Hidden Histories Tour & Talk with Professor Lizzy Craig-Atkins

Discover stories of the people buried at Sheffield General Cemetery who lived and died in the workhouse, those who suffered in the Great Sheffield Flood, and those who suffered from the cholera epidemic.

Tour Details

This tour will not take you to the beautiful and impressive gravestones and monuments within Sheffield General Cemetery, but it will tell you about some of the women, men and children whose lives were just as important, many of whom contributed to the continued success of society at the time through their hard work and resilience.

Trigger Warning: Please be aware this tour discusses some difficult themes, such as child loss and death, mental health and ill-treatment.

Talk Details

Professor Lizzy Craig Atkins will deliver a talk entitled ‘Revealing Hidden Histories: Integrating archaeological and historical evidence to explore family, work and leisure in the 18th and 19th centuries’. Exploring the range of evidence that historians and archaeologists use to write hidden histories – from skeletons excavated in cemeteries to newspaper small ads – and the questions these sources enable us to answer about everyday life in the 18th-19th centuries in cities like Sheffield. Lizzy will use three case studies from her recent book The material body: embodiment, history and archaeology in industrialising England, 1700-1850 that relate to histories of family, work and leisure: an investigation of a group of burials of infants that opens up an investigation of maternity and pregnancy; how the study of bones alongside archives can reveal the impact of labour on the body; and how studying teeth can change how we think about smoking habits.

Lizzy Craig-Atkins is professor of human osteology in the School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities at the University of Sheffield. She is a human osteologist and funerary archeologist interested in the ways analysis of human skeletons from archaeological sites can reveal the everyday lives and experiences of people in the UK over the last 1,000 years. Lizzy has studied thousands of skeletons from excavations mostly located in the north of England, exploring questions about infancy, maternity, childhood, disability and day to day life. She is particularly interested in the reconstruction of lived experience and embodiment – what the body can tell us about people’s experiences, and how people experienced their bodies through actions and feelings. This talk is based on a recent project in which Lizzy worked closely with a group of archaeologists and historians to explore how working collaboratively to weave our two sources of evidence about the past  – the archaeological and historical records – can lead to richer narratives of working class life during the industrial period in England.

This tour is for adults 18+ only.

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?
No need to bring your ticket – we will have your name on a list and you can be checked in when you arrive.

What are my transport/parking options for getting to and from the event?
On street parking is available on and around Cemetery Avenue close to the Gatehouse entrance. Nearest bus stops are on Ecclesall Road – Collegiate Crescent stop.

T&Cs

Tickets for this event are non-refundable. However, if for any reason the event is cancelled by Sheffield General Cemetery Trust, we will refund your ticket. If you have bought a ticket but are unable to attend the event, please contact [email protected] so we can try to reallocate it. This is a volunteer-led fundraising event for Sheffield General Cemetery Trust and proceeds go to fund the charitable aims of the Trust.