The Late Antiquity Research Group (LARG)

Purpose -- Location and Administrative Status -- Specific Interests of Members -- Organisation -- Membership of UK-Based Scholars -- Membership for Scholars working outside the UK -- Activities and Services to Members -- Links to WWW supersites relevant to late antiquity --

Purpose

LARG was established in 1996 for the coordination and promotion of archaeological and related work by scholars based in the UK on A.D. 300-700 in Europe and the Middle East. It concentrates on the Roman and Byzantine realms and those areas closely connected with them, but also includes other areas from Ireland to the Caucasus, and from Scandinavia to the Sahara. LARG is intended both to become a research organization itself and a research group for scholars working on their own projects and pursuing their own programmes of work.
 
 


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Location and administrative status:

LARG is based at the University of Reading, but is an autonomous organization and not a part of that university. Its staff are, however, located within the University, and its meetings held there.
 

Specific interests of members

Special interests of members include Byzantine archaeology; the archaeology of late Roman and sub-Roman Britain, Gaul, Spain and Italy; early Russia; church archaeology; ceramics; urban archaeology; burial, and the late Roman economy, but there is a wide range of other interests and specialisms represented among the existing membership.
 

Organisation

LARG has two permanent officials: a chair and an academic secretary. The chair is responsible for research, the general programme, fieldwork and consultancy issues, and overseas relations. The academic secretary is responsible for UK membership, organisational issues and meetings. The chair and secretary are both appointed on a permanent basis, and are based at Reading.

The current chair is K.R.Dark (K.R.Dark@reading.ac.uk) and the academic secretary secretary is A.L.Harris (A.L.Harris@reading.ac.uk).
 
 




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Membership for UK-based scholars

It is possible for scholars based in anywhere in the UK to become members of LARG, and a substantial membership already exists. Correspondence regarding membership should be addressed to:

A.L.Harris Late Antiquity Research Group Faculty of Letters Whiteknights Reading RG6 6AA UK

Or emailed to the address given above for the academic secretary.

Membership is open to specialists in the archaeology of the period concerned, and it is also possible for postgraduate students to become members, if they are working on closely relevant subjects. All membership is currently free of charge.
 
 

Membership for scholars working outside the UK

Although full membership is restricted to scholars based in the UK, professional archaeologists, art historians and historians working elsewhere can become affiliated to LARG:

An Overseas Fellowship Programme, whereby overseas scholars and research centres will have formal reciprocal links with LARG. This programme has proved very successful, and is helping us to establish a global network of research contacts. These, in turn, will help form the basis of international collaborative work in this field in future, and establish new research links.

Nominations for individuals to be included the programme by universities, departments, archaeological research centres, or other professional bodies should sent directly to:

K.R.Dark Late Antiquity Research Group Faculty of Letters Whiteknights Reading RG6 6AA UK
 
 




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Activities and services to members:

LARG holds bimonthly research seminars, at the University of Reading. At these, a member presents the latest results of their current work. These are open to all members and affiliates free of charge and offer an opportunity to discuss important new members free of charge and offer an opportunity to discuss important new research prior to publication.

LARG can provide assistance to overseas affiliates in finding research partners in the UK, or in establishing joint projects. LARG will, on request, also try to answer specific queries from members and overseas affiliates regarding current research in this field in the UK.

All LARG members pursue their own research and are potentially also capable of providing mutual assistance (within the framework of LARG) on a very extensive series of academic issues. Contact regarding this should be made via the chair.

The possibility of a combined research programme between LARG members is presently being examined, although this may depend on the acquisition of external funding. Suggestions for joint fieldwork projects with overseas organizations and individuals are especially welcome, if funding or adequate resources are already available for them.

LARG is also able to offer members and affiliates advice and suggestions regarding planned work of their own and help establish new relationships between researchers in different parts of the UK. It can act as a framework organization or academic sponsor for establishing joint projects between scholars working in the UK and researchers elsewhere. It must be stressed, however, that LARG is not be a funding organisation, and offers no direct financial support to either members or overseas fellows.
 
 




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Links to WWW supersites relevant to late antiquity

  • RomanSites
  • Romarch
  • Pomoerium- Kentuky Classics- Electronic Resources for Classicists -Rassegna - - Cl&MedArch
  • Society for Late Antiquity
  • SPBS - OxfordByzSoc- USAByzStudConf
  • Byzantine and Medieval Studies Sites
  • LateAntiqueUrbanism at the University of Nottingham

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    Site Editor : Luke Lavan, University of Nottingham: email acylal@hermes.nottingham.ac.uk

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    Late Antique stadium to amphitheatre conversion at Aphrodisias, Turkey


     















     
     




    Base of a Late Antique Governor's Statute, the Embolos, Ephesus, Turkey

    Editor: Luke Lavan : Last Updated 25/11/98