Friday 15 July, 2016 - Saturday 16 July, 2016
East Meets West – The Archaeology of Obsidian & Flint
On the 15th and 16th of July a series of events in Thetford and the surrounding regions are taking place to mark the formal twinning of Grimes Graves Neolithic flint mines with the Hoshikuso Obsidian Mines in Japan. This series of events is being organised by Melissa Hawker (Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life, part of Norfolk Museums Service), Jan Summerfield (English Heritage), and Simon Kaner (The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures).
On Friday 15th July a conference bringing together specialists on the archaeology of flint and obsidian will take place in Thetford. ’East Meets West: the archaeology of obsidian and flint’ will explore commonalities and differences in approaches to these resources between Europe and Japan and consider how a comparative approach can enhance our understanding of lithic technologies in both regions.
Guests speakers include
Dr Simon KANER (Sainsbury Institute and University of East Anglia, Norwich)
Peter TOPPING (University of Newcastle)
Professor SATO Hiroyuki (University of Tokyo, Japan)
Professor ONO Akira (Former Director of the Center for Obsidian and Lithic Studies, Meiji University, Japan)
Dr Nick ASHTON (The British Museum)
Professor YAJIMA Kunio (Meiji University, Japan)
Full details of the conference are provided here.
A family fun day will then take place on 16th July. Activities taking place will include flint and obsidian knapping demonstrations and ‘Japanese Neolithic cooking’. To find out more please see the following website for details.
Coverage of the event in the Eastern Daily Press