International Sachsensymposion in Canterbury
Organized by Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Archäologie der Sachsen und ihrer Nachbarvölker in Nordwesteuropa (Research network for the archaeological study of the Saxons and their neighbouring peoples in northwestern Europe) the 68th International Sachsensymposion was held on 2-6 September 2017 at the Canterbury Christ Church University. This influential group of scholars is concerned with the study of Late Antiquity and the origins of medieval Europe, with special focus on the →Migration Period. Having joined not so long ago we are proud to represent Poland as the only Slav state in this elite circle. The theme explored at this year’s conference was Lands and Seas. Post-Roman transitions and relations across the Channel, North Sea and Baltic worlds. More than two hundred attended this year, among them five members of the MPOV Project Team. Dr hab. Anna Bitner-Wróblewska and dr Marzena Przybyla presented a paper on Sösdala-Untersiebenbrunn Style: an inter-regional phenomenon?, dr hab. Bartosz Kontny discussed Maritime contacts across the Baltic Sea during the Roman and Migration Periods (1st–7th centuries AD) in the light of archaeological sources, prof. dr hab. Aleksander Bursche and prof. dr hab. Magdalena Mączyńska summarized in brief the outcomes of the MPOV Project in their presentation The Migration Period between the Oder and the Vistula Project — final report. All three papers sparked a lively discussion of Symposion participants. At the meeting of the Sachsensymposion board, two new members from Poland were presented by their Polish colleagues: dr hab. Judyta Rodzińska-Nowak, Jagiellonian University in Cracow, and Bartłomiej Rogalski, National Museum in Szczecin.
