Cover Story
Greek myth in Roman Rutland: unearthing scenes from the Trojan War An intricate Roman mosaic depicting the triumph of the Greek warrior Achilles over Hector of Troy, recently unearthed in Rutland, has been hailed as the region’s most stunning archaeological discovery to-date. Hazel Blair spoke to John Thomas, Anthony Beeson, David… Features
From West Africa to Wisbech: analysing 18th-century textiles in Thomas Clarkson’s campaign chest Cutting-edge analysis of 18th-century West African textiles collected by the abolitionist campaigner Thomas Clarkson has shed vivid light on their manufacture, make-up, and where they may have been made. Sarah… 
Lost and found: wall paintings and rood-screens in Welsh churches In response to the Black Lives Matter protests of June 2020, influential voices within the Anglican church called for the removal of every monument and stained-glass window commemorating people connected… 
The Wall ‘warrior’ in context: exploring African identities in Roman Britain Recent analysis of a 1st-century lead figurine at Wall Roman site in Staffordshire, depicting a man from sub-Saharan Africa, has shed new light on perceptions of identity in Roman Britain.… 
An experiment in earthen walls: Operation Nightingale, Butser Ancient Farm, and the Dunch Hill roundhouse The excavation of a Bronze Age roundhouse on Salisbury Plain has fed into a new reconstruction at Butser Ancient Farm, using experimental archaeology to interpret its ephemeral outline. Trevor Creighton,… News
Ice Age mammoth bones and Neanderthal tools found in Swindon The find has been dubbed the ‘biggest mammoth discovery for a generation’ 
Rebuilt Romano-Celtic temple unveiled in Kent It is 70m from where archaeological remains thought to represent a 1st-century AD temple were discovered 
Time Team survey Sutton Hoo The results will be shared in spring, in a new episode of Time Team that will air on the ‘Time Team Official’ YouTube Channel. 
Burghead Pictish fort digitised in 3D The fort sits on a sand dune and is thought to have been occupied as early as the 6th century AD 
Using neutrons to analyse human skeletal remains These results could be used to distinguish between skeletal remains that have been cremated, and those that may have been heated as part of ritualistic defleshing practices 
New discoveries at Pen Dinas Iron Age hillfort Geophysical survey revealed previously unrecorded outer defences at the site 
Unlocking the archaeology of Speyside malt whisky The star find was a brass keyhole cover, which would have been used to lock the ‘spirit safe’, where whisky is traditionally collected after distillation. 
Evidence for Roman crucifixion unearthed in Cambridgeshire The man’s bones have been radiocarbon dated to between AD 130 and 360. Views
The patron saint of spinners and spinsters Comment In 1473, Robert Wodelarke marked the feast of St Catharine by founding a college of priests in Cambridge, commanding them to pray for their founder daily while completing their theological… 
Current Archaeology LIVE! 2022 Competitions Current Archaeology Live! 2022 is coming up quickly, with the event scheduled to run over the weekend of 25-27 February. Like last year, it will be held online, with all… 
Excavating Leicestershire and Rutland Comment The discovery, excavation, and analysis of the Richard III's remains in Leicester between 2012 and 2015 was one of the most famous archaeological projects of recent times, drawing global attention… 
Events, exhibitions, and heritage from home in Spring 2022 Museum, What's on At the time of writing, many new archaeology- and history-related events are being scheduled around the UK. We have put together another selection of some of the upcoming ‘in-person’ activities… 
The world of Stonehenge Museum, What's on 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… 
Museum news – January 2022 Museum, What's on The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions. 
A trick of the light: the Great North Museum The Picture Desk Glowing in vivid technicolour against a pitch-black backdrop, the stone blocks pictured here are part of a group of seven Roman altars that have been reimagined in colour using only… 
Church Crawlers Anonymous Groups This ‘society’ consists of an informal Facebook group with some 1,600 members. Anyone who shares the group’s passion for exploring places of worship and contributing photographs that inspire others to… 
Finds tray – Harold II Objects Coins of Harold II Godwinson (r. 1066), killed at the Battle of Hastings, are not common – the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme has recorded only 28 such single finds… Reviews
London Clay: journeys in the deep city London Clay is an impressionistic survey of London and its history, filtered through the prism of the underlying geological strata. It is at once personal and overarching, meandering from pre-Roman… 
Early Medieval Britain c.500-1000 Is there room for another general history of early medieval Britain? The answer is ‘yes, of course’ when it is as fresh and interesting as this one. Its USP is… 
Cornwall’s Military Heritage Cornwall is a county with a long military history, and reminders of its past can be found scattered across the landscape, ranging from Iron Age hillforts to Cold War control… Time Team survey Sutton Hoo The results will be shared in spring, in a new episode of Time Team that will air on the ‘Time Team Official’ YouTube Channel. 
Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: cultures and connections Associated with the 2019 British Library exhibition Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: art, word, war, these 14 short essays demonstrate the specialised scholarship that lies behind the choice and description of items in… Events, exhibitions, and heritage from home in Spring 2022 At the time of writing, many new archaeology- and history-related events are being scheduled around the UK. We have put together another selection of some of the upcoming ‘in-person’ activities… 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… 
Culduthel: an Iron Age craftworking centre in north-east Scotland The rapid suburban expansion of Inverness in recent decades has led to a patchwork of prehistoric sites being discovered through developer-funded excavations. In 2005, however, Headland Archaeology hit the motherlode… 
The Middle Ages: a graphic history Spanning roughly 1,100 years, this lively book is billed as ‘a romp across continents and kingdoms’, and it does not disappoint. Historian Eleanor Janega unpicks complex topics with verve, irreverent… 
From the editor
Happy New Year!
This month’s cover showcases a spectacular Roman mosaic unearthed in Rutland, its colourful imagery preserving vivid scenes from the story of the Trojan War. The mosaic echoes episodes from Homer’s Iliad, but with idiosyncratic elements. Our special report asks: what can it tell us about the transmission of Classical literature in Roman Britain?
Remaining in Britannia, our first feature heads west to Wall, in Staffordshire, once home to a key Watling Street staging post and Roman town called Letocetum. New analysis there of a small lead figurine has shed intriguing light on Romano-British artistic depictions of people from sub-Saharan Africa.
Wall was also the site of Roman fortifications, and we remain with martial matters as we head to the military training zone on Salisbury Plain. Volunteer veterans from Operation Nightingale have worked with Wessex Archaeology to excavate a Bronze Age roundhouse at Dunch Hill – remains that have now formed the basis for a new experimental reconstruction at Butser Ancient Farm.
We next travel into Wales to tour some of the stunning medieval wall paintings still surviving on church walls, many of them only recently rediscovered beneath multiple coats of whitewash applied during the Protestant Reformation.
From iconoclasm to ideology, the focus of our final feature is a campaign chest that once belonged to the abolitionist activist Thomas Clarkson. Cutting-edge technology has revealed fascinating details of its contents: West African textiles that Clarkson had used to argue against the slave trade.
