman conquest?
Dr William Bowden (University of Nottingham) - Town life according to the Iceni: recent excavations at Venta Icenorum
Tony Wilmott (English Heritage)

Rescuing the past
The most exciting sites discovered by archaeologists from three of Britain’s top units:
Oxford Archaeology (Richard Mortimer) - Clay Farm, Trumpington, Cambridge: Middle Bronze Age Strip Fields, Enclosure and Settlement
Wessex Archaeology (Professor Andrew Fitzpatrick) - From the Minch to the Channel: highlights from Wessex Archaeology
Museum of London Archaeology (Sadie Watson) - London’s Temple of Mithras: Excavations 1954-2012 and new opportunities to study the Roman landscape.

Keynote Speaker: Professor Mark Horton
University of Bristol, Coast

Friday night: Reception, awards ceremony, and entertainment

Saturday 3 March

Registration from 9am
Sessions run from 9.30am to 6pm

Vikings in the Irish Sea
Dr Stephen Harrison (University College Dublin) - ’New findings from old finds – The Irish Viking Graves Project
Dr Eamonn Kelly (National Museum of Ireland) - Finding the Viking Fortress of Linn Duachaill
Dr Hannah Cobb (University of Manchester) - Swords and Seascapes: The Vikings and more in Ardnamurchan, Western Scotland

Bodies and battles
Dr Piers Mitchell (University of Cambridge) - Weapon injuries and disease in the Crusades
Dr Nicholas Saunders (University of Bristol)  - Bodies in Conflict: Materialities of Absence in First World War Archaeology.
Tim Sutherland (University of York) - Treasure or Treasured? Who is protecting our historic battlefield heritage?
Malin Holst (York Osteoarchaeology) - Towton Revisited – the Human Remains

Ceramics, coins, cargoes and emporia: Ancient trade in the Mediterranean
Professor Andrew Wilson (University of Oxford) - Trade and per capita growth in the Roman economy
Professor Simon Keay (University of Southampton/British School at Rome) - Rome’s Mediterranean Ports
Dr Philip Kenrick (University of Oxford) - Only Arretine will do!” The trade in Italian Sigillata pottery

Living in the Iron Age
Dr Rachel Pope (University of Liverpool)
Julia Farley (British Museum) - Coins and Conquest in Late Iron Age Britain
Frank Hargrave (University of Leicester) - Shrines, Temples and Sanctuaries; an Iron Age mystery

At the British Museum, London

25-27 February 2011

Current Archaeology would like to thank all those who attended, contributed to, or otherwise aided, this year’s Archaeology LIVE! at the British Museum, making it yet another great success. Since its inception, the conference has to gone from strength to strength, and we look forward to building on this again next year!

It has been another tremendous year for archaeology in Britain, and we have had no trouble finding amazing stories to share with our readers. In fact, we have been spoiled for choice! 2011’s conference sessions brought you the most interesting and vibrant stories from the pages of Current Archaeology, as well as some we plan to publish soon.

Watch this space for a full report on the weekend’s debates and developments, to follow in due course…

Archaeology Awards

Voting for the 3rd annual Current Archaeology Awards is now officially closed.  Our winners were announced at the British Museum during the conference weekend. Thanks for your many votes, and a very special congratulations to all our winners and nominees alike, who have once again contributed to another excellent year of archaeological research, discovery and scholarship.

Take a look at the following special section, to celebrate the ‘best of the best’ in British archaeology this year!

26 – 28 February, 2010 at the British Museum

Archaeology 2010 brought you all the latest news and views from the archaeological world in a two day conference at the British Museum. It was an amazing line-up including some of the very best speakers working in British archaeology.

TICKETS ALL SOLD OUT!!

Click here to view the Session Schedule

Click here to view the schedule for the Awards for the Presentation of Heritage Research 2010 on Friday 26th

Session highlights:

Greg Stemm
– CEO: Odyssey Marine Exploration, on Maritime Salvage or Commerical Archaeology?

Dr Kevin Leahy
– Anglo-Saxons & the Staffordshire Hoard

Prof Clive Gamble & Dr Chris Stringer
– on Human Origins

Dr Mike Parker Pearson, Dr Josh Pollard, Dr Julian Thomas
– on the recent work of the Stonehenge Riverside Project

Mark Landon
– on Technology Old and New

Andy Brockman
- the Digging Dad’s Army Project, on AD 1940

Dr Neil Faulkner
– Current Archaeology magazine

Current Archaeology Awards

Last year in Cardiff, we launched the Current Archaeology Awards to resounding success. We’re excited to open this year’s competition and look forward to your votes – just CLICK HERE; these awards are our way of hearing back from all of you who have helped to make CA such a great success over the past 41 years.

The 2010 Current Archaeology Awards were presented at the conference drinks reception on Saturday evening, 27 February, 2010.

