High-powered researchers from
The Leatherhead & District Local History Society was
represented at the latest conference by Fred Meynen and Nigel Bond. The
Society's stand - shown above - included posters from the Leatherhead Museum ,
publications for sale, and pieces from Fred’s collection of mysterious
artefacts. Visitors were invited to try identifying them if they could.
The event, also at Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall, took place
on Saturday, 24 February. There was a steady flow of visitors to the L&DLHS
stand during breaks between the main business of the day, a series of talks on
findings from recent excavations and research within the county.
The ages of material
discussed ranged from 11,000 BC to early 20th century AD.
Among topics covered was the internationally important assemblage of
13,000-year-old late Upper Paleolithic flints from the Guildford Fire Station
site, now being studied at Oxford
University . Use-wear
analysis shows some flints were used as projectiles, some as scrapers for preparing
hides, and others for working bone and antlers. Struck flints are being
painstakingly reassembled to recreate the original core from which they came.
This helps
our understanding of how knappers produced the tools, the technology used and
the expertise of those involved. Was this the work of a single individual
or several people with different levels of expertise?
Speakers came from Oxford University ,
Surrey County Archaeological Unit, Surrey Archaeological Society, Fetcham U3A,
and commercial archaeology firms Pre-Construct Archaeology and Archaeology
South-East. Nigel Bond, L&DLHS Archaeology Secretary, said: "We are
very fortunate to have such important meetings taking place within our area, presenting
and discussing current scholarship.
These meetings are open to anyone who wants to attend."