Over the last 300 years, a handful of enamelled bronze vessels, most of which are thought to depict Hadrian’s Wall and in some cases are inscribed with the names of forts along its line, have been discovered in Britain and on the Continent. With a sixth example newly unearthed in Spain, Carly Hilts explores what these 2nd-century ‘souvenirs’ can tell us about Roman responses to their northern frontier.
The Egyptian mission excavating in North Sinai at Tell el-Farma – the site of the ancient border fortress of Pelusium – has uncovered a huge circular complex thought to be the remains
The remains of a Coptic monastery have been discovered by an Egyptian mission at Wadi el-Natrun, in Beheira Governorate. The structure, which dates from the 4th to the 6th centuries AD, sheds
In last month’s column, I examined a series of sites associated with William the Conqueror and the legacy of the Norman Conquest. One of these was Westminster Abbey, which I will now cover in more detail, alongside two other major church buildings
that regularly feature in Current Archaeology: St Paul’s Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral.
Rising high above the floor of the Taff Valley, north of Cardiff, the conical towers of Castell Coch are a familiar sight to travellers driving along the A470. The Victorian architect William Burges designed the castle for the 3rd Marquess of Bute between 1875 and 1881, resulting in a masterpiece of High Victorian romanticism.
A study of human remains from two cemeteries in Bulgaria, all buried with distinctively ‘Gothic’ jewellery, brooches, and belt buckles, suggests that the ancient Goths were ethnically diverse and not a single homogeneous community.
Ritual practices have been part of human life for almost as long as we can trace archaeological remains. The supernatural and inexplicable attract, excite, and worry people, with religion and its associated rituals being one of the main ways through which humans try to make sense of the world, create structure, and seek support
Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Britain all produced their versions of the type, such as the Bf 110, Potez 630, Fokker G.I, and the Beaufighter.
In this issue, Dr Campbell Price describes an intriguing Predynastic artefact in the Brooklyn Museum.
On Saturday 4 May 1471 the ‘Wars of the Roses’ came to a head at Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. The Yorkist army commanded by Edward IV and his brother, the future Richard III, chased
For this issue, Dr Campbell Price chooses a beautifully painted object from the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Almost every TV costume drama begins with the sound of horses’ hooves and the rumble of carriage wheels as members of the cast arrive at some stately home or other, ready for
Campbell Price describes some beautifully preserved ancient Egyptian footwear.
The life of Wyndham Halswelle – Olympic athlete and soldier in the Second Boer War and Second World War.
What are they? Each of these two modified tiger shark teeth was once part of a handled knife. They were found in contexts dated to 7,000-5,000 years ago, associated with the Toalean
Summer is in full swing, bringing with it the promise of long, bright days under the shining sun. This all-powerful celestial body has long been linked with kingship: Louis XIV of France,
Ancient Britain was known to the Mediterranean world. The Greeks called the island Pretannia, but the Romans named it Britannia, and made it part of their empire. The term ‘Britannia’ therefore figures
In 1906, local inhabitants were dismantling a structure at the site in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula for building materials when they uncovered a 13m- long wall emblazoned with brightly painted reliefs, thought to date to around AD 600-700.
Following in the footsteps of Harkhuf, desert explorer Mahmoud Marai discovers – along with his colleague Mark Borda – an inscription at Gebel Uweinat that sheds light on the whereabouts of the fabled kingdom.
In the first of two articles interrogating ancient medical papyri, Ira Rampil investigates the use of herbal remedies to help relieve pain.
Julian Heath recounts the remarkable discoveries made by a French mining engineer and archaeologist.
Why were dozens of people from Roman York coated with liquid gypsum as part of their funerary rites? An ongoing interdisciplinary project at the University of York is exploring this enigmatic practice and the wealth of evidence that it preserves about the individuals who were buried in this way. Carly Hilts spoke to the initiative’s Principal Investigator Professor Maureen Carroll to learn more.
As the oldest antiquarian organisation in Scotland, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland has been deeply involved in documenting the nation’s past for almost 250 years. Deborah Roe is our guide to this rich history, and to ambitious plans for the Society’s future.
One of the most important surviving Anglo-Saxon royal seals, belonging to Edward the Confessor, was thought to be lost after it went missing 40 years ago. CA reports on newly published research which describes the circumstances of the object’s rediscovery and offers illuminating insights into its innovative imagery.
The Outer Hebrides are home to over 170 crannogs (small, human-made islands), some of which are proving to be much earlier in date than suspected. Recently published research centred on Loch Bhorgastail has shed detailed light on the make-up of one such site, and has also pioneered an innovative new approach to documenting its above- and underwater remains. CA reports.
Currently home to the National Museum of Flight, RAF East Fortune near Edinburgh is one of the UK’s best-preserved Second World War airfields. Re-examination of finds from previous excavations, on the site, as well as new evidence from recent field observations, has shed light on its long military history, as Dr Matteo Randazzo and Olivia Jones report.
Study of ivory use in the early medieval world is revealing fresh insights into how this material was viewed. The results have important implications for our understanding of the scale of the trade, and its impact on the elephants it exploited, as Rowan S English and Julia Steding explain.
Study of the monuments at Jelling has revealed much about an extraordinary royal complex in 10th-century Denmark. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, Rowan S English, and Rubina Raja explore the evolution of the site.
Roman sieges could come with serious consequences for besieged and besiegers alike. Mike Dobson examines the evidence for such warfare in Hispania and Gaul.
In the second part of our special, Stephen Roberts focuses on the little-known battle whose appalling casualty rate laid down a marker for the Somme.
Infographics: Amy Brunskill / Images: public domain, National Army Museum, Canadian War Museum
As thousands died on WWI’s Western Front, a young officer by the name of T E Lawrence was among those fighting a very different war in the Middle East. Here, Nicholas Saunders reveals how a British-backed uprising proved a turning point in history.
No episode of Spain’s bloody and brutal Civil War is more swathed in myth than the siege of Toledo’s historic Alcázar. Ninety years on, Nigel Jones tells its story.
One of the most talked-about battles in US history took place 150 years ago this summer. Here, Fred Chiaventone identifies some common misunderstandings about Custer’s Last Stand.
In the final part of our series on the coming of the Cold War, Taylor Downing examines the struggle for nuclear domination.
Ninth-century Carolingian coins from the reigns of Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald are not the sort of objects you would expect to find on a remote farm on the Isle of Anglesey, so, when metal-detectorists began reporting these and other exceptional artefacts from the early medieval period, the National Museum of Wales (now Amgueddfa Cymru) sent Mark Redknap, then Curator of Medieval and Later Archaeology, to investigate. Between 1994 and 2012, Mark led ten seasons of fieldwork on the site, revealing the remains of a trading settlement with a form unparalleled in Wales. With the full report recently published, Chris Catling describes its key findings.
In 2017, excavations revealed an unusual Bronze Age burial alongside other signs of ceremonial activity spanning thousands of years. With some of the grave goods now on display, CA returns to the story of the Lechlade ‘chieftain’.
In 2021, an archaeological household name returned to our (computer) screens, as Time Team relaunched on YouTube. Carly Hilts visited the team at their first dig of 2026 and spoke to the show’s creator and Executive Producer Tim Taylor about how technology gave the show new life – and could transform the future of how archaeological stories are told.
