Europe

The Siege of Pavia: Defeating the Lombards, 773-774

In the second part of our special, Stephen Roberts reveals how a key victory helped Charlemagne establish the foundations for the Holy Roman Empire.

Charlemagne: From life to death, a timeline of events that defined the legendary king’s reign.

Infographics: Amy Brunskill

The bridge that saved a city: The Iron Curtain fall – Part 5: the Berlin Airlift

Continuing our series on the coming of the Cold War, Taylor Downing examines the first major confrontation with the Soviets.

Judgement at Nuremberg

Eighty years on, Ben Goodlad reveals how the trials of 24 high-ranking Nazis shaped modern attitudes to punishing war crimes.

The Tsar’s last victory: The Brusilov Offensive, June-September 1916

It was the greatest Russian triumph of World War I – but the Brusilov Offensive also sowed the seeds of revolution, as David Porter reports.

MHM 151 Competition

Put your military history knowledge to the test with our competition.

The Spanish Civil War in the Air Volume 1: 1936-37

Under-funded and wracked by the hostility between political factions within its ranks, Spain’s military aviation was in a dire state in the period immediately before the Spanish Civil War. At this time, the air force was equipped with 60 Bréguet…

Germany’s First World War Aviators: the lives of fliers

Since the late 1990s, the study of World War I has moved beyond the constraints of military history to embrace an increasingly multidisciplinary agenda. Not least in this has been the adoption and incorporation of anthropological and archaeological perspectives, focusing…

Military mass graves unearthed in the Czech Republic

Archaeologists have discovered four military mass graves from the 18th and 19th centuries during rescue excavations in advance of the construction of the D11 highway between the towns of Jaroměř and Trutnov in the Czech Republic. The first mass grave…

Excavations at former concentration camp

During World War II, a number of German armament factories were relocated underground as a result of Allied air raids. In August 1944, a work detail of the Buchenwald concentration camp was established near the village of Walbeck, in the…

Richly furnished warrior burials discovered in Hungary

The graves of three elite warriors, dating to the period of the Hungarian Conquest (AD 920s-930s), have been discovered near the village of Akasztó in southern Hungary. One of these burials, belonging to a 17- or 18-year-old warrior, is among…

Export ban placed on flag from Battle of Trafalgar

A temporary export ban has been placed on a Union Flag that flew from HMS Royal Sovereign – the ship that led the British charge at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 – in order to allow time…

Prosperity and plague: Examining a well-connected Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Broughton Lodge

The diverse grave goods excavated at a 6th-century cemetery in Nottinghamshire testify to a wealthy community with wide-ranging trade links – but, as well as new objects and materials, did these networks help to spread deadly diseases, and might this explain the unusually high number of multiple burials identified at Broughton Lodge? Carly Hilts visited a new exhibition about the site and spoke to Ann Inscker, Professor Chris Loveluck, and Dr Clare Pickersgill to learn more.

Skin in the game: Examining the lives of Britain’s oldest church doors

Tree-ring dating has enabled the identification of some very ancient church doors, which are still in situ and in use after nearly 1,000 years. Several were once covered with leather claimed to have been made from the skin of unfortunate Vikings, flayed as a warning to all would-be raiders. Despite this dubious lore, they and similar doors provide us with significant insights into woodworking tools and techniques, as well as ornamental ironwork in the 11th and 12th centuries, as Chris Catling reports.

Places of Worship Renewal Fund

Organisations in the heritage sector welcomed January’s news that the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport was going to invest £1.5 billion in capital funding for the arts, cultural, and heritage sectors in England (the other three home nations have yet to say whether they will be making similar investments)

CA 433 Letters – March

Pleased about potin coins I was so amused when I saw the ‘pastry potin’ coins on the ‘Letters’ page in CA 432. I remember David Holman some years ago showing a group of members of the Isle of Thanet Archaeological…

Silver beyond Empire: Offering a new perspective on the late Roman to early medieval transition

Over the last 15 years, international research focused on a series of silver hoards and other finds from the late Roman and early medieval periods has shed new light
on how this metal was used and viewed during a period of great cultural change.
Dr Alice Blackwell, Dr Fraser Hunter, Dr Andreas Rau, and Dr Martin Goldberg report.

