2022 RFG Spring Meeting

Archaeology Conference

The 2022 RFG Spring Meeting was held at Carlisle, in association with Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery and supported by Carlisle City Council. The title was New Research on Finds from Roman Carlisle and the West of Hadrian’s Wall. Delegates were able to attend live or online.

Day One: Friday 6th May 2022

• 11.00 Pre-Conference Guided tour: Carlisle Castle.
• 13.00 Registration. Welcome tea/coffee
• 13.25 Welcome and Introduction, Cllr Stephen Higgs, City of Carlisle and Elsa Price, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery.

Session One: Roman Carlisle
Chair: Frances McIntosh, English Heritage.

• 13.30 Frank Giecco (Wardell Armstrong): The Roman bathhouse at Carlisle Cricket Club: a community excavation project.
• 14.05 Nick Henderson (Development Officer for Hadrian’s Wall Partnership): Uncovering Roman Carlisle Project.
• 14.20 Dr Hilary Cool (Barbican Research Associates): The military production of glass bottles: evidence from Bonn, Rocester and Carlisle. (Zoom)
• 14.45 Richard Brickstock, (Independent Researcher): Foundation dates from a numismatic perspective: Carlisle and the Stanegate.
• 15.20 Tea/Coffee – viewing of finds and posters

Session Two: Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
Chair: Barbara Birley, Vindolanda Trust.

• 15.50 Tim Padley (Independent Researcher): The early history of collections at Tullie House and a second century gold and glass bead necklace from Carlisle.
• 16.15 Dr Eleri Cousins (Lancaster University): Looking again at the Bewcastle plaques to Cocidius.
• 16.40 Dr Martin Henig (Research Associate of the School of Archaeology, University of Oxford): Roman gems from Carlisle.
• 17.05 Elsa Price (Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery): Occupation: Cumbria Under Roman Rule Gallery.

Reception at Tullie House Museum and ArtGallery

• 17.30 – 18.30 Wine reception and private viewing of the Roman Galleries at Tullie House Museum.

Evening Social / Conference Meal

• 20.00 A private room has been reserved at Adriano’s Italian Restaurant. Numbers limited. Full details are in the programme information.

Day Two: Saturday 7th May 2022

Session Three: Western Sector of Hadrian’s Wall
Chair: Stephen Greep, RFG.

• 09.00 Nick Summerton (Independent Researcher): A collyrium stamp from Watercrook, Cumbria and eye care in the west of Hadrian’s Wall.
• 09.35 Lindsay Allason-Jones (Hon Fellow, Newcastle University): Sculpture from Old Carlisle and what it tells us about life in the hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall.
• 10.00 Dr Ian Bass (FLO for Lancashire and Cumbria): Recent north-western Romano-British finds recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme – Part 1.
• 10.25 Alex Whitlock (FLO for Lancashire and Cumbria): Recent north-western Romano-British finds recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme – Part 2.
• 10.50 Tea/Coffee – viewing of finds and posters

Session Four: Western Sector of Hadrian’s Wall
Chair: Denise Allen, RFG.

• 11.30 Keynote – Barbara Birley (Vindolanda Trust) and Gillian Taylor (Teeside University) : Revealing Magna and the threat of climate change to archaeological sites.
• 11.55 Tony Wilmott (Historic England): Finds from recent excavations at Birdoswald and Maryport.
• 12.20 Dr Stephen Greep (Roman Finds Group): An unfinished antler composite comb from Great Chesters.
• 12.35 Lunch (Roman Finds Group 2022 AGM)

Session Five: Roman Vindolanda
Chair: Matthew Hobson, Wardell Armstrong and University of Leicester.

• 14.00 Mark Hoyle (Archaeological Illustrator): Illustrating Vindolanda.
• 14.25 Dr Elizabeth Greene (University of Western Ontario, Canada): Recent research and discoveries on the leather assemblage at Vindolanda.
• 14.50 Dr Alexander Meyer (University of Western Ontario, Canada): Experiments in the imaging of Roman stylus tablets.
• 15.15 Barbara Birley (Vindolanda Trust): Recent post Roman and Christian finds from Vindolanda.
• 15.40 Conclusion and End