Cover Story
From Samarkand to Sutton Hoo: Exploring the impact of the Silk Roads on early medieval Britain and Ireland A new exhibition running at the British Museum explores the vast network of cultural and commercial connections that spanned Europe, Africa, and Asia in AD 500-1000. Carly Hilts visited to learn how diverse ideas, materials, and people filtered along these… Features
Secrets of the Dorset marsh: Excavating Bronze Age remains and one of Britain’s oldest wooden tools Over the last two years, excavations on marshland near Poole Harbour have revealed evidence of unusual seasonal activity dating to the Bronze Age – including one of the oldest and… 
Archaeology and climate change The CHERISH Project resulted from a joint Welsh and Irish application to the European Union’s Interreg fund, the purpose of which is to bring member nations together to share innovative… 
Seeking a Scottish source: Updating the story of Stonehenge’s Altar Stone In CA 415, we reported on new scientific analysis suggesting that the origins of the Stonehenge Altar Stone lay hundreds of miles from Salisbury Plain, in the Orcadian Basin of… News
The Peebles Hoard: Investigating one of Scotland’s ‘most significant’ hoards The prompt reporting and careful recovery of a Bronze Age hoard has enabled expert analysis of its contents. CA reports on the potential of the Peebles Hoard to transform our… 
Early medieval metalworking on Islay Excavations on Islay, in the Inner Hebrides, have uncovered the archaeological remains of an early medieval metalworking workshop. Finds of flint had been emerging from the plough soil for some… 
Previously unrecorded medieval buildings found at Huttons Ambo Recent excavations in Huttons Ambo in North Yorkshire have uncovered two previously unknown medieval buildings as well as hints of an Iron Age or Roman settlement. In the 1950s, excavations… 
Lindisfarne bones connected with monastery chapel Human remains discovered on Lindisfarne in 2022 have been identified as disturbed burials that were potentially associated with an early medieval chapel and cemetery at the island’s famous medieval monastery.… 
Continued exploration of Govan Old Church reveals early medieval building Govan Old Church in Glasgow is one of the city’s most important historical landmarks, with the site’s religious story stretching back at least 1,500 years, and the church itself renowned… 
Rare early medieval longhouse and Roman remains found at Wrexham Excavations at Wrexham, in north-east Wales, have revealed further traces of a known Roman settlement and the unexpected remains of an early medieval longhouse. Geophysical surveys in 2023 and 2024… 
Dorset’s mystery ‘Pin Wreck’ identified An anonymous shipwreck discovered off St Alban’s Head in Dorset more than 30 years ago has finally been identified by marine archaeologists from Bournemouth University. Found in 1990 at a… 
World news Oldest figurative art identified The oldest narrative art in the world has been identified in Indonesia during new analysis of rock-art sites on the island of Sulawesi. A new method… 
Science Notes: Talking the Torc – new analysis of the Pulborough torc In 2019, a metal-detectorist made a startling discovery while exploring near the edge of a stream near Pulborough in West Sussex: two curved pieces of a golden torc dating to… 
CARD Fund: 100 not out!: Community radiocarbon-dating fund delivers its 100th date A specialist grant that helps volunteer and community groups to date their finds has reached a significant milestone after funding 100 radiocarbon dates in the last nine years. Emma Aitken… Views
Current Archaeology’s November Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home What's on There is a great range of historical and archaeological events coming up over the next few months, ranging from exciting new exhibitions to lectures and conferences. Or, if you prefer… 
CA Letters 417 – November Letters The Altar Stone Engravings I was recently researching the Historic England archive of Richard Atkinson’s 1958 excavations at Stonehenge, and two photographs (P50106, https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/P50106; and P50107, https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/P50107) revealed an astonishing… 
Finds Tray – Bird brooch Objects This little bird, found by a metal-detectorist in Corhampton/Meonstoke, Hampshire, was once a brooch. Dating to the 6th century, it measures just 20mm long and 10mm wide, weighing 4.06g. The… 
Greater London: Excavating the CA archive Comment In my second column on the archaeology of Greater London, I stroll through the Saxon town, meander through the medieval city, and finally alight on some post-medieval and modern sites.… 
