Community archaeology and the discovery of an ancient Roman palace

This talk with Dr Kris Lockyear explores the techniques used to discover an ancient Roman palace in Hertfordshire.
About the lecture
The Community Archaeology Geophysics Group was created in 2013 as part of a jointly-authored research project that saw UCL and a group of local archaeological societies come together to undertake geophysical surveys on sites in Hertfordshire.
This talk introduces the group, and the techniques it uses before going on to show some fascinating discoveries. At the Roman city of Verulamium, St Albans, Hertfordshire the group have traced the line of the town aqueduct, found many small and large houses and, perhaps the highlight, found a previously unknown "palace” in 2022.
About the Speaker
Dr Kris Lockyear
Senior Lecturer at Institute of Archaeology
Kris Lockyear joined a local archaeological society as a schoolboy before going on to study archaeology at university and work as a professional field technician. In 1996 he joined the staff of the Institute of Archaeology as post-doctoral research fellow and went on to become a lecturer. He has always, however, remained involved in “community archaeology” becoming Director of the Welwyn Archaeological Society in 2009. Kris developed an interest in geophysical survey techniques as an undergraduate undertaking Earth Resistance surveys for his dissertation. Geophysical survey has become one of his main research interests and working with CAGG has allowed him to pursue his passion for community archaeology, geophysics and the archaeology of Hertfordshire.