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Went to the Saxon Symposium at Sussex Uni at Falmer. Dawn picked me up at 8am. I left Mirinda sleeping soundly.
We arrived heaos early – before registration in fact.
Once inside, we saved seats for Bev, Matt, Lorna and Darren. It was a big turn olut but not as packed as the last one.
The first speaker was Jane Brenan on grave assemblages in Anglo Saxon cemeteries. She was okay but, basically, discussed how she’d entered a load of raw data into a database and come up with a new way of disseminating it. Her theory refers to what actually denotes status in Anglo Saxon graves by grouping various goods.
Some of her slides were good in that they showed a change over time as a cemetery grew. They also showed how cemeteries tend to follow the contours of the land rather than a set area.
She seemed quite excited about her theory but didn’t really impart this to the audience. As an opening speaker, it wasn’t that bad.
Next came Sarah Semple. Her talk followed on from Jane’s as she discussed cemetery locations.
It was then time for a tea break.
At some stage, someone complained about the light coming in through the door, so it was closed which made the room rapidly stuffy. So, the chance of a break in the air was very welcome.
It was here that John Manley came up and talked to us. He couldn’t remember my name but knew Bev and Dawn – apparently the pit that Bev worked on at Fishbourne is ‘officially’ called Bev’s Pit now. He also told us that their might be more digging at Fishbourne next year.
The next speaker was Robert Hutchinson and it was so nice to hear someone with a loud voice. He spoke on Saxon churches and it was at about this time that I decided whe n I finished my degree that, just maybe, I would specialise in churches. He was that excellent.
On the other hand, Judie English, who followed him, was a bit dull. She was talking about how Anglo Saxons buried on the top of prehistoric barrows. It could have been quite interesting had she not been so dull. She did have to cut her talk short because of #political reasons# which she did not explain. Curious.
Next came lunch and we spent a good 15 minutes looking for food until we decided to stop on a hill and send Darren, Lorna and Matt in search. We were there with Gabs fotr a while, until he headed off for his free lunch. But, eventually, the others returned and we ate before returnign to the lecture hall.
Now it was Gabs’ turn. He went through the previous years at Bishopstone then onto the current excavation. The pit has now been enlarged and is throwing up more questions. Gabs has a very tentative theory that it could be a tower. The base of the pit is square with small post holes in each corner. They also found a hoard of metal tools.
Then, just as it started getting exciting the chairman, annoyingly tried to stop him but Gabs ploughed on explaining that it was important in that way that Gabs has. The rest of the hall seemed to agree.
It was a good lecture – easily the best so far. And I’m not just saying that because it was Gabs.
Afterwrads, in question time, John Manley asked a rather barbed question about the supposed toilet. Apparently he’s not that keen on laboratories.
After Gabs came old Mrs Chatwin with a fascinating talk about field systems. The tohers thought she was boring as they had no idea what she was talking about. My recent reading of The History of the Landscape had prepared me well and I understood it all. I thought she was great.
Afternoon tea followed and then, having saved the best for last, we had Dr Mark Gardiner, who talked about Saxon trade. He was superb, excellent style, presentation, a few jokes. A wonderful lecture.
Afterwards, we all piled into cars and hot wheeled over to Lewes.
We started off at the Lewes Arms (which, when using predictive text is the Lewd Arse) where we (Matt, Dawn and I) waited for the others to join us. From here it was a drunk stagger to Ask where we had pizza and red wine for tea.
Dawn was getting tired so I did the right thing and we left the others and drove home. During the trip, I managed to keep her awake by nattering and singing David Bowie songs.
After we left, Matt was drunk enough to fall over and John tried to get both of his fists into his mouth.
