A Surrey Archaeological Society conference

Saturday 5th May 2018 (9.30 – 17.00)

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall, Ashtead, Surrey

The South-East corner of England ought to be a key area in the understanding of this period. It has long been recognised that a simple ‘invasion and replacement’ demographic model should not be imposed in this, or any other region of England. Here (again, as elsewhere) there are clear examples of important elements of the Late Roman infrastructure of sites and roads emerging as components of the Early Anglo-Saxon settlement pattern. But we still have very little archaeological evidence for the period, in particular from c. AD 410-470.

The aim of the conference is to bring together a number of scholars with relevant expertise from each side of this gap and challenge them to say what they think was happening. Were many of the ‘Saxons’ here before the end of the Roman period? Is there a case for much more assimilation and continuity than is suggested in the traditional histories of the period? Can we arrive at a new model for the transition from Roman to Saxon in the South-East that takes account of current understanding of the later Roman and early Saxon periods, and establish a programme of work by which the model could be tested?

9.30 Registration

10.00 Prof. Simon Esmonde Cleary, Chair’s welcome and introductory remarks

10.10 Dr Peter Guest, Senior Lecturer in Roman Archaeology, Cardiff University ‘Late Roman coinage in south-eastern England and beyond’

10.50 Coffee and tea

11.30 Dr James Gerrard, Senior Lecturer in Roman Archaeology, Newcastle University ‘Pottery, power and small worlds at the end of Roman Britain’

12.10 Dr Sam Lucy, Fellow of Newnham College, University of Cambridge ‘Thinking about transitions: perspectives from Eastern England’

12.50 Lunch

14.00 Dr Kate Mees, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Durham ‘Inheritance and transformation: engaging with the past in the early medieval funerary landscape of south-east England’

14.40 Prof. Helena Hamerow, Professor of Early Medieval Archaeology, Univ. Oxford ‘The Upper Thames Valley in the 5th Century and the origins of Wessex’

15.20 Tea

16.00 Prof. John Hines, Professor of Archaeology, Cardiff University ‘A discussion of the material evidence for the transitional period’ [to be read by Lisa Backhouse]

16.40 Dr Ellen Swift, Reader in Archaeology, University of Kent ‘Exploring the post-Roman to early Anglo-Saxon transition in SE Britain: new perspectives from Quoit Brooch style metalwork’

17.20 Chair’s discussion and closing comments

17.45 Close

Tickets £15

Book online at www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk or send postal bookings to Castle Arch.