Cover Story
Harpole’s hidden gem: excavating early medieval Britain’s most significant female burial Archaeological work just outside Northampton has uncovered an internationally significant burial, furnished with a remarkable 7th-century necklace, as well as a number of other high-status grave goods. With conservation and analysis of the finds under way, Carly Hilts spoke to… Features
Pondering Penywyrlod: in search of the early origins of the Cotswold-Severn long cairn and barrow group The title of The First Stones, a newly published book edited by William Britnell and Alasdair Whittle, proclaims a bold new thesis: that the Neolithic long cairn at Penywyrlod, in… 
Return to Priors Hall: exploring a Roman villa estate near Corby In 2020, we reported on intriguing discoveries emerging from a Roman villa site near Corby, Northamptonshire. Now further excavations have been carried out at Priors Hall, illuminating the area’s industrial… 
The Ness of Brodgar: marking 20 years of Neolithic discoveries Since the first hints of Neolithic masonry emerged at the Ness of Brodgar in 2003, two decades of excavations have uncovered an extraordinary complex of monumental stone buildings dating back… 
Excavating Weeley Barracks: echoes of the Napoleonic Wars in Essex In the early years of the 19th century, military camps sprang up along the south coast of England to guard against French invasion. Once the Napoleonic Wars ended, most were… News
Honouring Honor Frost 'As early as 1958, she took part in the first excavation of a 13th-century BC Bronze Age shipwreck.' 
Second Pictish stone discovered near Ulbster It probably dates to between the 5th and 7th centuries AD, before the Picts were converted to Christianity. 
How the Black Death altered our genetic makeup Although people with this variant would have been better able to survive a Y. pestis infection, it overlaps with alleles that are associated with an increased risk of developing an… 
Illuminating Islamic glass in Scotland The three fragments of an Islamic glass vessel were found in the late 1990s at Caerlaverock Castle, near Dumfries. 
Anglo-Saxon assemblage acquired by KAS The artefacts were found during the 1977-1981 excavations of nearly 200 graves at Ozengell, near Ramsgate in Kent. 
Short-lived chapel illuminated in Westminster Abbey While the chapel’s exact location remains unknown, it was probably situated on the south side of the 13th-century Lady Chapel, perhaps near St Mary’s garden. 
Hitting the right note: medieval bone flute found in Kent The instrument is remarkably well-preserved, and was found in association with medieval pottery dating to between the 12th and 15th centuries. 
Return to Rutland Roman Villa This past summer, the team returned to explore other buildings on the site, in order to learn more about the complex as a whole. 
Reanalysing hominin bones from Boxgrove The remains found at Boxgrove – consisting of two teeth and part of a tibia – were re-examined by an international team using advanced 3D imaging and virtual reconstruction techniques. Views
BOOK TICKETS NOW FOR CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY LIVE! 2023 What's on Current Archaeology Live! 2023 is coming up quickly, and tickets are selling fast. This year the conference, in partnership with University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, will be on 25… Honouring Honor Frost News, People 'As early as 1958, she took part in the first excavation of a 13th-century BC Bronze Age shipwreck.' 
