Lecture

A People Apart: New scientific insights into life, death and society in Iron Age Dorset

Thursday 12 December, 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Archaeologists from Bournemouth University have been excavating on farmland near Winterborne Kingston since 2009, over which time they have uncovered a wealth of new information about the people who inhabited the landscape during the centuries before and after the Roman Conquest. In particular the project has revealed a large number of human burials – the most direct evidence we have for past lives. This public lecture presents the project’s latest findings, including the first announcement of exciting results from analysis of DNA that reveal the people of Iron Age Dorset as a unique group with a highly distinctive identity.

Dr Martin Smith specialises in the analysis and interpretation of human remains from archaeological contexts. His research has ranged from the dawn of agriculture (c.4000 BC), through to the Bronze Age and Iron Ages and from the Roman period through to the 19th century. His research focuses on the ways past peoples treated their dead, created social worlds for the living and engaged in conflict, as well as considerations of how best to treat human remains in ways that are ethical and respectful.