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?
On April 6th, at UEA, will hear 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 will also be 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 will include:
- 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
- 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
Book your ticket here for attendance at our 2024 spring conference
(NB: For virtual attendance, book your ticket at the reduced rate, and in the notes section add the comment ‘Digital’ and a link will be sent to you.)
