About this Event
Welcome to the Society for Museum Archaeology 2025 Conference: Celebrating 50 Years of SMA! Join us in person at the Museum of Liverpool for a special event marking half a century of our society's contributions to archaeology. Connect with fellow enthusiasts, attend fascinating talks, and explore the rich history of Liverpool. Don't miss this unique opportunity to celebrate our shared passion for archaeology!
Thursday
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Treasure: History Unearthed
Host: Heather Beeton, Finds Liaison Officer for Merseyside, Ma
Info: Treasure means different things to different people. For those who work or are interested in archaeology it has a very specific, legal definition. Treasure: History Unearthed is an exhibition which brings together objects from across the region which have something to say about our understanding of Treasure. With objects from North Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire, Manchester and of course Merseyside, this exhibition showcases the most extensive collection of archaeological treasures ever displayed in the North West, in a multi-period display spanning from the Bronze Age to the 1700s.
Curated with care by National Museums Liverpool’s archaeology team this will be the first archaeology exhibition to be hosted by Museum of Liverpool. It is an exhibition which isn’t about a specific place, period or theme, but about how history, science and storytelling gives Treasure objects meaning beyond their legal status. At the heart of this is an exhibition about sharing and collaboration.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tour of Princes Dock 'Solidity equal to... the old pyramids'
Host: Mark Adams, Principal Archaeological Consultant, Headlan
Info: PLEASE NOTE: This tour is free but must be booked in advance when purchasing tickets. Often described as ‘the second city of the British Empire’ Liverpool’s prosperity in the 18th, 19th and early 20th century depended in large part upon its dock system which enabled import of raw materials such as cotton, sugar and tobacco and the export of finished goods across the world. Construction of the docks began with Old Dock which opened in 1715 and by 1900 the dock estate extended for some 7 ½ miles along the Liverpool shore of the Mersey, with further extensive docks on the Wirral coast. This tour will look at a short section of this landscape, from the graving docks at Museum of Liverpool, via the Three Graces to Princes Dock to the north.
🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:15 PM
Welcome
Host: Liz Stewart, Head of Museum of Liverpool, NML
🕑: 12:45 PM - 01:05 PM
From Basin to Dock to Museum: The Excavation of Manchester Dock, Liverpool
Host: Mark Adams, Principal Archaeological Consultant, Headlan
🕑: 01:05 PM - 01:25 PM
Collaborating in reviving an archive
Host: Harold Mytum, Professor of Archaeology, Classics and E
Info: The Yoward archive of Cast Iron Grave Markers at the Ironbridge Museums and Archives
🕑: 01:25 PM - 01:45 PM
Norton Priory: Monastery to Museum
Host: Lynn Smith, Senior Keeper, Norton Priory Museum Trust
Info: Celebrating the last 50 years and planning the next 50 years
🕑: 02:10 PM - 02:30 PM
Vindolanda’s Archives: Looking to the Past
Host: Bethany Goodman, Assistant Archivist, Vindolanda Trust
🕑: 02:30 PM - 02:50 PM
“It’s no longer about the Box sizes”
Host: Helen Parslow, Archives Officer, Albion Archaeology
🕑: 02:50 PM - 03:10 PM
Community Archaeological Archives; A perspective from Kent
Host: Andy Ward, Curator, Kent Archaeological Society
🕑: 03:40 PM - 04:00 PM
Connecting Distributed Collections in the Digital Era
Host: Joanne Fitton, Deputy Director of Libraries, Museums & G
Info: Preliminary Work with the John Garstang Archaeological Collection
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:20 PM
Quire as a Digital Output Tool for Archaeological Archives
Host: Renee Trepagnier, Doctoral Researcher, Collaborative Doc
🕑: 04:20 PM - 04:40 PM
Edinburgh’s First Burghers
Host: John A Lawson, Regional Archaeologist, The City of Edinb
Info: Revealing the Lives and Hidden Faces of Edinburgh’s Medieval Citizens through Innovative Technologies and Interdisciplinary Approaches.
Friday
🕑: 10:15 AM - 10:35 AM
10:15-10:35 Fifty Years of Dealing with Human Remains in Museums
Host: Headley Swain, Chief Executive, Brighton & Hove Museums
🕑: 10:35 AM - 10:55 AM
Archaeology and the persistence of mystery
Host: Jenny Durrant, Freelance
🕑: 10:55 AM - 11:15 AM
‘Times they are a changing’
Host: Neil Redfern, Executive Director, CBA
Info: How do we best communicate archaeology for multiple audience needs?
🕑: 11:15 AM - 11:35 AM
From Ledger to Digital
Host: Gabriel Olugbenga Mateson, Curator, University of Ibadan
Info: Community-Centered Redocumentation and Smart Tools in West African Museum Practice.
🕑: 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
AGM & Awards
Host: Ben Donnelly-Symes, Chair, SMA
🕑: 12:30 PM - 12:40 PM
Access For All: Treasures of Oxfordshire
Host: Angie Bolton, Curator of Archaeology, Oxfordshire Museum
Info: 2024 Grant Recipient.
🕑: 12:40 PM - 12:50 PM
King Harold II Axe Display
Host: Ian Channell, Museum Manager, Epping Forest District Mus
Info: 2024 Grant Recipient.
🕑: 12:50 PM - 01:00 PM
The Bidston Hogback Stone
Host: Elsa Price, Lead Curator of Archaeology, National Muse
Info: 2024 Grant Recipient.
🕑: 01:45 PM - 02:15 PM
The SMA at Fifty – Mission accomplished or more to do?
Host: Philip Wise, Heritage Manager, Colchester and Ipswich Mu
Info: Keynote.
🕑: 02:15 PM - 02:35 PM
My Jewellery, My Story
Host: Helen Sharp, Curator (Archaeology), Leicestershire Count
Info: How Bronze Age beads inspired new community connections.
🕑: 02:35 PM - 02:55 PM
It’s not all about the finds: managing Kings Weston Roman Villa
Host: Kate Iles, Senior Curator of Archaeology, Bristol Museu
🕑: 02:55 PM - 03:15 PM
The Peterborough Archaeological Archive Enhancement Project
Host: Samantha Paul, Heritage Consultant, Freelance
Info: A non-practitioner centred data creation project.
🕑: 03:40 PM - 04:00 PM
Access Across Eras: Celebrating 50 Years at Durham’s Museum of Archaeology
Host: Gemma Lewis, Curator, Museum of Archaeology, Durham Univ
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:20 PM
Putting the archaeology back into the antiquarian
Host: Gail Boyle, Freelance
Info: Analysing the Dr HA Fawcett Collection of Typology for archaeological significance.
🕑: 04:20 PM - 04:40 PM
Archive Archaeology at London Museum: A Retrospective
Host: Glynn Davis, Senior Curator, Yorkshire Museums Trust
🕑: 04:50 PM - 05:00 PM
Closing Remarks
Host: Ben Donnelly-Symes, Chair, SMA
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Museum of Liverpool, Mann Island, Liverpool, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00 to GBP 100.00
