Lectures
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE
Udig is pleased to announce a series of lectures by Professor Stephen Upex PhD. MCIfA. FSA.
The series title covers 3 sessions of 12 lectures, running over 3 seasons from May to September 2026 - 2028.
At the venue, The Stanwick Hotel, each lecture will attempt to present via PowerPoint presentation, details of what we can see on the landscape of modern Britain and how archaeology allows us to read or interpret this landscape.
Some sessions may have a practical element to them, allowing participants to handle original objects and artefacts.
Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.
2026 – prehistoric landscapes
May 28th 2026
Lecture 1:
The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, to the beginning of the Neolithic: Hunter Gatherers on the edge of the ice
June 11th 2026
Lecture 2:
Neolithic society, tools, buildings, and farming
June 18th 2026
Lecture 3:
Ceremonial landscapes, including Stonehenge and other major monuments.
June 25th 2026
Lecture 4:
Neolithic burials and burial practices
July 2nd 2026
Lecture 5:
Tribalism and landscapes: southern Britain and Orkney
July 9th 2026
Lecture 6:
The coming of metal: Bronze Age tools and farming
July 16th 2026
Lecture 7:
Bronze Age burial and ceremonial landscapes
September 3rd 2026
Lecture 8:
Bronze Age settlements across Britain
September 10th 2026
Lecture 9:
Iron Age societies and settlements
September 17th 2026
Lecture 12:
The invasion of 43 AD and the conquest of Britannia
September 24th 2026
Lecture 10:
Hill forts
October 1st 2026
Lecture 11:
The influence of Rome on Britain and Ceasars expeditions of 55-54 BC
2027 – Roman and Saxon Landscapes
Lecture 13:
The Roman army
Lecture 14:
Military instillations across Britain: fortlets, forts and fortresses
Lecture 15:
The frontier works of Roman Britain: Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall
Lecture 16:
Roman towns and their suburbs
Lecture 17:
Roman Villas, farming and the trappings and luxuries of Roman society
Lecture 18:
The Roman economy: industry and commerce
Lecture 19:
Roman religion, the arrival of Christianity and burial practices.
Lecture 20:
Late Roman landscapes and the end of Roman Britain
Lecture 21:
Roman or Saxon?
Migration in the 5th to 7th centuries: the archaeological evidence
Lecture 22:
Anglo Saxon buildings and settlement
Lecture 23:
Anglo-Saxon cemeteries and populations
Lecture 24:
The evolution of kingship, monasteries and the Christian church
2028 – Medieval and later Landscapes from 1066 to the coming of the railways |
Lecture 25:
Late Saxon landscapes, churches, the rise of the manor: Saxon England on the eve of the Norman invasion of 1066
Lecture 26:
The remodelling of the landscape: castles, new towns and villages
Lecture 27:
Monasteries and their control over the landscape
Lecture 28:
Village settlement: shrunken and deserted sites and the black death of 1349
Lecture 29:
Agriculture and open field systems
Lecture 30:
Manor sites, moated sites, fish ponds, dove cotes, rabbit warrens, deer parks
Lecture 31:
The medieval church and what it tells us about populations and society
Lecture 32:
The enclosures and agricultural changes
Lecture 33:
Gardens, landscape parks and the rise of the big house
Lecture 34:
The evolution of transport systems in the landscape: roads, canals, railways
Lecture 35:
Industrial landscapes
Lecture 36:
Landscape reconstructions from the Prehistoric to the Late Medieval period: sources, documents and how to carry out research.
THE VENUE: THE STANWICK HOTEL
THE SETTING: REFLECTIONS
Book now and enjoy good company and a cool drink while discussion the evening with like-minded people.