Current Archaeology’s March Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home

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 are various 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.

England’s Saxon Shore forts: Excavating the CA archive

The Saxon Shore (litus Saxonicum) was a military command consisting of fortifications built on both sides of the English Channel, which were established in the late 3rd century AD to defend Britain against the incursion of Saxon raiders. Its nine English forts are mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum, a document that details the administrative organisation of the late Roman Empire.

Home on the range: Examining a late Roman villa estate at Milton, Cambridgeshire

The discovery of an extensive and long-lived late Roman agricultural landscape near Cambridge has added illuminating details to our understanding of a region that appears to have been home to numerous villa estates. With the project now published in full, Francis M Morris, who recently completed the post-excavation analysis for Archaeological Research Services Ltd, is our guide to the key findings.

The last piece of the puzzle: Withington Roman Villa mosaics, Corinium Museum

For the first time in more than 200 years, colourful fragments of the ‘Orpheus’ mosaic excavated at Withington Roman Villa in 1812 have been reunited in a new display at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, thanks to long-term loans from…

The Carpenters’ Fellowship

Timber-framing is gaining momentum as a mainstream construction technique for new buildings in the UK because of its environmental benefits. Timber substantially reduces the carbon emissions and high energy costs associated with steel and concrete structures, and the use of…

Museum news

The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.

Uncovering Roman Carlisle: Where worlds met and Gladiators of Britain at Tullie, Carlisle

Two new exhibitions shed vivid light on different aspects of life within the most northerly Roman town on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.

Domination: the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity

Through her TV work and writing, Professor Alice Roberts is a powerful and effective advocate for archaeology in the public realm. In Domination, she extends her coverage to explore Christianity in Late Antiquity, unpicking the intimate connection between the spread of…

Common Ground in Scottish Archaeology: contributions in honour of Anna Ritchie

Few people have made such a profound impact on the understanding of Scotland’s prehistoric and early medieval past as Anna Ritchie. In 2022, the Scottish Society for Northern Studies and the Pictish Arts Society jointly hosted a conference to celebrate…

Archaeology of Britain’s Oldest Church Doors

For lovers of church archaeology, anything by Warwick Rodwell is a must. His new book covers two subjects: medieval ecclesiastical doors – the Westminster example is pre-Conquest and the Hadstock one a few years later – and the allegedly human…

Neolithic Timber Halls and a Bronze Age Settlement with Hoard at Carnoustie, Angus

The timber halls ex-cavated at Carnoustie between 2016 and 2017 are some of the most significant Neolithic discoveries in Scotland in recent decades, particularly considering that the bigger of the two halls is the largest of its period yet discovered…

The Archaeology of the Stonehenge Visitor Centre

This book draws together diverse excavations; geophysical, augering, and fieldwalking surveys; and other investigations carried out between 1991 and 2009 to help determine a location and explore design options for the Stonehenge Visitor Centre that opened in 2013 (see CA…

Neolithic Impressed and Related Wares in Britain and Ireland

This volume comprises 11 regional or national papers and a synthesis of lipid analysis results. Several contributors note that Impressed Wares have been a ‘Cinderella’ among Neolithic pottery traditions. They echo Isobel Smith’s 1974 characterisation of Peterborough Ware (the Impressed…

Current Archaeology 432

• Exploring the archaeology of Ben Lomond
• The history of the ‘Hill of Goats’: the Yeavering excavations
• Surveying rock-art discoveries in the Peak District National Park
• Tracing the evolution of attitudes towards mental health of Clifton Hospital, York
• Special report: examining the Norfolk Carnyx Hoard

Military History Matters 150

• The Spitfire at 90: the birth of an aviation legend
• Verdun, 1916: the longest battle of World War I
• Berlin, year zero: tensions in Germany’s ruined capital
• Blood transfusion: Britain’s war-winning medical innovation
• The American Revolution part 3: examining the crucial events of 1777-1780

A rock and a hard place: Sarsen study sheds new light on the construction of Stonehenge

How did the builders of Stonehenge manage to work with sarsen – a notoriously hard material – to create the Neolithic monument’s towering trilithons? Carly Hilts spoke to Phil Harding of Wessex Archaeology about his recent research exploring whether flint-knapping techniques might hold the key.