SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S LATEST SYMPOSIUM

High-powered researchers from Oxford, Cambridge, Cardiff, Durham, Kent and  Newcastle universities will all be speaking at the next conference of the Surrey Archaeology Society on Saturday, 5 May at Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall. The topic will be Shining a light on the 5^th century AD in Surrey and the South-East: How did Roman Britain become Saxon England?

Further details can be found at www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk, via the ‘Events’ link.

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."