Bringing Libya’s Past to the Screen – Ancient Adventures: Libya
2026-03-27 18:30 - 21:00 UTC | The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH, London, United Kingdom
This exclusive event will bring Cyrenaica’s rich and varied archaeological landscapes to the screen, from monumental Classical cities to fragile and threatened coastal settlements. The film was produced through a major international collaboration between History Hit, MarEA (Maritime Endangered Archaeology, Ulster University), the World Monuments Fund, the University of Benghazi, and the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund.
Presented by historian Dan Snow and producer-director Bill Locke, the documentary offers a rare and compelling journey through Libya’s past. Viewers are taken to iconic sites such as Cyrene and Apollonia, where urban planning, architecture, and maritime infrastructure reveal Libya’s central role in the ancient Mediterranean world.
Alongside these celebrated centres, the film also foregrounds lesser-known sites that are essential for understanding everyday life, long-term coastal occupation, and human engagement with dynamic maritime environments. A particular focus is placed on Al Haniyah, a modest but archaeologically significant coastal settlement currently under severe threat from erosion and modern development. We are especially pleased to highlight that research at Al Haniyah is being undertaken in collaboration with a member of the BILNAS Council, and that BILNAS funding directly supported the archaeological work that enabled filming at the site.
This screening therefore reflects not only an engaging documentary project, but also BILNAS’s active role in supporting research, documentation, and the responsible public communication of Libya’s endangered heritage.
We are delighted that producer-director Bill Locke will be present at the screening and will share reflections on his experiences of filming in Libya, offering personal insights into its archaeological landscapes and his impressions of this remarkable country.
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REGISTER HERE via Eventbrite
The film is followed by drinks and Libyan food, so we ask members and the public to kindly make a small contribution; students can attend for free.

Call for Papers for the “Ottoman Mobilities and Interactions” Symposium, 13-14 April 2026 Istanbul, Türkiye
2026-04-13 09:00 - 2026-04-14 17:00
Call for Papers
BILNAS, as part of the British International Research Institutes (BIRI), and in partnership with Sabancı University, invite paper proposals for a symposium organised as part of the “Ottoman Mobilities and Interactions” project.
Join us for this collaborative symposium “Ottoman Mobilities and Interactions” from Monday 13 to Tuesday 14 April 2026, in Istanbul, Türkiye.
📆 Please note: the Deadline for submissions has been extended to FRIDAY 23 January 2026.
ℹ️ For more information please follow this link to the BIAA website
Ottoman era research may explore themes including:
Sacred Mobilities & Interactions
Material Culture in Motion
Labour & Expertise
Displacement & Coercion
Governance of Mobilities
Technologies of Movement
Spatial Politics
Knowledge & Culture in Transit
Urban & Rural Flows
Check details and download the Call for Papers here. Submission deadline is January 23, 2026.

Scaling up Heritage Monitoring in Libya: Fieldwork, Remote Sensing, and Training – with Ahmed Mahmoud, Muftah Alhaddad and Ahmed Buzaian
2026-04-16 17:00 - 20:00
Archaeological sites worldwide face growing threats, increasing pressure on heritage managers to monitor and protect them, especially in remote areas. This talk presents the EAMENA Machine Learning Automated Change Detection (MLACD) tool, which uses satellite imagery and machine learning to detect disturbances near known sites. Results were validated through four field surveys by Libyan Department of Antiquities teams across Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fazzan. Key threats identified include urban expansion, vegetation growth, looting and dumping. By combining remote sensing with field verification, this approach offers an efficient and reliable framework for monitoring and safeguarding archaeological heritage.
This event will take place online via the Zoom platform: REGISTER HERE
About the Speakers:
Ahmed Mahmoud
Ahmed Mahmoud is a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. He holds a PhD in Remote Sensing and GIS from the University of Nottingham.
Muftah Alhddad
Muftah Alhddad is a Libyan archaeologist and professor of Archaeology and Ancient History at Az-Zaytuna University. His current research interests include the archaeology of Roman Tripolitania, ceramic production and typology, the development of a spatial-database for Libya’s cultural heritage and applying Machine Learning Automated Change Detection (MLACD) technology to detect threats and risks on archaeological sites.
Ahmed Buzaian
Ahmed Buzaian is an Assistant Professor of Archaeology who earned his PhD from the University of Leicester in 2019. His research interests include the Roman economy, field archaeology and excavation techniques, post-excavation analysis, and endangered archaeology, with a particular focus on North Africa.

Preserving the Past, Envisioning the Future: Libya’s Heritage in Focus
2026-04-21 14:00 - 17:30 | King’s College London, Macadam Building MB4.2, Macadam Building, Surrey Street, London, WC2R 2NS, United Kingdom
We are pleased to invite you to attend ‘Preserving the Past, Envisioning the Future: Libya’s Heritage in Focus’, a collaborative workshop organised by BILNAS along with MarEA and King’s College London, and dedicated to exploring Libya’s rich archaeological and cultural heritage.
This event brings together Libyan and international specialists working across research, heritage protection, and community engagement. It discusses projects funded by the Cultural Protection Fund (CPF), BILNAS initiatives, and ALIPH-supported work, to explore current projects and future directions, offering a platform to reflect on shared challenges and innovative responses, from capacity building and documentation to community engagement and sustainable management.
Click here to RESERVE YOUR PLACE via Eventbrite
The afternoon will conclude with a drinks reception. It is open to all and we warmly encourage colleagues, students and anyone with an interest in Libyan heritage to join us for this opportunity to engage with ongoing work and future directions in the field.
Click here to view the Event Programme

Volcanic Ash Layers (Tephra) to Link Archaeological and Climate Records in North West Africa by Dr Danielle McLean
2026-05-14 17:00 - 19:00
Archaeological sites in NW Africa are rich in human fossils and artefacts, emerging at the forefront of evolutionary studies. However, these records are difficult to underpin by a detailed chronology, preventing assessments of the timing/causes of cultural/behavioural transitions.
Investigations reveal numerous volcanic ash layers (commonly known as tephra) are interbedded within the Palaeolithic sequences, and are likely to have originated from large volcanic eruption in the Atlantic (e.g., the Azores and Canary Islands). Critically these widespread ash layers are also preserved in offshore marine records, meaning the ash can be used as chronological markers to compare the archaeological and climate sequences.
This presentation outlines the project investigations undertaken to establish the eruptive history of the source volcanoes in the North Atlantic and the detailed work undertaken to capitalise on the use of widespread tephra layers.
REGISTER HERE
About the Speaker

Dr Danielle McLean is a postdoctoral researcher in the Oxford Tephrochronology Research Group at the School of Archaeology. In 2021 she received a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship to assess the opportunities of using widespread volcanic ash layers to link archaeological and climate records in Northwest Africa. This fellowship ran in conjunction with the Leverhulme-funded CAVES Africa Project which examines the potential impact of climate change on early modern humans over the last 300,000 years. This work was also supported by BILNAS which funded fieldwork and publication opportunities for several of the CAVES group members.
