Description
In this issue:
– Secrets of Sutton Hoo: exploring the afterlife of a royal cemetery
– Fighting talk: searching for gladiators in Roman London
– After the Ice: exploring Britain 11,000-6,000 years ago
– Roman York’s burial club
– On the record: 20 years of the Treasure Act
Plus: News, Reviews, Comment, Sherds, Odd Socs, and more!
From the Editor:
The early medieval cemetery at Sutton Hoo has a long and complex history. Our cover feature explores how a royal burial ground was transformed into a grim place of execution; how interpretations of the site have evolved; and how its wider context traces the Anglo-Saxon story, from pagan immigrants to a Christian kingdom.
New arrivals to these shores were also a feature of the Mesolithic period, when, as Britain’s last Ice Age ended c.11,000 years ago, intrepid groups of humans from continental Europe repopulated the landscape.
From pioneering journeys to pioneering initiatives, this month we mark the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the Treasure Act, and the subsequent birth of the Portable Antiquities Scheme: revolutionary developments aimed at ensuring that finds can be properly recorded and the most important acquired for public collections.
It was also for the public good that Roman citizens pooled their resources to form ‘burial clubs’, cooperative funds for funerary expenses. Might a York cemetery shed further light on how poorer Romans were able to lay their loved ones to rest with dignity?
No such care had been shown to a man from Roman London whose skull was found in a pit near the city wall. His battle-scarred features led him to be interpreted as a possible gladiator; we look for traces of these famous fighters in the capital.
Finally, I would like to welcome two new members of the CA team – Joe Flatman, as a contributing editor, and Edward Biddulph, as books editor – and thank my predecessor, Dr Matthew Symonds, who now heads Current World Archaeology. I am excited to be following in his footsteps, and I hope you will enjoy walking with me.
Carly Hilts
Cover Date: Oct-2017, Volume 28 Issue 7