Programme of Lectures

We run a mixture of online and in-person lectures. The in-person lectures are held at the Sonning Common Village Hall (location map) at 7.30 pm (unless stated otherwise) and are open to all, although donations at the door are appreciated.

For the online meetings SOAG members will be sent an invitation to register for the meeting in an email and/or in SOAG Messenger, our newsletter. Non members who wish to attend should email events@soagarch.org.uk to receive registration details.

2026 Lecture Series

• Thursday February 5th 2026 (online only via Zoom)
  Lecture by: Dr. Amy Styring (University of Oxford)
  Topic: ‘What chemistry can tell us about the human past’
• Thursday March 5th 2026
  Lecture by: Professor Martin Bell (University of Reading)
  Topic: ‘The Long Man of Wilmington’
• Thursday April 2nd 2026
  SOAG AGM then
  Lecture by: Francesca Giarelli (Red River Archaeology)
  Topic: ‘Discoveries at the Roman Landscape in Grove’

• Thursday May 28th 2026
  Lecture by: Adrian Cox National Trust Archaeologist
  Topic: ‘Excavations at Greys Court’

• Thursday October 1st 2026
  Lecture by: Professor Gary Locke
  Topic: ‘Becoming Roman in Oxfordshire – Excavations at Marcham and Frilford’
• Thursday November 5th 2026
  Lecture by: Dr Lucy-Ann Taylor
  Topic: ‘Medieval musical instruments from bone’ – wth demonstrations
• Thursday December 3rd 2026 
  Review of SOAG Archaeology (by SOAG members) and Christmas Social

Summer visits

Visits are organized to places of archaeological and historical interest and are open to SOAG members and their guests.  They are usually organised as private tours with the site experts as our guides. The tours are also social occasions for SOAG members often incorporating a pub lunch. We also organise archaeology walks in South Oxfordshire for SOAG members.  

The first visit this year is to Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire on Tuesday May 12th. This will include a private tour. The tour will introduce the five main time periods – Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon – and will last from 1.5 to 2 hours. It will explain the archaeology behind their experimental buildings and the evidence that informs each reconstruction. There will be plenty of time for questions. Members can then stay all day and revisit the buildings at their own speed. More details are available in the April 2026 copy of Messenger.

Other Events

See the SOAG calendar for a diary listing of all SOAG events including fieldwork.