Current Archaeology

Current Archaeology

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Sifting through the remains of Scotland’s kelping industry

For a brief period, from around 1750 to 1820, the west coast and islands of Scotland experienced a boom in demand for kelp, a seaweed-derived substance used in the soap and glass-making industries. Kevin Grant – formerly St Kilda Archaeologist with the National Trust for Scotland, now Archaeology Manager at Historic Environment Scotland – has been studying the fragile and elusive remains of this once-thriving industry, as Chris Catling reports.

The origins of Old St Oswald Church, Fulford

Many a church guide claims that their present building sits on the site of a more ancient structure. But how accurate are these claims? Recently the Fishergate, Fulford, and Heslington Local History Society (FFH) – a community group with a long-standing and very active interest in their historic landscape – decided to try to find out whether this was true of the deconsecrated medieval church, dedicated to St Oswald, that sits on the east bank of the River Ouse, in the village of Fulford, some 2km south of York. Chris Catling reports.

IMAGES: Tom Ferraby; Rose Ferraby, using data from Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire, CC BY SA 3.0

Illuminating Isurium: exploring Aldborough’s Roman remains

Isurium Brigantum was a thriving and prosperous Roman town in what is now North Yorkshire, but it has attracted relatively little modern archaeological attention. Now, though, a decade of geophysical surveys have shed vivid light on its make-up, and a wide-ranging new book presents a compelling narrative for how the once-bustling settlement evolved. Carly Hilts reports.

Below Containing at least 453 bronze and copper objects and fragments, the Havering hoard is the largest Bronze Age hoard to be found in London, and the third largest known in the whole United Kingdom. This is only a selection of its contents and its story is now being told at the Museum of London Docklands.

The Havering hoard

Two years ago, London’s largest Bronze Age hoard was discovered on the eastern fringe of the city. It is now on display at the Museum of London Docklands. What do its contents tell us about life in the Thames river valley 3,000 years ago? Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts visited the exhibition to find out.

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Investigating the age of the Cerne Abbas hill figure

The Cerne Abbas Giant, a 55m-tall chalk hill figure depicting a nude man, has been in the care of the National Trust for 100 years. To mark this anniversary, small-scale excavations retrieved dating samples from the Dorset landmark – and, although the present lockdown has put analysis on hold, intriguing clues are already beginning to emerge. Mike Allen and Martin Papworth report.

PHOTOS: Mark Dowsett, with permission from the Mary Rose Trust

X-ray analysis of chainmail from the Mary Rose

Analysis by X-ray of three copper-alloy artefacts recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose has offered new insight into their construction and the success of conservation efforts undertaken on them. Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, was constructed in…

PHOTO: © The Trustees of the British Museum

News in brief

British Museum revamps Collection Online The British Museum has recently launched a new version of its Collection Online website, featuring over half its collections, making it one of the largest such databases of any global museum. The updated resource encompasses…

BELOW The primary burial was found with a range of high status grave goods. RIGHT The site of the skatepark excavation is located within a wider ceremonial landscape.

Bronze Age burials at Lechlade skatepark

Archaeological investigations in Lechlade-on-Thames, Gloucestershire, have revealed two very unusual Bronze Age burials in an extensive ceremonial landscape spanning many phases of prehistory. The excavations were carried out by Foundations Archaeology in 2017, in advance of the construction of a…

PHOTO: Gerald Ponting

Letters from CA May 2020/June 2020

Early insights into Callanish Site XI I was an active amateur archaeologist on the Isle of Lewis between 1975 and 1984, working with Margaret Curtis, who was then my wife. She remained on the island when I relocated to my…

OPPOSITE Testing a reconstructed chariot revealed that the charioteers had to be highly skilled and that the horses had to be intensively trained. Here, Jonathan Waterer drives a pair of Fiord ponies while Mike Loades tests the stability of the ride.

Bring me my chariot: investigating burial practices in Iron Age Yorkshire

What sparked the unusual chariot burials associated with the Arras Culture in East Yorkshire? Migration has been proposed as an explanation, but a new book asks whether there are other ways by which chariot-making knowledge and burial practices could have been transferred. The reality is perhaps more mundane but, at the same time, highly informative about the diversity of lifestyles and burial practices in the British Iron Age and the ways in which people expressed their regional identity. Chris Catling reports.

Association of British Counties (ABC)

The Royal Mail (see Sherds, p.64) no longer regards county names as part of your postal address, a fact that the Association of British Counties – set up ‘to promote awareness of the continuing importance of the 92 historic (or…

ABOVE A cave discovered near Guildford contains 14th century carvings and is believed to be a possible shrine.

Medieval carvings found in cave near Guildford

A possible 14th-century shrine adorned with medieval carvings has been discovered in a cave following a landslip near Guildford. The initial discovery was made by rail workers from Osborne carrying out repair works on behalf of Network Rail, after which…

RIGHt The ice core was drilled from the Colle Gnifetti glacier in the Monte Rosa Massif on the Swiss Italian border in 2013.

12th-century lead pollution visible in Alpine ice

Lead pollution produced by 12th-century mines in Britain can be seen in Alpine ice cores, new research reports – directly mirroring historical records and demonstrating the impact of political events of the time. Lead-silver ores have been mined for centuries,…