The Biennial Community Archaeology Conference

The next conference year is 2026 – the theme will be announced here late in 2025.

Past Conferences

 2024 – Coast, Climate and Community

Our last conference took place on Saturday April 6th 2024, at UEA. 10.00-16.30

Norfolk is a coastal county with a vast array of heritage found on its coastal fringe. From tools and footprints, found at Happisburgh, dating from around 900,000 years ago, through to 20th century military installations placed to protect against invasion, much of this heritage is vulnerable to erosion. With climate change, rates of erosion are set to rise through increased sea level height and stronger storms resulting more energy in weather systems. Storm and surge events, such as those experienced on the coast in the 1953 floods and 2013 Christmas storms are likely to become more common and their destructive potential will result in loss of archaeological sites and structures. River systems will also change with a likelihood of more volatile events creating more inland floods and in some parts of the county, such as the Fens and the Broads, the salination of underlying freshwater conditions which are currently preserving archaeological and paleoenvironmental deposits. How can communities deal with these losses?

The conference heard from community archaeology practitioners, academics, health specialists, and there will be an opportunity to take part in a Training Workshop on recording archaeology on the coast led by the Nautical Archaeological Society. There was also an invitation to participate in the inaugural meeting of the Norfolk Community Archaeology Forum, being proposed as a new space for conversations and skill sharing for all those interested in community archaeology in Norfolk.
Speakers and workshop participants were:

• Andrew Farrell, Project Director, Broads Authority
• Neil Redfern, Executive Director of the Council for British Archaeology
• Laura Drysdale, Director of the Restoration Trust
• Andy Hutcheson, Research Fellow in the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture, UEA
• Mike Pinner, Chair of the Caistor Roman Project
• Michael Curtis, Trustee and Executive Board Member of the Nautical Archaeology Society
• Peta Knott, Nautical Archaeology Society Education Manager
• Joanne Clarke, Hon Professor of Archaeology at UEA and contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
• Claire Harris, MOLA, Deep History Detectives Re-mixed and Pathways to Ancient Britain
• Lawrence Northall, Coasts in Mind, Community Partnerships Project Officer, CITiZAN (MOLA)
• Sophie Tremlett, Senior Air Photo Interpreter, Norfolk County Council.

2022 – A conference dedicated to the memory of Dr Neil Faulkner

In spring 2022, the Norfolk & Norwich Archaeological Society celebrate the resilience, variety and success of the thousands of volunteers doing archaeology in the county, with a day conference.

What is community archaeology? A precise definition is difficult, but it includes not just ‘digs’, but all the ways people become involved in the subject as non-professionals, and by doing so enrich their experience of the past. Community archaeology can address identity, and help develop belonging and a sense of place, and can be a collaborative way for people from diverse backgrounds to explore and produce narratives related to the past.

The themes of the day were:

• Community and Diversity
• Specialisms
• Health and Wellbeing

High profile speakers included Professor Tim Darvill, Director of Human Henge, Alex Fitzpatrick, co-host of the ‘ArchaeoAnimals’ podcast, and Neil Redfern, Executive Director of the Council for British Archaeology. The keynote address was given by Professor Will Bowden of Caistor Roman Town Project, and a ‘marketplace’ area showcased local projects and groups.

A tribute to Dr Neil Faulkner FSA

Neil Faulkner, who died of cancer on Feb 4th at just 64, was Founder-Director of the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project, members of which spoke in the programme. This shocking  and untimely loss came just as this conference was in the final stages of development, and the Council of the Society are grateful to his partner for permission to dedicate the day to the memory of a pioneer in the field.