Current Archaeology 386

• Time Team returns: the show’s first new digs in a decade
• Excavating a prisoner of war camp in Shropshire
• Exploring the legacy of a Roman monument
• Trimontium’s Roman tragedy
• Tracing religious remains at Maryport Roman fort (available 13 April on The Past)

Current Archaeology 386
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Current Archaeology 386

Highlights:

From the Editor:

It’s amazing to think that it was almost ten years ago that we reported (in CA 274) that Time Team was drawing to a close. Over two decades of digging, the popular programme had revolutionised archaeological television and was, for many, a key influence and inspiration for their own archaeological journeys (including yours truly, who grew up watching the show and worked as a researcher on Series 18 – ten points if you can spot me dressed as a Roman!). Now, though, the Team has reunited to film two new excavations: one exploring an Iron Age fogou in Cornwall, the other a Roman villa in Oxfordshire. Our cover feature takes you behind the scenes.

We next travel to the outskirts of Oswestry, to examine the remains of a camp that housed captured German servicemen during the Second World War. Wessex Archaeology’s excavations have given vivid insights into what life was like within the compound – apparently, relatively comfortable, although signs of escalating tensions between prisoners and camp staff could also be seen.

Moving from ephemeral outlines of buildings to monumental architecture, our third feature traces the evolution of the triumphal arch, and its lasting legacy.

Such arches were, of course, a Roman invention, and our final two articles discuss different aspects of Roman Britain. At Maryport, just south of Hadrian’s Wall, the remains of two temples first uncovered in the 19th century have been reinvestigated in detail. What can they tell us about cult activity on the Roman frontier? Meanwhile, in the Scottish Borders, intriguing research is emerging from Trimontium, a Roman fort with a remarkably turbulent past.

Cover Story

Opposite Time Team stalwarts Carenza Lewis and John Gater examine a trench at Boden in Cornwall, where the Team have been investigating an Iron Age fogou.Back to the future: visiting Time Team’s first new digs in a decadeThe popular archaeology series Time Team has returned with its first new episodes in a decade. Felix Rowe took Current Archaeology behind the scenes at…

Features

Below This artistic reconstruction of the Maryport temples was created by Julian Baum, Take 27 Ltd, for the Roman Temples Project, Maryport.A tale of two temples: tracing religious remains at Maryport Roman fortThe Roman fort at Maryport is best known for the collection of altars, dedicated to the god Jupiter, that were found buried in a series…
Opposite More than any other Roman arch, the Arch of Constantine has served as the model for later versions, though it is itself modelled on the Arch of Septimius Severus and consists almost entirely of decorative elements recycled from earlier monuments. This arch commemorates the decisive Battle of the Milvian Bridge (AD 312) at which Constantine defeated Maxentius to become sole emperor.The triumphal arch: exploring the legacy of a Roman monumentDismissed by one distinguished architectural writer as a regrettable example of Roman pomposity, ‘typical of the rather pretentious magnificence of the [Roman] Empire’, the ‘triumphal…
LEFT The three Eildon Hills in the central Scottish Borders provided the Romans with the obvious name Trimontium for their largest fort, which was situated to dominate the ancient geopolitical landscape. The local Selgovae tribe also chose the summit of one of these hills for their huge 40 acre oppidum.New light on Trimontium: building a museum against the oddsThe recent renovation of Trimontium Museum in Melrose has given archaeologists the opportunity to re-examine the enduring mystery of what happened at the nearby Roman…
Above Some of the items associated with hygiene and personal cleanliness found on the site: a Brylcreem packet, the lid from a tube of toothpaste, toothbrushes, and the handle of a shaving brush.Happy campers? Investigating the experiences of prisoners of war near OswestryWhat was life like for German prisoners of war who were interned in England during the Second World War? Wessex Archaeology’s recent excavation of a…

Comment

LEFT & ABOVE Prehistoric sites at Kingsmead Quarry and Datchet, in CA 292 and CA 351, revealed traces of Neolithic life.Excavating BerkshireOne of Berkshire’s oddities is that it is often forgotten that perhaps its most famous historic site is in the county at all – that…
Right Thomas Heatherwick’s sculpture, known as ‘Angel’s Wings’, in Paternoster Square in London provides ventilation for an underground electricity substation.Victorian vents and Roman roadsInventive Vents has a clever way of engaging younger people with scatological anecdotes, in the style of Horrible Histories. Thus we are told that the…

News

Views

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