There are a limited number of places available for Geophysics sessions in areas close to the original medieval centres of Histon & Impington from Monday 24th to Sunday 30th May 2021.
Resistivity and magnetometry instruments will be used to look for hidden features below ground level which may give further clues to the early development of the villages.
If you are interested in participating then please email: hisimp.archaeology.group@gmail.com stating which days and which sessions (am or pm) you would be available, and whether you have any previous experience of geophysics.
If you have no previous experience of geophysics they will be able to provide some informal training.
Please note: Places are limited and will be allocated first come first served basis.
The next live HIAG zoom talk will take place at 7.30pm on Monday 17th May, entitled ‘The New Geography of Ancient Cambridgeshire’ with Kasia Gdaniec, Senior Archaeologist (Development), Cambridgeshire County Council.
This talk is free. HIAG members will be sent a link 3 days in advance, non-members can register for the link here.
Colonising Inlands: Later Prehistoric and Roman North West Cambridge with Christopher Evans, Director, Cambridge Archaeological Unit a HIAG Zoom Talk live on Monday 26th April 2021 7:30 pm
In pre-pandemic days, some of you may have relatively recently visited the open days at Eddington situated between Huntingdon Rd and Madingley Road and seen for yourself the excavations. These revealed occupation of north west Cambridge from 3500 to 1500 years ago from Bronze Age burials to a high-status Roman Villa, alongside what was the main Roman Road from Colchester to Cambridge and through the midlands to Chester – a superhighway of its time.
This talk will outline the results of more than 20 years of fieldwork in the University’s West Cambridge lands. Focusing on the importance of water-supply resourcing, it will address the dynamics of inland colonization during the Bronze Age and the nature of its subsequent Iron Age utilization. It will also review the many Roman-Period settlements that have now been dug there. Including a villa, eight farmsteads and a major roadside centre, the programme has provided major insights into Roman Cambridge’s hinterlands. Indeed, it now amount to one of the most comprehensive excavation programmes of the Roman countryside anywhere undertaken.
If you would like to register for the talk please use the HIAG Contact Uspage and they will send you a Zoom link 3 days in advance of the talk. There is no charge for this event and you do not have to be a member.
If you would like to join and support HIAG or rejoin after a gap please use the link here. HIAG members will be sent the links automatically so they will not need to register for each talk.
The HIAG AGM will be held via Zoom at 8:30 pm on Monday 12th April following the scheduled talk that evening which starts as normal at 7:30pm
Elections for a new committee will be held at the AGM. The committee has up to ten members including Chair, Secretary, Treasurer as well as a Deputy Chair and Deputy Secretary role. The committee retires at the AGM so we need nominations for a new committee to lead and support HIAG going forward – with regard to educational, field and research activities. Please find attached the first notice of the AGM, the nomination form and an agenda
If you would like to register for the meeting please use the HIAG Contact Uspage and they will send you a Zoom link before the meeting. All are welcome at the AGM, members, and non-members, although only members will have voting rights.
Early Settlement in Histon & Impington: A View from the Fields with Rob Noble, Histon & Impington Archaeology Group, on Monday 12th April 2021 at 7:30 pm
This talk will be followed by the HIAG AGM at 8.30pm.
Where, why, and how did our predecessors occupy the local landscape? The quintessential English village scene with its church, manor house and timber framed thatched cottages clustered at its core seems almost timeless. Yet the present organisation and location of our rural settlements is essentially of medieval origin, and from that period and later we can also draw on documentary evidence. But what do we know about the organisation of settlement and land use stretching back into pre-history? For this we must turn to archaeology.
This talk will review the methods which have been brought to bear on the archaeological study of the wider local landscape outside the present settled areas. These include field walking, ariel photography, and more recently, lidar imaging. It presents some of the accumulated evidence dating from the palaeolithic to the medieval periods, together with some new analysis and interpretation. It will discuss some of the probable influences on early settlement in the local area such as access to water and ground conditions.
The photos above show different visualisations of Home Field, one of Histon’s medieval open fields situated in the west of the village. Left to right: part of the 1801 survey map created prior to the Parliamentary enclosure; British Geological Survey map of surface geology showing Home Field as a sand and gravel river terrace; a Google satellite view of crop marks revealing ancient boundary ditches and Bronze Age barrows as well as geological features; a lidar image revealing elevated field boundary banks.
These photos show a small sample of the field walking finds from Home Field which give clues to early settlement. Left to right: Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age worked flint tool (borer/fabricator); fragment of a Roman box flue tile (hypocaust); fragment of a Roman roof tile (tegula); sherds of early Saxon (6th/7th Century) decorated pottery.
If you would like to register for the talk please use the HIAG Contact Uspage and they will send you a Zoom link 3 days in advance of the talk. There is no charge for this event and you do not have to be a member.
If you would like to join and support HIAG or rejoin after a gap please use the link here. HIAG members will be sent the links automatically so they will not need to register for each talk.
