Sara Champion Memorial Lecture: Traces of Touch
From The Observatory
Date
October 21, 2025
Location
Society of Antiquaries, London
Area
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Traces of Touch: From Palaeolithic Embodied Markings to Amazonian Decorated Hands
The 24th Sara Champion memorial lecture & Awards evening (online & in person)
This lecture explores the archaeology of touch through embodied markings: non-figurative, body-derived traces created through choreographed interaction with surfaces. From the gripping and grabbing impressions at Ardales and El Castillo to framed stencils at Pech Merle, each mark captures a moment of bodily gesture with place. In the Colombian Amazon, decorated handprints offer new perspectives on repetition and relationality—the hand itself becoming the canvas. Experimental replication—spraying pigment, decorating palms, testing paint mixtures and techniques—offers clues to posture and tactile engagement. Through them, we glimpse how people once visited caves as sensory, storied spaces.Agenda
4.30pm Presentation President’s Awards, Peter Clarke Award and the Student Dissertation Prizes.
5-5.45pm: Lecture
5.45-6.45pm: Wine reception.Key Speaker: Barbara Oosterwijk
Participants
The Prehistoric Society
Organizer, Host | Homepage
Established in 1935, the Prehistoric Society researches, protects and promotes the global archaeology of deep human history based on material evidence from the past.
The aims of the Prehistoric Society are to:
- Encourage and support high quality research
- Foster the skills and expertise needed to investigate prehistory
- Disseminate knowledge about our prehistoric past
- Raise awareness of the value of human prehistory
- Speak out for prehistoric heritage
