This year’s Medieval Pottery Research Group (MPRG) conference has been organised jointly with the Centre for Historical Archaeology and the University of Leicester. Lorraine Mepham of WA has been acting for MPRG to help set up the conference programme. The conference is on the subject of ‘Ceramics and Drink’, and will take place at the University of Leicester on 2 and 3 June 2017.
Ceramic containers were a preferred way of producing, storing, transforming, and consuming liquid beverages, and form a significant part of archaeological assemblages across Europe in the medieval and post-medieval periods. They are associated with a wide range of human activity from large-scale transnational trade, to ceremonial consumption, to intimate daily rituals within the home. This conference aims to explore the important social and economic roles that were filled by the ceramics of drink.
The programme features an excellent line-up of speakers, whose topics include post-medieval London pub assemblages, Lithuanian drinking innovations, Roman Catholic tea-drinkers in the Netherlands, Cambridge coffee houses and Portuguese water containers. There will also be practical demonstrations led by expert potter John Hudson. All are welcome to attend the conference, whether specialist or non-specialist - you can download the programme and registration form here