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Ninth-century Carolingian coins from the reigns of Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald are not the sort of objects you would expect to find on a remote farm on the Isle of Anglesey, so, when metal-detectorists began reporting these and other exceptional artefacts from the early medieval period, the National Museum of Wales (now Amgueddfa Cymru) sent Mark Redknap, then Curator of Medieval and Later Archaeology, to investigate. Between 1994 and 2012, Mark led ten seasons of fieldwork on the site, revealing the remains of a trading settlement with a form unparalleled in Wales. With the full report recently published, Chris Catling describes its key findings.

Lechlade’s buried secrets: Revisiting a long-lived ritual landscape in Gloucestershire

In 2017, excavations revealed an unusual Bronze Age burial alongside other signs of ceremonial activity spanning thousands of years. With some of the grave goods now on display, CA returns to the story of the Lechlade ‘chieftain’.

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Stories from the soil: Exploring Treasure finds in north-west England and Wales

November 4, 2025

The first archaeologically focused exhibition to be staged at the Museum of Liverpool explores what Treasure finds from north-west England and Wales can tell us about past and present connections across the region. Carly Hilts visited and spoke to Vanessa Oakden to learn more.

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Making accommodations: How 19th-century housing helped launch women’s independence

November 3, 2025

Following on from CA’s review of the golden age of the chain store (CA 426), Chris Catling looks this month at the accommodation built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras for single working women: hostels, houses, and chambers that were designed to protect their morals but also gave a first taste of freedom and independence to the growing class of businesswomen and ‘bachelor girls’.

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King Scorpion’s Macehead: Ritual and power at the dawn of Egyptian kingship

October 16, 2025

Philippe Rosset explores the iconography of this ceremonial weapon, which marks a transitional moment in Egyptian kingship.

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Senusret III: Warrior and innovator

October 15, 2025

Wolfram Grajetzki continues his series with one of the most important and best known kings of the Twelfth Dynasty.

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The Rovigo Egyptian collection

October 14, 2025

Simone Petacchi describes an important Egyptian collection in Rovigo, Italy, that is not on public display.

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The Obelisk and Tomb of Antinous

October 14, 2025

Barbara Gai explores the history of this important monument and the clues that might lead to the location of Antinous’ tomb.

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The dragon roars: Wales and Egyptology

October 13, 2025

Alan B Lloyd acknowledges the huge contribution to Egyptology made by people born in Wales.

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Hesyre the dentist

October 13, 2025

Roger Forshaw records the life and career of a court official and scribe who was the world’s first recorded dentist.

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Hilary Wilson on…The next best thing

October 13, 2025

Hilary Wilson explores the preservation of Egypt’s cultural heritage through replicas – the next best thing to visiting the monuments themselves.

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The people of St Peter’s: Encountering a community from 19th-century Blackburn

October 2, 2025

Recently published research from one of the largest cemetery excavations of its type outside London has shed vivid light on the experiences of almost 2,000 men, women, and children who lived and died in Lancashire around 200 years ago. Carly Hilts spoke to Julie Franklin to learn more.

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Cladh Hallan: Examining life and death in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age

October 1, 2025

What was life like in Britain 3,000 years ago? How did people live together, find their food and materials, and organise their domestic rituals and day-to-day activities? The Bronze Age to Early Iron Age settlement of Cladh Hallan in the Outer Hebrides has provided answers, as well as new questions, as Mike Parker Pearson, Jacqui Mulville, Helen Smith, and Peter Marshall explain.

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The dangerous dead: Exploring the cross-cultural continuity of deviant burials

October 1, 2025

Vampires and zombies are not just the fictional creation of 19th-century novelists, nor modern film directors and creators of computer games – John Blair’s new book, Killing the Dead, shows that there is a long history of belief in the ability of the dead to leave their graves and cause harm to the living. Making sure this cannot happen results in extraordinary burial practices, as Chris Catling reports.

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A tale of two hoards: Interpreting unusual Bronze Age collections from Carnoustie and Rosemarkie

September 30, 2025

Bronze Age hoards tend to be found in watery locations – rivers, lochs, bogs – where they are routinely interpreted as ritual votive deposits. Two recently published examples, however, discovered 150 miles apart in Scotland, came from contemporary Bronze Age settlements. Rachel Buckley explains what micro-excavation of their strikingly different contents has revealed about why these collections may have been buried 3,000 years ago.

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Testing times: Examining insights from experimental archaeology

September 29, 2025

What have archaeological experiments revealed about how stone axes were sourced, made, and used thousands of years ago? James Dilley highlights some of the key findings.

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Koonalda Cave: A place of ancient engravings and flint mining

September 18, 2025

Far below the Nullarbor Plain in Australia lies an extraordinary gallery of rock art. Exploration and research in Koonalda Cave has revealed much about these ancient markings, as well as mining and the early occupation of Australia, as Keryn Walshe, April Nowell, and Clem Lawrie reveal.

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Weapons from the waters: Exploring Scandinavia’s first professional army at Illerup Ådal

September 17, 2025

In the 3rd century AD, the possessions of an entire army were deposited in a lake in Jutland. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, Rowan S English, and Rubina Raja examine what was found, and what it reveals about Iron Age military might in southern Scandinavia.

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Uncovering Imet: An ancient Egyptian city in the Nile delta

September 16, 2025

Excavations at Tell Nabasha are shedding new light on life in a delta city, and the death of its great temple. To find out more, Matthew Symonds spoke to Nicky Nielsen.

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Anyama revisited: Seeking early human activity in the West African rainforest