When it was completed in 1209, medieval London Bridge was the only fixed crossing of the Thames downstream of Kingston-upon-Thames (until Fulham Bridge was built in 1729). Remarkably, it was also home to some 500 people – equivalent to the population of a small medieval town. In London Bridge and…
Before the celebrated US paratroopers known as ‘Easy’ Company were deployed on D-Day, they were based at Aldbourne in Wiltshire. What have recent excavations revealed about their camp? Richard Osgood reports.…
Last month’s CA reviewed an exhibition in Cirencester that features six ‘gladiator’ skeletons excavated in York. Struck by the fact that Cirencester has an impressive amphitheatre, but no direct evidence for the individuals who may have fought there, while York has potential gladiators but as-yet no trace of any amphitheatre,…
• Druce Farm Roman villa: a community dig in the heart of Dorset
• Exploring evidence for gladiators in York and Cirencester
• Searching for the ‘Band of Brothers’ at Aldbourne
• Cosmati at Canterbury Cathedral? the history of a medieval mosaic
• The story of the All Saints ‘anchoress’…
Your views on issues raised in Current Archaeology.…
The cave was first excavated in 1958, when a Bronze Age urn and some human skeletons were discovered, but more recent work has shed vivid light on its contents.…
Review by Michael Potterton Thirty years ago, when I was a history and archaeology undergraduate at University College Dublin, the phrase ‘Ireland and the Crusades’ seemed almost as absurd as ‘Ireland and the Palaeolithic’ or ‘Ireland and the Renaissance’. Times change, of course, and thankfully all three have become fruitful…
Review by Kathryn Murphy In Facing the Enemy, Andrew Tibbs presents analysis of Roman fortifications and the Scottish landscape, focusing on the positioning, intervisibility, orientation, and interconnectivity of Flavian sites. Stemming from his PhD thesis, this volume discusses one of the first systematic applications of Geographical Information Science (GIS) to…
This evidence adds to recent research focused on Iona suggesting that multiple monasteries across Britain may have been able to continue or re-establish themselves after initial Viking raids at the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th centuries.…
Detailed analysis of an elaborate 13th-century mosaic at Canterbury Cathedral has revealed a medieval masterpiece that may be unparalleled in either Roman or medieval Britain. Warwick Rodwell explains further.…
Ancient myths meet archaeological treasures in this new blockbuster at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Carly Hilts went along to learn more about the great palace at Knossos, legendary location of the Minotaur-haunted labyrinth, and real-life repository of Minoan culture.…
Every month, when we open the pages of Current Archaeology or any of its sister publications, we are presented with wonderful photographs as well as compelling stories about our heritage. It is evident that there are many skilled photographers working in archaeological units and museums up and down the country…
Review by Edward Biddulph Ask most people what comes to mind when they hear the word ‘archaeologist’ and, if not immediately going to Indiana Jones, they will most likely imagine an academic poring over artefacts or heavy tomes, or carefully brushing the soil off an item at some exotic site.…
A round-up of some of latest archaeology news from around the world.…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news in the UK.…
Orford Castle in Suffolk has reopened to visitors after detailed conservation work – a project 13 years in the making – was completed in January. The castle was originally built for Henry II between 1165 and 1174, as a royal outpost on the River Ore’s tidal estuary; today it is…
We are pleased to share the winners of year’s CA Awards, announced on 25 February at Current Archaeology Live! 2023.…
Review by David Flintham From Iron Age hillforts to Second World War pillboxes, fortifications are all around us. Yet there are probably more terms relating to fortifications than anything else in military history. Author Jean-Denis Lepage has challenged himself to explain terms from more than 3,000 years of defensive architecture,…
In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we will explore the evidence for this hypothesis, and examine how violence-related injuries are distinguished in archaeological human remains.…
Royal sites revealed Lying more than 275 miles apart, Rendlesham and Yeavering belong to a handful of sites named as a vicus regius or ‘royal settlement’ by the Anglo-Saxon cleric Bede. Later this month, both are set to showcase their early medieval significance, with the opening of a new exhibition…
Archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology, working in advance of HS2 construction, have been excavating the site for the past three years.…