With Maria Medlycott, Senior Historic Environment Consultant,Essex County Council on Monday15th March 2021 at 7:30 pm
The talk will consist of an overview of 40,000 years of archaeology in Essex and how the archaeological finds are shaped by and in turn shape the landscape of the county. It will cover the end of the Ice Age, the introduction of farming, the creation of large-scale monuments, the development of the road network, villages and towns and the exploitation of the coastal marshes and woodlands. The talk will include examples from the areas of Essex closest to Cambridgeshire and the results of recent excavations.
Artist impression of medieval Stebbingford
It is hoped that the talk will demonstrate the range and significance of the archaeology of what is often a misunderstood county, and that it will enable comparisons and contrasts to be drawn with the archaeology of the Histon and Impington area.
Maria Medlycott was born and studied in Ireland. She came to work in Essex by accident in 1986, starting on the large-scale excavations in advance of the development of Stansted Airport The late 1980s and early 1990s were spent in the field excavating and fieldwalking sites across Essex. In 1995 she moved indoors to undertake the Essex Historic Towns Project. Since 1999 she has worked as an archaeological development control officer, providing archaeological advice on planning applications, primarily to Maldon and Harlow District Councils. She also has an ongoing programme of projects, on a wide-range of subjects from the publication of the unpublished archives of Roman Great Chesterford to the study of the Essex Coastal Grazing-Marshes.
If you would like to register for the talk please use the HIAG Contact Uspage and they will send you a Zoom link 3 days in advance of the talk. There is no charge for this event and you do not have to be a member.
If you would like to join and support HIAG or rejoin after a gap please use the link here. HIAG members will be sent the links automatically so they will not need to register for each talk.
Image at top – Excavating a Beaker burial near Harlow
The talk will review several Treasures from this Roman town and assess their significance. Stephen will go to on discuss the coming of Christianity to the eastern areas of England.
Professor Stephen Upex, University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education, Madingley on Monday 8th March 2021 at 7:30 pm
Area of Durobrivae from the south-west
Durobrivae was a significant walled Roman town located near current day Peterborough. It grew up close to a Roman fort established to create and protect the crossing point of Ermine Street over the River Nene. There were extensive potteries and iron works close to the town. There were also many Roman villas or farmsteads in the Nene valley region – and an impressive official building or Praetorium across the river at Castor. The name Durobrivae translates as fort by the bridge and is first recorded in the late-second century; the route from Londinium (London) to Luguvalium (Carlisle) describes Durobrivas as 35 miles from Duroliponte (Cambridge) and 30 miles from Causennis (Ancaster)
Votive Plaque water Newton Hoard 4th century Roman
Prof Stephen Upex has written on a wide variety of topics related to British landscape history and archaeology and his interests range from prehistoric settlement, Roman and Saxon farming to medieval open fields systems – a topic which formed the subject of his PhD dissertation. He has excavated widely and contributed to several Time Team programmes for Channel Four. His book on the Romans in the East of England was published in 2008 and a new book on the Romans in the Peterborough area is due to be published soon Stephen is currently writing up a series of landscape and archaeological reports and books on sites within the East Midlands for the Society of Antiquaries. His research interests include various aspects related to medieval agriculture and landscape and the archaeology of Roman and Saxon settlement, as well as collecting data for a book on Roman pottery. Stephen lectures at the University of Cambridge, is a member of the Chartered Institute for Field Archaeologists and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
If you would like to register for the talk please use the HIAG Contact Uspage and they will send you a Zoom link 3 days in advance of the talk. There is no charge for this event and you do not have to be a member.
If you would like to join and support HIAG or rejoin after a gap please use the link here. HIAG members will be sent the links automatically so they will not need to register for each talk.
Artist Impression at top – Durobrivae from the Praetorium Image – Peterborough Museum
This is an extraordinary site. The seat of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom for 300 years from the 5th century, close to Sutton Hoo, and occupying an area of 50 hectares! The wealthiest of all sites in the country in this period?
Royal Anglo-Saxon Rendleshamwith Faye Minter, Senior Archaeological Officer, Suffolk County Council on Monday 15th February 2021 at 7:30 pm
The now tranquil Deben valley in south-east Suffolk was once at the heart of the East Anglian Anglo-Saxon Kingdom, which is home to the princely ship burial discovered at Sutton Hoo in 1939, and the long-lost royal settlement found at Rendlesham.
This royal settlement, or vicus regius, is first mentioned in the 8th century by the venerable Bede, a Northumbrian monk, in his book The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Gold and Garnet Beads
Archaeological investigations at Rendlesham by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service identified the site of this royal settlement in 2008 and has since revealed that it was active for almost 300 years, from the 5th to 8th centuries. Covering 50 hectares, the size of 70 football pitches, it is the largest and wealthiest settlement of its time known in England.
In this talk, Faye Minter will explore the archaeology of this Anglo-Saxon royal settlement and the archaeological techniques which have revealed it.
