The UCL Institute of Archaeology is delighted to host the 41st annual Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference in December 2019. Founded in 1937, the Institute is one of the largest centres for world archaeology, archaeological sciences and heritage & museum studies in the UK, situated in the heart of the capital.
Venue: UCL Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL
Traditional ritual practices, happening outside or beyond more canonical or formal belief systems can take oral and material forms. Indeed, often such practices are characterised by a blending of the tangible and intangible, drawing on multisensory engagement with cultural and natural objects, place, songs, poems, dance and prayer. This session aims to explore how such traditions are expressed materially. Drawing on conceptual and theoretical developments within folklore, archaeology, ethnography and anthropology, such as the notion of structured deposition, bricolage, relational/assemblage approaches, feminist and queer perspectives, this session will explore the materiality and physicality of folklore, traditional and customary practices in Europe and beyond.
Organisers: David Petts; Durham University • Dr. Katy Soar; University of Winchester
14:00 | Session organisers | Introduction
14:05 | Zoe Crossland, Columbia University | Concerns about bodies and containment in 16th-17th century England
14:25 | Ethan Coyle White, UCL | In Search of the Cofgodas: History, Archaeology, and Folklore in Early Medieval England
14:45 | Miles Russell, Bournemouth University | An Archaeology of Myth-Fulfilment
15:05 | - | BREAK
15:35 | Alyssa Scott, University of California, Berkeley | Archaeology and Folkloristics at Tuberculosis Sanatoria in California
15:55 | Stephen Sherlock, Independent | TBC
16:15 | Cameron Moffett, English Heritage | Defense against the Evil Eye: evidence for magic at Roman Wroxeter
16:35 | Ceri Houlbrook, University of Hertfordhsire | Lessons from Love-Locks: The contemporary archaeology of a contemporary practice