Co host:

Portable Antiquities Scheme, www.finds.org.uk

Official sponsors:

Towergate Risk Solutions, www.towergate.co.uk

English Heritage, www.english-heritage.org.uk

Awards sponsor:

Andante Travels, www.andantetravels.co.uk

Establishing a tradition, this year’s Archaeology Festival provided a venue for lively debate, scenic tours and seasonal snow. A tough act to follow!

The Archaeology Festival Cardiff was a feast of archaeology with speakers and delegates able to indulge their enthusiasm for the subject. The weekend got off to a cracking start with tours to the Roman sites of Caerleon and Caerwent, and to the medieval sites of Cosmeston and St Fagans, before settling down to the nitty-gritty of lectures and discussions throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Opening the sessions at Cardiff University was co-organiser, Peter Guest of Cardiff University who oversaw the hugely popular Roman series: Andrew Gardner (Institute of Archaeology, UCL) spoke on Exploring Isca – the subject of the previous day’s tour and featured in CA 226; then David Breeze, co-ordinator of the Antonine Wall WHS, Historic Scotland, who was awarded the title Current Archaeology Archaeologist of the Year, discussed his work on the Antonine Wall. The Romans are perennial favourites and once again attracted a large audience for the Sunday session Romans and Barbarians, with Peter presenting his own work examining the Roman emperors’ use of gold in the 5th century in an attempt to forge relations with Attila the Hun.

From Genetics to Stonehenge
The venue at National Museum Cardiff kicked off with CA’s Chris Catling who was moderating the sessions on Bio-Archaeology, opening with the world renowned Stephen Oppenheimer. Dr Oppenheimer is using genetics to examine prevailing theories of human migration into the British Isles – and to present some new ones.

Stonehenge is another favourite topic and Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, presented his paper on the competing interpretations of Stonehenge as well as evidence for the Beaker culture in Copper Age Britain, following major excavations at nearby Boscombe Down.  Fellow Wessex archaeologist, Jacqueline McKinley then gave a fascinating talk on the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowmen, whose skeletal remains have revealed much about not just this individual but about the movement of people in prehistory.

Discussion and debate
The conference covered more than simply British archaeology: television broadcaster and historian Bettany Hughes gave a lively and enlightening talk on one of the most famous characters in history: Helen of Troy.  From 3000 BC to the 20th century AD, Helen of Troy has been portrayed variously as ‘goddess, princess, whore’; but is that more a reflection of the different societies’ perceptions of womanhood rather than of the woman herself?
Regular contributor to Current World Archaeology, the indomitable Brian Fagan, stimulated discussion with his debate on the relevance of archaeology to the present day: drawing parallels with the Medieval Warm Period and our current climate, archaeological evidence on changing human sustainability will, he argues, be relevant to people living today. Richard Brewer, National Museum Wales, and fellow organiser of the event, moderated at the sessions devoted to the archaeology of Wales. From Tudor London to Neolithic Jordan, from prehistoric rock art to 18th century trading and from plague pits to Babylon, new ideas were postulated: Nick Ashton, British Museum, argued human migration into Northern Europe began 200,000 years earlier than was previously thought; and tough issues debated – Brendon Wilkins, Headland Archaeology, pitched progressive development against maintaining archaeological heritage.
All in all, for the 400 or so people who took part there was something to interest everyone.

WHAT THEY SAID:

It was one of the best conferences/dayschools that I have been to in years and hope to go next year.
John Owen, CA subscriber.

I got a chance to talk to all sorts of interesting people – public and speakers alike. Thank you!
Bryan Ward-Perkins, Lecturer in History, Oxford University.

Did it inspire? YES. Did it give me information that as a professional I found fascinating and relevant? YES. Did it talk down to the public who attended? NO. If you go to one conference in 2010…go to the next one in London.
David Connelly, British Archaeological Jobs Resource.

A major new conference event brought to you by Current Archaeology magazine and the British Museum’s Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure.

** NOW SOLD OUT **

- Click here for the Final Conference Programme (3.9MB PDF)

February 9-10, 2008 at the British Museum

Archaeology 2008 will bring you all the latest news and views from the archaeological world in a two day conference at the British Museum. We’ve worked hard to confirm some of the very best and brightest speakers working in British archaeology.

Among those already confirmed, we are pleased to announce:

Tim Taylor
– on the secrets of the TimeTeam

Martin Carver
– Excavator of Sutton Hoo and editor of ‘Antiquity’ journal

Jonathan Foyle
– Presenter of TV’s ‘Hidden House History’

Neil Holbrook
– Cotwold Archaeology’s top Archaeologist

Mark Horton
– BBC TV’s ‘Coast’ and Reader of archaeology at Bristol University

Nick Hodgson
– Arbeia Roman Fort & Museum

Andrew Selkirk and Neil Faulkner
– Current Archaeology magazine

Alasdair Whittle
– on the Radiocarbon Dating revolution

The ticket includes a weekend of lectures, as well as refreshments and an evening drinks reception on Saturday night.

• NOW SOLD OUT !!

Click here for the latest session schedules