Culture - Page 66

The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.

The Bayeux Tapestry

Britain has been overcome by Bayeux Tapestry fever (as has CA: see our feature on here and more in Sherds on here) with the famous embroidery returning to British soil for the

Books

Plague, Pestilence and Pandemic: Voices from History

June 16, 2021

Disease has been a constant companion of humankind throughout the ages. As civilisations rose, populations flourished, and trade routes expanded, people brought their ideas, their goods, and their pathogens to new lands

Museum·What's on

On show: exhibitions from around the world – June 2021

June 15, 2021

Many museums and galleries around the world have recently reopened with safety measures in place, including compulsory booking and limits on visitor numbers. Closures are still a possibility, and the dates listed below may have changed since we went to print. Check the websites and social-media accounts of the institutions for the most up-to-date information, bookings, and, in many cases, a chance to explore their collections online.

Books

Arts and Crafts in Iron Age East Yorkshire: A holistic approach to pattern and purpose, c.400 BC-AD 100

June 14, 2021

This new book explores the purpose of decorative practices in Middle and Late Iron Age Britain, moving beyond traditional approaches to Early Celtic Art to consider what these decorative objects did. To

Books

Hadrian’s Wall: Creating Division

June 13, 2021

In this stimulating addition to the burgeoning literature of Hadrian’s Wall, Matthew Symonds, editor of Current World Archaeology, brings fresh emphases to the study of this endlessly fascinating Roman monument in the

Culture·Museum·Places·What's on

Heritage from home: June

June 3, 2021

As museums and heritage sites reopen, we’re looking forward to visiting our favourite spots as soon as possible – but there are still plenty of resources available online from historical, archaeological, and cultural institutions and sites around the world, as well as podcasts, TV shows, social media content, and more. Current World Archaeology’s Amy Brunskill has put together another selection of options, as well as summarising some of the places that have recently reopened.

Books

The World Before Us: how science is revealing a new story of our human origins

June 2, 2021

After decades of slowly piecing together the puzzle of our human origins, the last ten years have seen a gigantic leap forward in our knowledge, spurred by advances in aDNA (see CA

Feature·Museum·What's on

‘Who will deliver me from this turbulent priest?’ How two Henrys failed to erase the memory of Thomas Becket

June 2, 2021

The story of Thomas Becket’s murder in AD 1170 still resonates after 850 years, despite the attempts of Henry VIII to eradicate all memory of the man that Henry II reportedly called ‘this turbulent priest’. Henry VIII called for the destruction of his shrine and the defacing of prayer books referring to his martyrdom. Even so, the Becket cult refused to die, and the British Museum has brought together an array of pilgrim badges and reliquaries, medals, paintings, and stained glass to show us why so many people in medieval Europe flocked to his Canterbury shrine. Current Archaeology’s Chris Catling reports.

Books

Greenwich at Work: people and industries through the years

June 1, 2021

Situated on the bank of the Thames near central London, Greenwich was once a hub of industrial activity, with bustling docks and hundreds of manufacturing, maritime, and riverside trades. The waterway itself

Feature·Museum·What's on

Nero’s Britain: rebellion, reconstruction, and a revised reputation

June 1, 2021

The Roman emperor Nero has long been reviled as a notorious tyrant, prone to lavish and often murderous excesses, who headed a chaotic regime that saw Britain erupt into open insurrection led by the rebel queen Boudica. A new exhibition at the British Museum presents a more nuanced picture, however, and Current Archaeology’s Carly Hilts spoke to the curator, Thorsten Opper, to find out more about what Nero’s reign had meant for Roman Britain.

Books

Timeline: the archaeology of the South Wales Gas Pipeline

May 31, 2021

Underpinning this comparatively slim volume is a remarkable archaeological programme. The South Wales Gas Pipeline was constructed in 2005-2007, extending from the Pembrokeshire coast to Gloucestershire. It was not a direct route:

Books

50 Finds of Early Medieval Coinage

May 31, 2021

In this latest publication in the ‘50 Finds’ series from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, John Naylor draws on a selection of 50 early medieval coins from the 10,000 recorded in the PAS

Books

A Neolithic to Late Roman Landscape on the North-east Yorkshire Coast: excavations at Street House, Loftus, 2004-2017

May 30, 2021

Lying 2km from Loftus in North Yorkshire, Street House is home to a diverse span of archaeological evidence reflecting more than 4,500 years of activity. Stephen Sherlock has been excavating at the

Books

Excavations at Stoke Quay, Ipswich: southern Gipeswic and the parish of St Augustine

May 29, 2021

This monograph provides a detailed report on the major excavations by Oxford Archaeology South and Pre-Construct Archaeology at the site of Stoke Quay, Ipswich (2011-2012), covering 1.2 acres of the Saxon and

Feature·Museum·What's on

Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard: secrets of a Viking Age collection from south-west Scotland

May 27, 2021

Buried c.AD 900, the Galloway Hoard is thought to be Scotland’s earliest-known Viking Age hoard. In the years since its discovery in 2014, wide-ranging research has illuminated its eclectic and often unique contents. As a new exhibition opens, exploring the story so far, Martin Goldberg takes us through some of the latest findings.

Feature·Museum

Interview: how the British Museum brought Becket back to life

The Past

May 20, 2021

Bringing together more than 100 objects from museums, churches, and private collections across Europe, ‘Thomas Becket: Murder and the making of a saint’ powerfully evokes the medieval era as it explores the life, death, and legacy of Henry II’s ‘turbulent priest’.

Museum

Baalbek Reborn: Temples

May 20, 2021

A new app offers an opportunity to experience an ancient site in its Roman heyday.

Travel

Queen Adelaide’s castle in the Tuscan marches

Richard Hodges

May 17, 2021

Thanks to modern scientific analyses, the every-day circumstances of Tuscany’s Dark Age peoples are no longer mute. One thing is certain from this excavation: objects and nature played an active part in transforming the primitive experiences of Tuscany’s 9th-century peasants and their early feudal masters into some of the most sophisticated lifestyles in Europe by the 12th century.

Books

Megaliths and Geology

May 17, 2021

One of the essentials of building a megalithic chambered burial monument is the choice of materials used to construct it. It is now considered that stone (boulders, stone erratics and fragments, and quarried

Books

Olga Tufnell’s ‘Perfect Journey’

May 16, 2021

When 22-year-old Olga Tufnell set off on her first ‘perfect journey’ in 1927 – to join Flinders Petrie’s expedition in Egypt – she had little training in archaeology beyond several years assisting

Books

The Dignity of Labour: image, work and identity in the Roman world