Description
Highlights:
- A Victorian rock garden: Celebrating ‘dahlia-mania’ at Stonehenge
- Uncovering a lost landscape: The archaeology of Llanddwyn Island
- Ad Gefrin: Distilling the spirit of Northumbria’s Golden Age
- Avalon Archaeology: A new open air archaeological museum in Somerset
- Rooted in the future: A cultural ecology of the Sycamore Gap tree
- The tale of a tree: An archaeological history of Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall
- Alternative views: Exploring ‘icons’ of the Hadrian’s Wall landscape
Our cover story travels to Llanddwyn Island, off the coast of Anglesey, where archaeologists have been documenting traces of two remote and self-sufficient communities: a medieval monastery, and the lighthouse keepers and their families who overlooked the Menai Strait in more recent centuries. We next travel to Stonehenge to share a little-known episode of this world-famous monument’s past: the colourful dahlia festivals that saw crowds of up to 10,000 people flocking to the site in the 1840s.
Eagle-eyed readers might spot that we don’t have a museum or exhibition review this month; this is because two of our features focus on recently opened heritage attractions. The first is Ad Gefrin in Northumberland, which tells the story of the early medieval kingdom of Northumbria and the royal centre at Yeavering; the other is Avalon Archaeology, an innovative open-air museum in Somerset.
You will also doubtless have seen the sad news about the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree. We have taken this as a springboard to explore three different perspectives: how ideas of ‘iconic’ views of Hadrian’s Wall have changed over time, the archaeological context of the tree itself, and how its loss can help us to reflect on current environmental issues.
Finally, tickets are now on sale for the next Current Archaeology Live! – join us in London on 24 February for our annual conference, featuring a full day of talks from leading experts about the latest discoveries and research. See http://www.archaeology.co.uk/live for more information.
Cover Date: Dec-2023, Volume 34 Issue 9
