Shining a light on the 5th century AD in Surrey and the South-East: how did Roman Britain become Saxon England?

 

Date: Saturday, May 5, 2018 - 09:30 to 17:45                      Ticket Price: £15.00  (includes morning and afternoon refreshments)      

 

Venue : Peace Memorial Hall, Woodfield Lane, Ashtead, KT21 2BE

 

Surrey Archaeological Society is holding a major conference centred on the period between about AD 410 to AD 470 when, in our part of the country, Roman Britain became Saxon England.

 

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?

 

The conference is hosted by Surrey Archaeological Society and one of its aims will be to provide a basis for future research in the (historic) county.

 

Programme

 

9.30     Registration

 

10.00   Chair - Simon Esmonde Cleary   Welcome and introductory remarks

 

10.10   Late Roman coinage in south-eastern England and beyond

 

            Dr Peter Guest, Senior Lecturer in Roman Archaeology, Cardiff University

 

10.50   Coffee and tea

 

11.30   Pottery, power and small worlds at the end of Roman Britain

 

            Dr James Gerrard, Senior Lecturer in Roman Archaeology, Newcastle University

 

12.10   Thinking about transitions: perspectives from Eastern England

 

             Dr Sam Lucy, Fellow of Newnham College,  University of Cambridge

 

12.50   Lunch

 

14.00   Inheritance and transformation: engaging with the past in the early medieval funerary landscape of south-east England

 

            Dr Kate Mees, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of  Archaeology, University of Durham                                                                  

 

14.40   The Upper Thames Valley in the 5th Century and the origins of Wessex

 

            Prof. Helena Hamerow, Professor of Early Medieval Archaeology, Institute of Archeology, University of Oxford                                                                            

 

15.20   Tea

 

16.00   A discussion of the material evidence for the transitional period

 

            Prof. John Hines, Professor of Archaeology, Cardiff University [to be read by Lisa Backhouse]

 

16.40   Exploring the post-Roman to early Anglo-Saxon transition in SE Britain: new perspectives from Quoit Brooch style metalwork

 

            Dr Ellen Swift, Reader in Archaeology,  University of Kent                                                                                                    

 

17.20   Chair    Discussion and closing comments

 

17.45   Close

 

Tickets are £15 and available online via the website or by post ( booking form )