Tintagel in Late Antiquity - Recent Excavations and Research

UPDATE: Wednesday 11 March 2020. We are planning to go ahead as usual with this eagerly awaited conference. We are of course aware of concerns about Coronavirus but the official government advice (and English Heritage organisational advice) is to continue as normal with events such as this. We very much hope to see you all in Truro/Tintagel soon!

This is a two-day conference organised by English Heritage at Truro College, Cornwall, followed by a half-day field trip to Tintagel Castle.

Tintagel Castle, Cornwall, is a site of international importance thanks to the remarkable archaeological evidence for a citadel and trading port in Late Antiquity. This conference will draw together the results of a major four-year research project, which included the first excavations since those by Glasgow University in the 1990s.

The conference papers will present results of the Tintagel Castle Archaeological Research Project. Speakers will include archaeologists from English Heritage, Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Historic England and several universities.

We have kept the ticket price as low as possible: it includes the conference fee and refreshments. There will be a social event on the Thursday night (with a reasonable additional cost) if you'd like to come.

Do make use of Visit Truro, or any other website, to book your own accommodation: https://www.visittruro.org.uk/truro-accommodation

We look forward to seeing you at the conference

Win Scutt and Nick Holder, English Heritage

Programme

Thursday 2 April 2020

9.00        Coffee and Registration

9.30        Welcome and Introduction Win Scutt, TCARP Project Manager & Properties Curator (West), English Heritage

9.45        Archaeological Investigations at Tintagel Castle from the 1930s to the present day: The TCARP project Jacky Nowakowski, TCARP Project Director

10.45     Coffee

11.15     The Times of Tintagel Alex Bayliss, Head of Scientific Dating, Historic England

12.00     Discussion

12.30     Lunch

14.00     Sampling, seeds and seaweed: the plant remains Gill Campbell, Head of Environmental Studies, Historic England

14.45     Analysis of the wood charcoal remains from Tintagel Zoë Hazell, Senior Palaeoecologist, Historic England

15.15     Discussion

15.30     Tea

16.00     Animals and animal bones at Tintagel Polydora Baker, Senior Zooarchaeologist, Historic England

16.45     Beakers, bowls and baubles: the glass and metalworking at Tintagel Sarah Paynter, Senior Materials Scientist, Historic England; Rachel Tyson and Florian Ströbele

17.30     Discussion

18.00     Close

18.30 for 19.00 Reception at the Royal Cornwall Museum. Followed by dinner 20.45 for 21.00 for those who would like to join us – please let us know if you would like us to book a place.

Friday 3 April 2020

9.30        Welcome Dr Nick Holder, Conference Co-Director & Properties Historian, English Heritage

9.45        Imported ceramics at Tintagel: new evidence for long-distance connections Maria Duggan, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Newcastle University and the British School at Athens, with Evangelia Kiriatzi and Noémi S Müller, Fitch Laboratory, British School at Athens.

10.30     Coffee

11.00     Archaeological surveys of Tintagel, 1984 and 2015   Mark Bowden Senior Archaeological Investigator and Manager, Archaeological Survey & Investigation Team South & West, Historic England

11.45     The Inscriptions   Michelle Brown, Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies, University of London (Michelle’s paper will be read on her behalf)

12.15     Discussion

12.30     Lunch

14.30     Whale-roads and Silk Roads: considering long and short connections in the early middle ages Sam Turner, Professor of Archaeology, Newcastle University

15.30     Discussion – round table

16.30     Close

Saturday 4 April 2020

9.30        Tintagel Castle Site Visit (Note that there is an alternative opportunity to visit the site on the preceding Wednesday at 9.30 for those planning to attend the Cornwall Archaeological Society AGM on the Saturday)

13.00     Close