The Corbett Society Groups, People Harold James Dyos, late Professor of Urban History at the University of Leicester, wrote that London underwent three distinct periods of growth: an increasingly dense build-up of the population in… 
Treason: people, power, and plot Museum, What's on A new exhibition at the National Archives in London traces the history of treason since it was first written into English law in 1352. Carly Hilts visited to find out… 
Saving a Second World War Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery The Picture Desk This Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery – located some 350m east of Decoy Farm, to the north of the River Bure, near Mautby, Norfolk – is believed to be the most-complete… 
Excavating the Highlands Comment, Places To many, this part of the country is the ‘definitive’ Scottish landscape of their dreams, the stuff of countless movies and TV shows. To less romantically inclined archaeologists, it is… 
Exhibitions, events, and heritage from home – CA’s January Listings Museum, What's on There is a great selection of opportunities on offer this year to get involved in heritage, history, and archaeology, with new exhibitions, lectures, conferences, and more coming up over the… 
Saving landmarks and ancient traditions Comment Why not mark the start of the other calendric festivals and their associated deities with holidays?... Time to bring back bonfires, dancing at dawn, May Day frolics, and the dressing… 
Finds tray – medieval disc brooch Objects This copper-alloy disc brooch, measuring approximately 27mm in diameter, was found last year by a metal-detectorist in the parish of Thirkleby High and Low with Osgodby, just north of York.… Reviews
Gates of the City of London Review by AB The City of London’s seven historic gates – Ludgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Moorgate, Bishopsgate, and Aldgate – were first constructed in the Roman period and continued to… BOOK TICKETS NOW FOR CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY LIVE! 2023 Current Archaeology Live! 2023 is coming up quickly, and tickets are selling fast. This year the conference, in partnership with University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, will be on 25… Treason: people, power, and plot A new exhibition at the National Archives in London traces the history of treason since it was first written into English law in 1352. Carly Hilts visited to find out… 
Picts: scourge of Rome, rulers of the north Review by Kelly Kilpatrick The Picts first appear in written sources as a cultural entity to the north of the Roman frontier, and disappear from the written record before the… 
Behind Closed Doors: the secret life of London private members’ clubs Review by CH This entertaining and adeptly written account traces the story of London’s private members’ clubs from the 18th century to the present day. Dr Seth Alexander Thévoz –… 
The Circular Archetype in Microcosm: the carved stone balls of late Neolithic Scotland Review by Hugo Anderson-Whymark Carved stone balls are one of Scotland’s most intriguing Neolithic artefacts. Some 500 of these palm-sized stone spheres are known, with most found in Aberdeenshire. This… Exhibitions, events, and heritage from home – CA’s January Listings There is a great selection of opportunities on offer this year to get involved in heritage, history, and archaeology, with new exhibitions, lectures, conferences, and more coming up over the… 
Water in the Roman World: engineering, trade, religion, and daily life Review by Andrew Tibbs In Roman times, water was an important resource, but also had symbolic importance. Waterways acted as arterial routes of the Empire, used by the military, traders,… 
Funerary and Related Cups of the British Bronze Age Review by Edward Caswell This book provides a new and welcome synthesis of a particularly enigmatic group of Bronze Age ceramics, which have been variously named, but which the authors… 
Museum news: Nottingham Castle closes and the British Museum brings ancient Egypt to Middlesbrough The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions 
From the editor
Happy New Year! This month’s cover story features an extraordinary Anglo-Saxon find from Northamptonshire: the Harpole Treasure. This necklace, the richest of its kind yet discovered, had been chosen to accompany an evidently high-status woman to the grave in the mid-7th century. Ongoing analysis of her burial and the artistry of its artefacts will surely help to illuminate the period in which she lived and died. Finds like these also highlight why it is so important for developer-funded excavations to remain an integral part of the planning process: had the site not been investigated ahead of new housing, the isolated grave might never have been identified.
Next is a rather more recent site, again uncovered ahead of development: Weeley Barracks in Essex, which was built amid fears of French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. What can we learn about its buildings, and the people who lived there?
The feature that follows is the second part of a planned Orkney trilogy drawing on my visit to the islands last summer; here we bring you the latest news from the Ness of Brodgar and its amazing Neolithic buildings, as the site marks 20 years since its discovery.
We then explore a third development-led dig, this time at Priors Hall near Corby. There, a second series of excavations have shed further light on the remains of a Roman villa estate that we first covered in CA 370. How has the story developed since our initial article? Read on to find out more.
Finally, we learn about the evolution of an enigmatic and intriguing form of monument, Neolithic long cairns, and ask whether an example in south-east Wales was the archetype for this innovative tomb-building tradition?
