Current Archaeology 439
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Current Archaeology’s September Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home
There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there is a variety of resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Staffa’s past signatures: Uncovering the hidden human history of a celebrated Scottish island
A small team of archaeologists has been undertaking research into the island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides. Camping for a few days at a time over a number of years, they have carried out both survey and excavation work. Derek Alexander, Daniel Rhodes, Stuart Jeffrey, Tessa Poller, and Siân Jones describe the results of these efforts to date.
Bacon Hole: Rediscovering Britain’s forgotten Ice Age cave art
Hidden within the limestone cliffs of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales is a cave that has witnessed dramatic changes in climate, landscape, and human history. Bacon Hole, overlooking what is today the Bristol Channel, is home to one of the most intriguing and controversial stories in British prehistoric archaeology. It is a story that began more than a century ago with the discovery of possible Ice Age paintings, continued through decades of doubt, and has now been reopened through modern scientific investigation. George Nash explains.
Finds Tray: Lead toy figurine
This is a small toy figurine dating to between AD 1550 and 1700, recently found by a metal-detectorist near Azerley in North Yorkshire. Measuring approximately 4cm by 2cm (1.6in by 0.8in) and
Science Notes: Sensing the future of ceramic conservation
We often write in ‘Science Notes’ about how technology is revolutionising many aspects of archaeology, but this column rarely touches on conservation. This is one of the areas, however, where technological advances
Oscar Wilde’s room rediscovered at Brighton hotel
The hotel suite in which Oscar Wilde stayed shortly before his arrest for gross indecency has been rediscovered during recent archaeological work at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton. The room was
Interpreting signs of child abuse in excavated remains
While research is increasingly looking at the experience of children in the past, this is still an under-researched area, and in terms of children’s exposure to violence, while cases of exceptional mass
New excavations shed light on Shropshire marsh-fort
The first excavations at Wall Camp in more than 40 years have revealed new evidence for how Iron Age communities built and used one of Britain’s most unusual wetland enclosures. Archaeologists and
UK news in brief
Bronze Age sword discovered by divers at Salcombe A rare Bronze Age sword has been discovered by divers Becky Gill and Catherine Gill from the South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG) while
Grave concerns: Exploring the history of the British cemetery and its uncertain future
The cemetery – defined as a burial ground without an attached primary church or chapel – is a place where artistic, architectural, horticultural, historical, and literary interests are combined. Many were planned as places of botanical and geological instruction, while the epitaphs, extolling the moral virtues of the deceased, were intended to encourage emulation by the living. Appreciating their great value is a vital step towards ensuring that these spaces do not succumb to neglect and decline, as Chris Catling reports.
CA 439 Letters – September
Milestone Ground at midsummer The description of 59 pits forming a long, neat line at the Milestone Ground, Worcestershire (CA 435) is intriguing, especially as such features found elsewhere in prehistoric Britain
Fossil find from Roman Colchester
Archaeology is often confused with palaeontology – with most archaeologists having been asked at least once in their career about the most interesting fossil they have found. Now archaeologists from Colchester Archaeological
World News
Earliest evidence of Yersinia pestis? As DNA analysis of human remains continues to expand, evidence is mounting that Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes the plague, has been ravaging human populations for
More finds from Magna Roman Fort
The latest season of digging at Magna Roman Fort is currently uncovering further details of how the site was used both during and after the Roman period. One of the star finds
Roman hoard uncovered in Buckinghamshire
A metal-detectorist has discovered a hoard of Roman bronze objects in the Chilterns, Buckinghamshire, including a rare rattle that may have been used in religious ceremonies (below centre). Adam McClelland was detecting
Castlehill Wood (re-)Dun: reinterpreting a Stirling oddity
Castlehill Wood, located south-west of Stirling, has historically been labelled a ‘dun’ – a poorly defined term that is usually used to describe an unroofed enclosure that is smaller than a hillfort
50 Stone Age Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme
This slim volume is the latest addition to the ‘50 Finds’ series produced by the Portable Antiquities Scheme in England and Wales (PAS). While most finds recorded by PAS are metal artefacts
Feeding Medieval England: a long ‘Agricultural Revolution’, 700-1300
This volume by Helena Hamerow and her team is the interpretive companion to their digital database (https://doi.org/10.5284/1057492) for the recently finished five-year FeedSax project. It explores the profound changes in farming and
On the Banks of the Humber: archaeological and palaeoenvironmental investigations at Goxhill, North Lincolnshire, and Paull, East Yorkshire, 2016-2020
This site report details excavations carried out by Oxford Archaeology ahead of the replacement of the gas transmission pipeline that crosses the Humber between Goxhill in North Lincolnshire and Paull in East
The Archaeology of Leicester in 20 Digs
This is the latest in the ‘…in 20 Digs’ series. Gavin Speed has been involved in Leicester’s archaeology for more than 20 years, and he has produced a well-illustrated account of 20
Unearthing the present: Why archaeologists should study the contemporary world
‘There’s no time like the present’, as the adage goes – and those who specialise in Contemporary Archaeology certainly agree. John Schofield explores how applying archaeological techniques to the material remains of our own times can illuminate current issues, as well as improving our understanding of the past.