On the 13th of November, we welcomed Professor Hella Eckardt to the St Dominic’s, a distinguished expert and Roman archaeologist from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Reading.

Professor Eckardt has published extensively on a wide array of topics, with a particular focus on the material culture of Roman Britain and the provinces of the Roman Empire. Perhaps most important, have been Professor Hella Eckardt's important contributions towards our understanding of Roman lighting technology as well as her contributions to the field of migration studies in Roman Britain.

In recognition of this outstanding research and for efforts in outreach and the promotion of archaeology to the wider-public, Professor Eckardt was awarded the prestigious title of ‘Archaeologist of the Year 2018' by Current Archaeology.

Students from Classics, Art History and Archaeology enrichment were fortunate enough to hear about some of Professor Eckardt's excellent research on ethnicity and migration in Roman Britain. This was followed by some inciteful questions asked by St Dominic’s students and answered by Professor Eckardt, who commended the quality and range of questions asked.

At the end of the talk Professor Hella Eckardt came to look at the on-going excavation of our 16th Century Spanish Armada Beacon tower, and students explained in great detail what had been discovered so far from the three test-pits on our site. Once again, Professor Eckardt praised the efforts and professionalism of the students working on the 40^th Anniversary archaeological excavation and the meticulous nature of their current and on-going work (photographs below). 

Louis Leeves, Head of Classics and Coordinator of Archaeological Enrichment