ASE research on show at Roman Archaeology Conference and UCL Technical Showcase

Roman Archaeology/ Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference

Over at the UCL Institute of Education a group of ASE archaeologists presented reflections and recent research on the Romans in Sussex. This was part of the “Celebration of Roman Sussex” session, jointly run with the Sussex Archaeological Society.

ASE presentations included research on pottery and charred plant remains. They synthesised what 20 years of development-led archaeology had added to our understanding of Roman Sussex. They identified data, knowledge and gaps, and asked what future research might bring.

Louise Rayner, ASE’s Director, said “It was so inspiring to hear about the diverse range of research being undertaken on Roman Sussex, including three presentations from the ASE team. The papers left me in no doubt that there is a vibrant community of researchers working on Roman period research in Sussex. It was a pleasure to work with Rob Symmons of the Sussex Archaeological Society to devise the session and reaffirm the important and long-standing relationship ASE has with SAS to investigate, interpret and share the past of Sussex."

UCL Technical Showcase

Meanwhile, just a 10 minute walk away in UCL’s Cloisters, three of ASE’s archaeologists were talking to other Technical Professionals, Academics and Professional Services at UCL about Historic Buildings Archaeology at the UCL Technical Showcase! The Showcase is an annual event demonstrating the depth and breadth of technical contribution our technicians make to UCL research, teaching and innovation.

The team was made up of Ron Humphrey, Assistant Director of Historic Environment Services; Michael Shapland, Historic Buildings Archaeologist, and Thomas Simms, Senior Archaeologist in Geomatics. These archaeologists and surveyors talked about the process of investigating, recording and managing historic buildings. There was also a display of artefacts and survey equipment.

Michael Shapland also presented research on a medieval cave shrine, discovered in the side of a railway cutting near Guildford. As part of this research a 3D model was created of the shrine. Michael has talked about this site before; you can watch his presentation on our YouTube channel.

Tom Simms said “The Technical Showcase was a great opportunity to meet other technical staff at UCL. I’m looking forward to collaborating on projects with new ideas and methodologies in the future!”.

There was a surprise in store for our archaeologists at the showcase – a colleague was announced the winner of the photo competition “The Person behind the Practice”! Wiktoria Krzoska won for her below image “Digging the Sahara”. Congratulations Wiki!

Wiki has been a field archaeologist at Archaeology South-East for the last 6 years. Outside of work she also gets involved in research projects, like the excavations in Morocco this year, which were part of a UCL Institute of Archaeology collaborative fieldwork project.

Wiki said “I took this photo of my friend excavating a Medieval house in the Moroccan Sahara. We were digging in a beautiful place and I took lots of photos to preserve memories and illustrate the archaeology amongst its landscape”.

While they were at different events, both teams had a great day forging new and cementing old collaborative relationships! We’re looking forward to what these partnerships might bring in the future.