Cover Story
HMS Invincible: excavating a Georgian time capsule In its heyday, HMS Invincible was considered one of the finest ships in the Royal Navy – and although it sank off Portsmouth in 1758, its remains represent the best-preserved 18th-century warship known in UK waters. Carly Hilts spoke to… Features
Butser Ancient Farm at 50: celebrating half a century of experimental archaeology With Butser Ancient Farm marking its 50th birthday this year, Trevor Creighton reflects on the past and present of this pioneering experimental archaeological site, and shares the memories of some… 
Lessons from Canterbury: saving heritage with new approaches to urban development Influential figures in the heritage world are concerned about the scale and height of new buildings proposed for the centre of Canterbury, where the primacy of the cathedral as a… 
Cissbury Ring: Neolithic flint-mines in the digital age Seventy years after John Pull’s excavations at Cissbury Ring transformed our understanding of Neolithic flint-mining, an innovative new interpretive trail has been launched at the West Sussex landmark. Carly Hilts… 
Travellers from an antique land: exploring the collections of the Society of Antiquaries of London As the Society of Antiquaries of London launches a new affiliate membership, increasing access to its library and museum collections for the general public, Carly Hilts visited Burlington House to… 
On the edge of empire: exploring indigenous experiences on the Roman frontier An investigation stretching from Durham to the southern Scottish Highlands is illuminating the lives of communities who lived under Roman occupation, and on the fringes of imperial influence. The first… News
Welsh Bronze Age hoard declared treasure The hoard, which dates from 1000-800 BC, was unearthed in Llanddeusant Community, Carmarthenshire. 
Thousands of amphibian bones discovered at Late Iron Age site in Cambridgeshire Excavations at Bar Hill in Cambridgeshire yielded almost 700kg of animal bone – including over 8,000 amphibian bones. 
More details on the historic royal shipwreck found off Norfolk coast The find has been hailed as the most significant British maritime discovery since the Mary Rose. 
Bronze Age spearhead found near Cirencester Previous investigations have uncovered traces of human activity spanning the Neolithic to Roman periods. 
Stone circle discovered inside Cornwall henge This represents a rare find for the area: the only other known Cornish henge monument with a stone circle is Stripple Stones on Bodmin Moor. 
Food fit for a king? Reinterpreting early medieval diets with isotopic analysis The research focused on carbon and nitrogen signatures preserved in the bone collagen of 2,023 people buried in England between the 5th and 11th centuries AD. 
Glasgow’s 1988 ‘Garden Festival’ rediscovered The festival welcomed some 4.3 million visitors over 152 days, and featured themed gardens, performances, a replica Roman bathhouse, and the much-loved ‘Coca-Cola’ roller coaster. 
Burials uncovered at Leicester Cathedral All individuals will be carefully reburied following completion of the research work. 
Anglo-Saxon cemetery found in Buckinghamshire Almost three-quarters of the burials contained grave goods, including more than 2,000 beads, 86 brooches, 51 knives, 15 spearheads, and even a personal hygiene kit. Views
Museum news and exhibitions Museum, What's on The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions. 
At first light The Picture Desk Jodrell Bank Observatory, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of The University of Manchester, is a working research facility that has supported the discovery of meteors, black holes, and… 
Excavating Suffolk Comment, Places The result of many years’ fieldwork by local voluntary and educational organisations came to a head there in the early 1990s, when a long-proposed bypass was constructed, destroying major elements… 
CBA Festival of Archaeology 2022 What's on This July, the Festival of Archaeology returns with a wonderful array of events, resources, and activities taking place around the UK and online. The theme of the 2022 Festival is… 
The Florence Nightingale Museum, London Museum, What's on With the Florence Nightingale Museum having recently reopened, Carly Hilts dropped by to learn more about the life, legacy, and legend of the ‘Lady with the Lamp’. 
Finds tray – Victorian letterpress printing plate Objects IMAGE: Birmingham Museums Trust/CC BY 2.0. This 19th-century letterpress printing plate was found by a metal-detectorist, on cultivated land in Warwickshire, last summer. It is made from copper alloy, and… 
CAER Heritage Groups CAER Heritage is a model of genuine partnership between heritage professionals and community interest groups. 
Jubilee listings and haunted homes Comment Woodchester Mansion is considered to be one of the UK’s most haunted buildings, and people pay large sums to spend the night in the freezing cold mansion with their ghost-detecting… Reviews
Scenes from Prehistoric Life: from the Ice Age to the coming of the Romans Review by Molly Masterson. In just a few hundred pages, Scenes from Prehistoric Life takes readers on a journey through 900,000 years of prehistory, weaving a narrative that connects the… 
Seasonal Settlement in the Medieval and Early Modern Countryside Review by Stephen Mileson. This latest, well-produced, and richly illustrated contribution to the Ruralia series tells us much about medieval and early modern use of the mountains, moorlands, forests, and… CBA Festival of Archaeology 2022 This July, the Festival of Archaeology returns with a wonderful array of events, resources, and activities taking place around the UK and online. The theme of the 2022 Festival is… 
Warrior Treasure: the Staffordshire Hoard in Anglo-Saxon England Review by Kevin Leahy. This book joins the growing list of publications on the Staffordshire Hoard, but Warrior Treasure is published by Historic England and can be viewed as an… 
Buried: an alternative history of the first millennium in Britain Review by E O’Brien. In Buried, Alice Roberts, derives information relating not only to the death of individuals but to the lives lived by those individuals from examination of their… The Florence Nightingale Museum, London With the Florence Nightingale Museum having recently reopened, Carly Hilts dropped by to learn more about the life, legacy, and legend of the ‘Lady with the Lamp’. 
The Romano-British Villa and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Eccles, Kent The site at Eccles in Kent was excavated on a shoestring from 1962 to 1976 by Alec Detsicas with the Lower Medway Archaeological Research Group and then the Eccles Excavation… 
Territoriality and the Early Medieval Landscape: the countryside of the East Saxon kingdom Review by Nick Higham. Stephen Rippon must be congratulated on a handsome, well-illustrated book that is a new must-read for anyone interested in the East Saxons or what the transition… 
From the editor
Built in 1744 and captured from the French three years later, HMS Invincible was considered one of the finest ships in the Georgian Royal Navy. Its innovative design gave it many technical advantages over British vessels, and it was eagerly copied by shipwrights – but in 1758, the Invincible sank off Portsmouth. The wreck was undisturbed for over 200 years, but now archaeologists exploring its well-preserved hull – still packed with provisions and the possessions of its crew – are illuminating life on board an 18th-century warship.
From underwater archaeology to underground labour, 6,000 years ago the site now known as Cissbury Ring in West Sussex was home to almost 300 shafts dug by Neolithic flint-miners. The landmark’s long history is now being showcased through an innovative interpretive trail, and CA went to try it out.
The Cissbury Ring trail is intended to encourage care for the site by fostering better understanding of its archaeological features, and our next article also highlights efforts to safeguard historic structures: this time in Canterbury, by SAVE Britain’s Heritage.
We next visit Butser Ancient Farm, a Hampshire-based experimental archaeology centre that celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Our article traces the past and present of this influential site, and shares memories from some of the people who have been involved with, or inspired by, its work.
Finally, we take a trip to Burlington House, home of the Society of Antiquaries of London and its collections of more than 130,000 books and 40,000 objects. A new Affiliate Membership aims to make these resources more open to the public, so CA dropped by to learn about the Society’s history and holdings.