Fayeis an archaeologist who specialises in the identification of Roman and early medieval metal artefacts. As Senior Archaeological Officer for Suffolk County Council, Faye manages the county’s archives, the Finds Recording Team and several research projects, as well as advises developers and landowners.
For the past 12 years, Faye has been investigating Rendlesham on behalf of the archaeological service, which has involved many specialists, organisations, and volunteers. Faye also manages the new community archaeology project Rendlesham Revealed: Anglo-Saxon Life in South-East Suffolk which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. To find out more visit: https://heritage.suffolk.gov.uk/rendlesham
If you would like to register for the talk please use the HIAG Contact Uspage and they will send you a Zoom link 3 days in advance of the talk. There is no charge for this event and you do not have to be a member.
If you would like to join and support HIAG or rejoin after a gap please use the link here. HIAG members will be sent the links automatically so they will not need to register for each talk.
The world-renowned Sanger Wellcome institute is on our doorstep. Hear how ancient DNA analysis throws new insights including on Human-Neanderthal contacts, Saxon peoples, and even the crusaders!
Human DNA Analysis from Ancient to Historical Times – throwing surprising light on our past with Dr Mical Szpak, Research Associate at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge at 7:30pm on Monday 8th February 2021
Skeleton from the excavation at Sidon (credit Dr Claude Doumet-Serhal)
Not so long ago, it would have seemed incredible to think that DNA could be recovered from skeletons that are thousands of years old. Yet analysis of such DNA is a modern reality – happening in a world centre research campus just a few miles from our village. With findings that not only complement those from archaeology and related disciplines but sometimes also challenging them. Dr Mical Szpak will take us on a journey into this world with new insights into human-Neanderthal contacts, middle east peoples, Anglo-Saxon migration, and the crusaders!
Biography:
Michal studied ancient DNA of extinct Pleistocene mammals for his BSc degree and subsequently moved to bioinformatics and exploration of human genetic variation across different ethnicities in his master’s degree research at the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia. He joined the human evolution team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in 2012 and received his PhD in human population genetics from the University of Cambridge. His doctoral and postdoctoral work at the Sanger focused on positive selection and genetic adaptations in humans. He investigates the link between genetic variants and diverse adaptive traits found in human populations around the world. He joined European Bioinformatics Institute in 2019 and continues to deliver bioinformatic training worldwide.
Talk abstract:
Ancient DNA studies have revolutionised the field of human evolutionary genetics and transformed the understanding of our past. Direct access to ancient human genomes has shown that the human demographic history is more complex than inferred from the DNA of present-day people alone. Not only does DNA research complement archaeological studies, but also captures signatures of past demographic events impossible to recognise from examining bones alone. In this lecture he will talk about the biggest revelations in the field of ancient DNA ranging from human-Neanderthal contacts 55,000 years ago, to the formation of the European genetic makeup about 4,500 years ago, Anglo-Saxon migration to British Isles in the 5th century AD and ethnic origin of Crusaders from 13th century. He will take a look at Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon skeletons excavated from the ground of the Wellcome Genome Campus site itself in Hinxton, and at Oakington and Linton – to show what can be learnt about population migration and the genetic composition of modern Britons.
If you would like to register for the talk please use the HIAG Contact Uspage and they will send you a Zoom link 3 days in advance of the talk. There is no charge for this event and you do not have to be a member.
If you would like to join and support HIAG or rejoin after a gap please use the link here. HIAG members will be sent the links automatically so they will not need to register for each talk.
At 7.30 pm Monday 25th January HIAG present an online talk on “A Roman Villa in Fane Road Peterborough – a community archaeology excavation”, with David Crawford-White, archaeologist.
To join the talk please email hisimp.archaeology.group@gmail.com who will send you a link 2 days in advance. There is no charge for this event.
David Crawford-White is a HIAG committee member. He was previously the Outreach and Learning Officer for Oxford Archaeology East, based at Bar Hill, a registered charity with a heritage and education focus that is mainly involved in pre-development excavations.
Part of David’s work was to support local communities and schools in learning more about their heritage and was involved in a range of Lottery supported projects based at Linton Village College, Abbey College, Ramsey and Wisbech. He also wrote part of the very successful Jigsaw Community project which was a five-year Heritage Lottery Funded project (2011-2016) by Oxford Archaeology East and Cambridgeshire County Council to assist local history and archaeological societies in historical research, excavation, artefact identification, recording, and much more.
As part of his work, David wrote and managed a successful £88k Heritage Lottery bid that included a community excavation of part of a Roman Villa in Peterborough. The Romans established the fortified town of Durobrivae in the first century AD, situated on Ermine Street, and produced a type of pottery known as Nene Valley colour-coated ware which has been found as far north as Hadrian’s Wall as well as in Histon and Impington!
David will take us on a community archaeological journey from an idea to the realisation of a successful excavation that involved 129 local volunteers over a 20-day period. Perhaps a template for something similar in Histon & Impington in more normal times?!
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