Lecture
November 3, 2023
Revealing the Hidden Heritage of West Dorset | Dr Anne Teather
In July 2023, Anne Teather and the organisation she runs, Past Participate, made national headlines when their discovery of a rare “polissoir”, or polishing stone in the Valley of the Stones, west Dorset, was announced. The stone was used 5,000 years ago by Neolithic people to hone tools such as axes. In this afternoon's talk, Anne reveals the story of this major find, as well as the work Past Participate do to connect local people with the archaeology of the region.
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September 6, 2023
What’s new in the British and Irish Neolithic? | Dr Alison Sheridan
While the past doesn’t change, our knowledge and understanding of it are being transformed by new discoveries and new research – and this is especially the case with the Neolithic period, the time of the first farming communities from the late 5th millennium to around 2500 BCE. This lecture offers some highlights from the past decade or so.
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August 19, 2023
‘Rewilding’ later prehistory: Archaeological wildlife and its role in contemporary nature recovery | Anwen Cooper
Climate change and biodiversity loss are, understandably, of growing interest to a wide cross-section of people. David Attenborough’s recent ‘Wild Isles’ series both awakened us to the magical wildlife of the British Isles and warned us of its extreme fragility.
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August 19, 2023
Traditions and Transitions: The Story of the Chettle Grave Group | Sophia Adams
A locally made wine strainer, an old mirror and a blue glass jar perhaps from Cologne. These are just three of the eight artefacts found in 2003, buried together on land within Chettle Park, Dorset.
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August 19, 2023
A Celebration of Museums’ Beautiful Rears!
Based on the eponymous viral Twitter account and divided into six categories of posterior, Museum Bums takes you on a whirlwind tour of the finest rear ends in museums around the world.
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July 20, 2023
Paul Nash in Dorset | Professor Paul Gough
This richly illustrated lecture explores over 80 Paul Nash artworks created from the mid-1930s until his death in 1946. They range from ancient places such as Maiden Castle and Badbury Rings to the limestone promontories and fossilised forests on the Purbeck coast.
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July 20, 2023
The News on Ancient Sea Reptiles | Dr Darren Naish
In this talk, Darren looks at how our ideas on ancient sea reptiles have changed, what ancient sea reptiles were like as living animals, and on what we still hope to discover.
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July 20, 2023
Elisabeth Frink at Woolland | Annette Ratuszniak
This illustrated talk will examine how Dame Elisabeth Frink while living at Woolland in Dorset, was able to build upon her technical mastery and explore her mature ideas and concepts.
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June 2, 2023
The return of beavers to Dorset | Stephen Oliver
History was made in February 2021 when Dorset Wildlife Trust released a pair of Eurasian beavers - Castor fiber - into an enclosed site as part of a scientific study to assess the impact beavers have on their environment.
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