In 2026 UCL IoA will be carrying out excavations on an area of land to the east of Aveley Lane, Alpheton, Suffolk (NGR 587619 249357). Roman material has been recovered from the field since the 1980s. Metal detecting and fieldwalking has produced coins and pottery dating from the mid-1st to the 4th century. Trenches in 1989 and 1992 identified various ditches and pits, and large quantities of Roman finds including evidence for a villa-type building, mainly from the brow of the hill. Further excavations were carried out by a local amateur history group in 2018 and in 2025 by UCL. The 2025 campaign opened three areas exposing a bath house, an aisled building and linear enclosure ditches. See report of findings here: https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/ai/article/id/3697/

The 2026 campaign will return to the bath house and aisled building, as well as opening trenches over a large building lying outside and to the east of the enclosure, close to the river, and on the southern boundary of the villa. The project will be directed by Stuart Brookes, supported by experienced IOA and ASE staff. During the field school participants will be equipped with essential excavation and survey skills. These skills are benchmarked against those outlined in the CiFA Archaeology Skills Passport.

Please also see the more "Information Tab"

Please note that you must complete the UCL IOA Health & Safety & Dietary requirement form.

Unravelling the Palaeolithic 2026 will take place at the UCL Institute of Archaeology on Friday 19^th and Saturday 20^th June. This is an ECR and student lead conference with a history of showcasing excellence in research around Palaeolithic Archaeology, Palaeoanthropology and related fields.

Registration covers the full two days of the conference including all podium and poster presentations.

Included in the cost of registration are refreshments provided during morning and afternoon breaks, lunch (if stated), and a drinks reception on the Friday evening.

Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and UCL are co-hosting a two-day conference on the archaeology and history of Zīrid Ifrīqiya and its role in the Islamic world at UCL on May 28th and 29th 2026. 

The Zīrids (972-1148), a Berber Sanhaja dynasty, were the first of the great Berber dynasties to rule North Africa with their reach extending from the Maghrib al-Aqṣā to Cyrenaica at times. Yet unlike the Almoravids and Almohads, Zīrid Ifrīqiya has not received sustained scholarly attention since Hady Roger Idris’s (1962) landmark history which notably overlooked material culture. This neglect is explained, in part, by the enduring power of the (much contested) ‘Hilali myth’ and Ibn Khaldun’s vivid descriptions of widespread destruction of settlements, agriculture and trade networks by the Banū Hilāl tribes, and, in part, by a tendency to view North Africa as a cultural backwater whose artistic production was derivative of Fatimid Cairo or Umayyad Cordoba. However, Zīrid Ifrīqiya was no periphery. At the crossroads of the Mediterranean and the Sahara, the region – and its peoples – played a central role in transregional political, economic, craft and scholarly networks in the fragmented but increasingly connected world of the 10th-12th centuries.

Training in techniques of bioarchaeological study using the human remains from ancient cemeteries on the small Greek island of Astypalaia.  The earliest burials date from about 750 BC and the latest AD 100, so the cemeteries include burials from Late Geometric, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman contexts.  Our work centres on the very large children's cemetery which provides a unique opportunity for bioarchaeological research and training. 

The 2026 field school begins on July 1 and we will work six days per week until July 30.  All teaching takes place in the laboratory.  The first week will be spent on intensive training in the methods required.  For the remainder of the time, students build their experience through supervised work in the laboratory and learn to place the project in its wider context through discussions and lectures. 

For further details please see the "More Info" Tab regarding details of the Island of Astypalaia and the childrens cemetery where the Field School will be held.