Excavating Wiltshire
I have now examined the archaeology of every county in Britain bar one – Wiltshire. This was no accident, for I have a confession to make: Wiltshire’s archaeology terrifies me.
Stonehenge
Britain’s Landmarks and Legends: the fascinating stories embedded in our landscape
REVIEW BY EDWARD BIDDULPH How did a giant ship create the White Cliffs of Dover? Why can Oxfordshire’s Rollright Stones never be counted? Which ghost said to haunt Lake Windermere was recorded on Ordnance Survey mapping? The answers can be…
Current Archaeology 405
• Llanddwyn Island: illuminating centuries of sacred and secular life
• A Victorian rock garden: ‘dahlia-mania’ at Stonehenge
• Distilling the spirit of Northumbria’s Golden Age at Ad Gefrin
• Alternative views: exploring ‘icons’ of the Hadrian’s Wall landscape
• The tale of a tree: an archaeological history of Sycamore Gap
• Rooted in the future: a cultural ecology of the Sycamore Gap tree
• Avalon Archaeology: a new open-air museum in Somerset
A Victorian rock garden: Celebrating ‘dahlia-mania’ at Stonehenge
For a brief snapshot of the mid-19th century, flower festivals drew thousands of visitors to Stonehenge, long before the Neolithic monument became a popular tourist attraction in its own right. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Louise Crawley, Brian Edwards, and Jennifer Wexler to learn more about this colourful but little-known episode of Salisbury Plain’s past.
Current Archaeology’s November Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home
There are lots of great opportunities to get stuck into history and heritage this autumn, whether you’re looking for conferences, exhibitions, or archaeological days out. If you would rather get involved at home, though, there are a wider variety of resources on offer, from new virtual museums and digital tours of heritage sites to podcasts, blogs, TV shows, and more. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Stonehenge Altar Stone is probably not from Wales
New research is calling into question the origin and function of the Altar Stone at Stonehenge. A century ago, Herbert Thomas announced that the non-sarsens, dolerites, and volcanic tuffs making up the Stonehenge bluestones had been transported to Wiltshire from…
Stonehenge: a brief history
REVIEW BY ROB IXER After a slight temporal dip, we are back riding up on to a crest of the sine curve called ‘popular Stonehenge book publication’ (sadly, for a sun-orientated temple, this appears out of phase with the solar…
The latest from the past: Re-excavating Boles Barrow
Over the course of a very rainy week this past March, Wessex Archaeology and volunteers from Operation Nightingale, led by DIO archaeologist Richard Osgood, carried out a small-scale excavation of Boles Barrow (also known as Bowl’s Barrow), a Neolithic long…
Deep impact: Can social value save archaeology from extinction?
As CIfA’s code of conduct states, ‘fuller understanding of the past provided by archaeology is part of society’s common heritage and it should be available to everyone’. So, how can we make sure that archaeology is accessible to as many people as possible? Lisa Westcott Wilkins considers the future of our field.
Museum news: Stonehenge on screen and seven sites added to the UK’s Tentative List
The latest on exhibitions, acquisitions, and key decisions.
Bronze Age gold-working toolkit revealed
The team found that the modified stone cobbles had been used with a percussive action – either as stationary anvils or hammers – and that some preserved traces of gold contemporary with their use.
This week: the year in review
It has been a year of non-stop turbulence in the news – from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the continuing upheaval of Covid-19, and from record-breaking heatwaves to the return of rampant inflation. These seismic events have provided us with…
From Stonehenge to Santa Claus: the archaeology of Christmas
What does Stonehenge have to do with Christmas? How did the Romans celebrate midwinter? Was Jesus really born on 25 December? How did the Medieval church merge the celebration of the Nativity with earlier pagan tradition? Why did Parliament abolish Christmas in the 17th century? What are the origins of Christmas trees, carols, and crackers? And who is Santa Claus?
This week: A pagan Christmas?
These days, some would have us believe that Christmas has been ‘hijacked’ – that the season of good cheer has been rudely stripped of its religious connotation (of ‘mass on Christ’s day’) and replaced instead by a secular and commercially…
Goldworking toolkit identified among grave goods from a Bronze Age barrow near Stonehenge
Traces of gold residue have been identified on five stone grave goods from a Bronze Age burial in Wiltshire.
Stonehenge and Middle to Late Neolithic Cremation Rites in Mainland Britain (c.3500-2500 BC)
In the middle-to-late Neolithic in southern and eastern Britain a number of important monumental landscapes were host to a series of cremation cemeteries, the deposition of the dead in some cases being a catalyst and inspiration for the elaborate monument-building and…
Circles of stone: Stonehenge and prehistoric Japan
A new exhibition at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre explores striking similarities between the stone monuments built by two unconnected but contemporary cultures, 6,000 miles apart. Carly Hilts went to find out more.
