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…
Excavations at Maryport have shed vivid light on activity outside the Roman fort, from possible temple buildings and buried altars to signs of more everyday life. Tony Wilmott, Ian Haynes, and John Zant explain more.…
Analysis of one of the Birdoswald cremation vessels has revealed a wealth of new information – as well as some very unusual contents. Tony Wilmott tells all.…
To-date, the 3rd-century cremations discovered above Birdoswald fort remain the only Roman cemetery to have received major archaeological attention along the line of Hadrian’s Wall. What light does it shed on the people who lived and died on the frontier? Tony Wilmott explains.…
Running every decade since 1849, the Pilgrimage of Hadrian’s Wall might claim to be Britain’s oldest archaeological tour. David Breeze traces the origins of this trip to the Roman frontier.…
The 73-mile length of Hadrian’s Wall, as well as the forts and structures associated with it, has yielded thousands of intriguing objects shedding vivid light on life on the Roman frontier. Rob Collins picks out 13 key finds that highlight how the material culture of the monument can…
Excavations in the historic heart of Oxford have shed light on the city’s origins and development – including uncovering some of its earliest-known Anglo-Saxon structures, remarkable evidence for the medieval city’s Jewish inhabitants, and aspects of city life away from the colleges, as Edward Biddulph explains.…
The Thames Discovery Programme – whose volunteers record the archaeology of the Thames foreshore – has recently celebrated its tenth birthday. Eliott Wragg, Nathalie Cohen, and Josh Frost explore some of the initiative’s most important findings from its first decade of life.…
Even today, getting to the Channel Island of Sark is an adventure, involving a 55-minute journey by sea from Guernsey, and then a climb from the quay through a tunnel in the rock to reach the top of the sheer cliffs that surround the island on all sides. Given the…
The investigation uncovered 24 burials, all dating to between the late 5th and mid-6th centuries AD, and almost all of the individuals were buried with elaborate grave goods…
How did the kingdoms of early medieval England evolve into a single nation? A new exhibition at the British Library combines artefacts and manuscripts to tell the story of the Anglo-Saxons in their own words. Carly Hilts reports.…
New displays in Westminster Abbey’s eastern triforium (the gallery above the nave) explore the long history of the church, its royal links, and its importance as a national monument. Lucia Marchini takes a look at the recently opened Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries.…
What can objects tell us about how people objected to the authority of the day? A new exhibition at the British Museum tells the story of rebels ancient and modern. CA went along to find out more.…
What link is there between archaeology and a best-selling series of children’s books? To find out, Lucia Marchini tours the British Library’s major new exhibition.…
The increasing popularity of historical graffiti surveys is providing valuable new perspectives on the past. Matt Beresford discusses recent discoveries at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, and how magical markings were used to protect animals as well as people during the Stuart era.…
What can cutting-edge photographic technology add to our understanding of Orkney’s Neolithic chambered tombs? Georgina Ritchie explores the possibilities of photogrammetry, with contributions from Steve Farrar and Hugo Anderson-Whymark.…
How is cutting-edge chemical analysis helping to pinpoint the source of some of Stonehenge’s standing stones – 140 miles from Wiltshire in the Preseli hills? Geologists Rob Ixer and Richard Bevins explain.…
It has long been understood that the Stonehenge ‘bluestones’ – a catch-all term used to describe any of the monument’s uprights that are not thought to have been sourced locally – represent a variety of different types of rock, but their origins have been a subject for heated debate. Now…
Popular legend has long told of the presence of graves on an island in Portsmouth Harbour, holding the remains of convicted criminals or Napoleonic-era prisoners of war. In the wake of severe storms that exposed human remains below the cliff, would archaeological investigation confirm the tale? Richard Osgood reports.…
The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on 19 May took place against a backdrop of buildings that have been inhabited almost continuously since the 11th century. The fire of November 1992 at Windsor Castle (in what the Queen later called her annus horribilis) could have brought…
A public-interest piece in Nature – published in response to their research paper about the Bell Beaker culture – discusses the ‘sometimes straining’ relationship between archaeologists and geneticists.…