Starting with the opening of the UK’s first science park in 1970, Cambridge has grown from the sleepy market town of 60 years ago into an internationally renowned centre of technical research and innovation at the centre of a metropolis…
Recent archaeological investigations at the Bronze Age site of Haughey’s Fort – next to the famous Navan Fort, an Iron Age monument in County Armagh, Northern Ireland (see CA 406) – have revealed new details about the complex, demonstrating that…
A Roman mosaic thought to be the most westerly example of the polychrome style yet found in Britain is among the discoveries emerging from a large Roman villa complex near Halberton in Devon. Excavations by the SHARE project (Saving Halberton’s…
New Mudlark-in-Residence role at Southwark Cathedral Lara Maiklem has been named as the first Mudlark-in-Residence for Southwark Cathedral, in what is thought to be the UK’s only permanent mudlarking role within a cultural or heritage organisation. With almost 25 years…
Excavation reports often have a long gestation, and the publication of the City of Hereford Archaeology Unit’s 1993 excavations on the site of Hereford Cathedral’s new Mappa Mundi museum has been eagerly awaited. Yet any frustration at the delay quickly…
Aberdeenshire is known for its Pictish symbol stones, but until recently evidence for Pictish settlements in the region was sparse and our understanding of Pictish sites even more tenuous. This has now changed dramatically, in large part due to a…
First discovered nearly 30 years ago, the wreck of a ship that sank in Salcombe Bay, Devon, in 1633 has now been comprehensively re-examined in this new British Museum volume. On its discovery, the ship was found to be carrying…
The latest in the British Archaeological Association’s regional conference volumes covers Shropshire. The 16 contributions might seem at first sight to concentrate on the county’s best-known Roman and medieval sites – such as Wroxeter, Shrewsbury, Much Wenlock Priory, Buildwas Abbey,…
The Archaeology of Industrial Cheshire in 20 Digs is a well-illustrated introduction to Cheshire’s industrial past. Each concise chapter combines documentary evidence with excavation results to trace the development of the county’s key industries across two millennia. The book opens…
The idea of a guidebook is an ancient one – Pausanias’ Guide to Greece is perhaps the first – but these days the idea of wandering around sites clutching a book conveying detailed information might be thought to be superfluous…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
Interpersonal violence has been a fact of human existence for much of our long history – but how far is this reflected in the archaeological record? With a major new exhibition now open at the National Museum of Scotland, Matthew G Knight and Hannah Boddy examine traces of past conflicts spanning 4,000 years, and consider how to present these stories to modern audiences.
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been used to great effect to map underlying archaeology on open-area sites, but how well does it perform in urban environments? John Creighton, Thomas Matthews Boehmer, Martin Millett, and Lieven Verdonck describe the trials and triumphs of recent surveys in York’s historic centre.
This month’s selection of summer digging opportunities includes projects from Staffordshire, Stirling, Edinburgh, and Nottinghamshire.
This month sees a return of the Council for British Archaeology’s annual Festival
of Archaeology, with a wealth of in-person and online events taking place across
the UK in July and August. The theme for 2026 is ‘Archaeology and Nature’.
Here is a selection of regional highlights; for more details of each (including
prices and booking information, where relevant), and to explore the full programme, see www.archaeologyuk.org/festival.html.
The Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) has been excavating sites along the banks of the River Great Ouse since 1994, keeping one step ahead of sand- and gravel-quarrying that is steadily transforming the landscape from solid ground to a series of lakes that will eventually form a large nature reserve. Chris Catling reports on the latest volume to emerge from this project, which brings together a series of excavations exploring a c.5km length of the river at the point where it enters the Fen marshlands near Earith in Cambridgeshire.
Preserving trig points There are various ways of protecting trig points (‘Sherds’, CA 436). This example (below) sits within the Iron Age hillfort known as Castle Hill, close to the Roman fort of Bar Hill on the Antonine Wall in…
A huge replica of a Neolithic hall, based on archaeological evidence excavated at Durrington Walls, has opened at Stonehenge. Carly Hilts reports.
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.
Many of Cornwall’s churches preserve centuries-old murals of saints and religious scenes. Laura Miucci shares some of the stories behind these colourful creations, and explores how organised Community Archaeology visits to sites like these can boost the well-being of participants.