Are archaeologists simply 'grave robbers with degrees'? Town Hall Lectures 2003 – University of Reading
03 January 2003
Are art dealers and collectors really 'looters'? Who gets to make vital decisions about the management and upkeep of important sites and buildings? Do we and should we trust them?
TV archaeologist and author Julian Richards has agreed to join an impressive line up of speakers for the next Town Hall lecture series - Who owns the past? The future of our heritage' - which begin this January. The series of five fortnightly lectures, organised by the University of Reading's School of Continuing Education, aim to explore some of the most significant and emotive issues concerning how the remains of our past should be both studied and managed.
The lectures begin on January 20th when Martin Cherry (Chief Buildings Historian with English Heritage) will explore the issue of who should make the crucial decisions about which buildings should be listed. He asks if local people should be given a say, and what would be the implications of this for future management? As presenter of the BBC's 'Meet the Ancestors' and 'Blood of the Vikings', Julian Richards is in an ideal position to discuss the ethics of digging up bones in the second lecture on February 3rd. In the third lecture 'Loot: the illicit traffic in antiquities', the University of Cambridge's Professor Colin Renfrew exposes one of the greatest threats to the world's archaeological heritage, scrutinising the role that dealers and collectors play in the looting of archaeological sites in search of saleable antiquities. On March 3rd Norfolk County Archaeologist Brian Ayers will talk about 'Seahenge: one of the most important discoveries of recent years', the excavation of which caused enormous controversy both locally and nationally. The series concludes on March 17th with Professor Barbara Bender of University College London and author of 'Stonehenge: Making Space' and 'Landscape: Politics and Perspectives', who will be discussing how the study of key sites, including Stonehenge, can lead to conflict or, sometimes, reconciliation in 'What Past? Whose Past?'.
Series tickets cost £25 (£18 concession) and must be bought in advance, individual lecture tickets are also available for £7. For further information about the series and how to obtain tickets please contact the Hexagon Box Office, Queens Walk, Reading on (0118) 960 6060 or email boxoffice@readingarts.com
Individual tickets may also be bought at the Town Hall on the night of each lecture.
For more details please follow the links below:
20th January 2003 - Historic places who cares?
3rd February 2003 - 'Grave robbers with degrees – the ethics of digging up bones
17th February 2003 - Loot the illicit traffic in antiquities
3rd March 2003 - Seahenge: 'one of the most important discoveries of recent years'
17th March 2003 - 'What Past? Whose Past'