- The latest in a series of conferences arranged by Professor John Koch and Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe will be held on the 12th of April in Cardiff.
- On Saturday the 12th of April, a one-day multidisciplinary conference will explore aspects of later prehistory in Atlantic Europe and Celtic origins, bringing together experts in archaeology, historical linguistics, and genetics.
- The conference is part of an ongoing research project at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) entitled Atlantic Europe in the Metal Ages (AEMA): questions of shared language.
- Supported by a research grant from The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the three year project explores the archaeological background and development of language in Atlantic Europe (Britain, Ireland, northwest France, western Iberia) from 2900 BC to the arrival of Latin (AD 400). It aims to test the hypothesis that Celtic probably evolved from Indo-European in Atlantic Europe during the Bronze Age.
- The prestigious research team is being led by Professor John Koch at CAWCS, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, King's College London, Bangor University, and the National Library of Wales.
- Project leader Professor John Koch will open the conference with a talk on the current debate over whether the first attested language of western Europe, Tartessian, is a Celtic language and what this implies about where and when Celtic emerged.
- With a full programme, other speakers include Dr Marta Díaz-Guardamino Uribe (Southampton), Steve Hewitt (UNESCO, Paris), Laure Salanova (Paris-Ouest, CNRS), Dr Stuart Needham (National Museum of Wales), Professor William O’Brien (Cork), Professor Niall Sharples (Cardiff), Professor Raimund Karl (Bangor), Professor Martin Richards (Huddersfield), and Dr Peter Bray (Rhydychen/Oxford). The closing discussion will be led by Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe (Oxford).
- The conference will be held at Cardiff University in the Large Chemistry Lecture Theatre (1.123) in the Main Building.