This week: Archaeogenetics
In the decades since the cracking of the human genome, the study of ancient DNA – known as archaeogenetics – has had a dramatic effect on our understanding of the distant past. The analysis of genetic material preserved in archaeological…
Exhibitions, events, and heritage from home across the UK
As autumn approaches, there are many fantastic opportunities to get involved in history, heritage, and archaeology around the UK, including new exhibitions, events, and conferences. There are also still plenty of online resources available if you’re looking for ways to get your heritage fix at home, ranging from new virtual museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Victorian gifts: new insights into the Stonehenge bluestones
The recent rediscovery of a series of rock samples collected during the Victorian period has allowed new analysis of some of the stones of Stonehenge. Rob Ixer, Richard Bevins, Nick Pearce, and David Dawson explain more.
How to Build Stonehenge
Review by Susan Greaney. This elegant new volume is the first book for over 60 years to focus specifically on how the world-famous Neolithic monument of Stonehenge was constructed. The narrative progresses through the step-by-step process of the extraction, transport,…
Life before Stonehenge: exploring environmental evidence from Blick Mead
Scientific analysis of sediments, pollen, and ancient DNA preserved at Blick Mead in Wiltshire has revealed a detailed picture of the Mesolithic landscape close to Stonehenge. David Jacques and Sam Hudson report.
Unearthing, preserving, and presenting history
Raiding parties often consisted of genetically similar people, suggesting that they probably came from a single community or were members of the same family, such as the four brothers in one boat burial in Estonia who died on the same day.
Thousands of possible prehistoric pits found near Stonehenge
Among the larger features excavated in the course of the investigations, the team found a 10,000-year-old pit that had been dug into the chalk bedrock, perhaps to catch game such as aurochs.
New analysis of Blick Mead’s Mesolithic landscape
Excavations at the site have revealed traces of a significant Mesolithic ‘home base’, including evidence of extensive flint-tool manufacturing and major feasting events.
This week: Mapping the cosmos
These days, we take it for granted that we carry the world – and the cosmos – in our pockets. Powerful smart phones and ever-more-sophisticated technology mean that we can summon up highly detailed maps both of the earth and the heavens above with just a few taps of the screen. It was not always like this, of course.
The World of Stonehenge
Review by HB. This accessible and richly informative book, produced to accompany the World of Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum (CA 384), treats Stonehenge as a ‘gateway’ into the interconnected worlds of British, Irish, and European prehistory. Wooden poles…
Was Stonehenge a solar calendar?
Recent geochemical research has found that most of the sarsen stones come from the same geographical area
Bretons and Britons: exploring prehistoric Britain’s French connection
The fact that Britain and Brittany have similar names is more than coincidental. The two places have enmeshed histories, as Barry Cunliffe discusses in his latest book, Bretons and Britons. Chris Catling reports on the periods in prehistory when the people of the two cultures facing each other across the Channel were particularly close.
Current Archaeology 384
• Exploring the world of Stonehenge
• Symbolism in Shakespeare’s schoolroom
• Quarrying clues: Neolithic stone extraction
• Britain’s most elusive Roman sculptures (out 9 February)
• Deciphering the DNA of the Amesbury Archer and the Companion
Solar Power at Stonehenge
The people of Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe explored their connection to the sun in a range of ways, from monumental stone circles to small gold discs. As a new exhibition opens at the British Museum, Lucia Marchini speaks to Jennifer Wexler to find out more about the ideas that linked them.
The world of Stonehenge: placing a famous monument in context
A new exhibition at the British Museum explores the landscape that Stonehenge emerged from, and the social, cultural, and technological transformations it witnessed. Neil Wilkin and Jennifer Wexler told CA more.
This week: Stonehenge
As the UK's most famous ancient monument, it is a sight familiar to millions around the world. But despite its popularity both as a tourist attraction and as an icon of Britishness, there is a sense in which Stonehenge has always felt strangely isolated.
Family ties: deciphering the DNA of the Amesbury Archer and the Companion
Twenty years ago, one of the richest Bell Beaker burials ever found in Europe was discovered close to Stonehenge. At that time, DNA analysis was not sufficiently advanced to learn more about the individual, dubbed ‘the Amesbury Archer’ – but the intervening decades have seen significant scientific advances that have shed illuminating light on this enigmatic figure, as well as his relationship to a younger man buried nearby. Andrew Fitzpatrick, Jacqueline McKinley, Alistair Barclay, Ian Armit, Iñigo Olalde, and David Reich report on what has been revealed.
Stonehenge Quiz
Which 12th-century chronicler suggested that Stonehenge had originally been transported from Ireland to Salisbury Plain with help from the wizard Merlin?
The world of Stonehenge
In February, the UK’s first major exhibition focusing on the story of Stonehenge will open at the British Museum. Carly Hilts went to a preview of the upcoming blockbuster to find out more.