The Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society, (or IOTAS), has existed under this name since 1988, although it was previously known as Isle of Thanet Archaeological Unit. The Society aims to promote the history and archaeology of the Isle of Thanet to residents of Thanet and to anyone living in anywhere in the world who knows Thanet and would like to keep up with archaeological developments here and t
he rest of Kent. We are a Registered Charity, No.275659 and are affiliated to the Kent Archaeological Society. In normal times we spread the word by organising regular talks, outings, visits and events to provide information on local archaeology, and from time to time our links with other archaeological organisations in the area provide us with opportunities we can offer to members to get hands-on with real archaeological digs and finds processing. As you can imagine, our activities, which also include social events like Wine and Wisdom evenings and a Christmas get-together, have been much curtailed since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. However in Summer and Autumn of 2021 we managed to organise a members’ visit to the excavations of the Roman Amphitheatre at Richborough Roman Fort, a bespoke St Peter’s Tour, two talks, one on the archaeological discoveries of Antoinette Powell-Cotton, daughter of Sir Percy Powell-Cotton, founder of the museum at Quex Park, and the other by Andrew Richardson on Anglo-Saxon Burials. For some years we have also run an Archaeological Studies Course on various topics, and finally managed to finish a course which started in 2018 and was postponed to autumn 2021! We are currently working on our monthly Programme for 2022 which we are hoping to begin with our AGM in March and have ideas in mind already. It will of course depend on what Covid allows, but if you have any suggestions/ideas for topics for talks, queries, or even better, if you’d like to join our Society, please contact us by email on [email protected]. Or message us on Facebook giving your email address or a phone number and we promise to get back to you very soon!