The Edward Thomas Fellowship Groups Sadly, trains no longer stop at Adlestrop, the station that is the subject of Edward Thomas’ best-known poem. That was lost to the Beeching axe in 1966, but there are… 
Viking linguistic legacy Comment In September, Sherds attended a lecture given by Richard Dance, Professor of Early English in the Cambridge University Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, on the theme of ‘Vikings in… 
Beached: The Sanday Shipwreck, Orkney The Picture Desk When skeletal timbers emerged from intertidal deposits at Sand o’Erraby beach on Sanday, Orkney, earlier this year, they were soon identified as part of a shipwreck – specifically, the midships… Reviews
Current Archaeology’s November Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home There is a great range of historical and archaeological events coming up over the next few months, ranging from exciting new exhibitions to lectures and conferences. Or, if you prefer… 
Unique coin hoard acquired for the nation A collection of over 2,500 silver pennies, hidden in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, is to go on display at the British Museum later this month, before finding a… 
A New Roman Landscape in Sussex at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery The Culver Archaeological Project has been running for almost 20 years. Carly Hilts reviews a new exhibition exploring its discoveries at two major Roman sites in Sussex’s Upper Ouse Valley. 
50 Early Medieval Finds REVIEW BY AB Once characterised as a ‘Dark Age’, Britain’s early medieval period is dark no more. These days, impressions of the era have been transformed by headline finds like… 
The Gravity of Feathers: Fame, Fortune, and the Story of St Kilda REVIEW BY CH Located more than 100 miles from the Scottish mainland, the cluster of islands collectively known as St Kilda have variously been mythologised as a romantically remote place… 
Exploring the Antonine Wall with terrestrial remote sensing REVIEW BY AMY BAKER Bringing together work conducted by Historic Environment Scotland (previously Historic Scotland), Glasgow University, and various commercial archaeological units, this highly readable and comprehensive synthesis of two… 
Finis Britanniae REVIEW BY RP This book takes on a challenging and complex period of British history, beginning with the political upheaval of the 3rd century, and ending with the arrival of… 
Churches of Gloucestershire REVIEW BY ADAM KLUPS Nicola Coldstream’s latest book showcases more than 40 ecclesiastical buildings in and around Gloucestershire, highlighting their fantastically diverse architectural styles and hidden treasures. The publication contains… 
Stonehenge: Sighting the Sun REVIEW BY ROB IXER This is the second of two recent, non-mainstream Stonehenge books (the other is Mike Pitts’ publication on the technicalities of building the circle), both of which… 
From the editor
It is not often that we at CA get to write about far-flung finds from such countries as Korea, Sweden, and Syria (though we love reading about them in the pages of our sister-magazine Current World Archaeology). However, in this month’s cover feature, which draws on the British Museum’s new Silk Roads exhibition, we explore how people, goods, and ideas travelled vast distances between AD 500 and 1000 to influence and inspire the inhabitants of early medieval Britain and Ireland.
We then turn to the Moors at Arne in Dorset. Rising sea levels are threatening important wildlife habitats around Poole Harbour, and so the Environment Agency, RSPB, and Natural England are working to adapt c.150ha into a new wetland environment. Archaeological work associated with this undertaking has revealed a wealth of illuminating finds, including one of the oldest and most complete wooden tools ever discovered in Britain.
Environmental matters feature in our third feature, too, which highlights a joint Welsh and Irish venture that is working to assess the impact of climate change on diverse archaeological sites – from promontory forts and castles to shipwrecks and drowned forests – along the Irish Sea coast.
Finally, we return to a subject discussed just two months ago: the origins of Stonehenge’s enigmatic Altar Stone. In CA 415, we reported on research suggesting that the slab’s source lay hundreds of miles from Salisbury Plain, in the Orcadian Basin of north-east Scotland – but geological understanding has already moved on. Our final feature reveals why thinking has changed, how scientists have further narrowed their search, and what recent fieldwork in Orkney has added to our understanding.
CARLY
You must be logged in to post a comment.