Cover Story
Beyond Birdoswald: Exploring the extra-mural settlement of a Hadrian’s Wall fort For the last three years, excavations outside the walls of Birdoswald Roman fort have been helping to characterise the community who lived in its shadow. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Ian Haynes to learn more. Features
Unearthing a medieval mystery: The search for Saline’s ‘lost’ church Historical records attest that the present parish church at Saline in West Fife had a medieval predecessor, but the exact location of this building has been lost over time. Linda… 
Hints from Hamptonne: How to build a Jersey farmhouse When, in 1988, the National Trust for Jersey purchased a semi-derelict farmstead called Hamptonne, a detailed archaeological investigation followed as part of a seven-year restoration programme. The multi-period site, with… 
Archaeology on Prescription: Using fieldwork to support York’s mental health provision An award-winning social prescribing project has been excavating thousands of years of history within the Walmgate area of York. Meg Barclay reports on its recent finds and how the initiative… 
Magnifying Milecastle 46: First modern excavations of the Hadrian’s Wall site begin A new five-year project by the Vindolanda Trust is shedding unprecedented light on Magna Roman fort and nearby Milecastle 46, as well as providing invaluable data about how the local… 
Gladiators: A day at the Roman games Colchester was the first capital of Roman Britain, and excavations within the town frequently uncover evidence of this chapter of its past. Colchester Castle, built over the ancient temple of… News
Prehistoric continuity in the Cambridgeshire landscape: Exploring recent excavations at Needingworth Quarry For almost 30 years, the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) has been uncovering diverse archaeological features and finds at one of the UK’s largest sand- and gravel-extraction sites. Excavations have illuminated… 
Face-to-face with the Trumpington bed burial teenager A facial reconstruction of the early medieval teenager who was laid to rest in a bed burial in Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, has been carried out by forensic artist Hew Morrison for… 
World News Pre-Hispanic landscape of Bolivia illuminated A large archaeological survey across the Carangas region of highland Bolivia has identified 135 hilltop sites, each with a number of circular walls built on… 
Bayesian analysis provides new chronology for Dorstone Hill Bayesian statistical modelling of a series of radiocarbon dates from the Neolithic site of Dorstone Hill, in south- west Herefordshire (recently published in Antiquity: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.93), suggests that it may represent… 
3D scan sheds light on unusual Roman gypsum burials Researchers from the University of York, York Museums Trust, and Heritage360 have recently carried out a 3D scan of a Roman gypsum burial – a practice in which liquid gypsum… 
Bronze Age barrow cemetery discovered in Salisbury Recent excavations by Cotswold Archaeology in Harnham, along Netherhampton Road on the western edge of Salisbury, have uncovered a large barrow cemetery, consisting of at least 20 burial mounds. While… 
Science Notes: Using incremental strontium isotope analysis to recreate subsistence ranges Strontium isotope analysis has become a standard in mobility research, featuring in many post-excavation analyses of human and animal remains. While ‘typical’ strontium analysis is able to tell us much… 
‘Giant’ handaxes found in Frindsbury, Kent Excavations at Manor Farm in Frindsbury, Kent – in advance of the construction of a Maritime Academy – have revealed more than 800 stone artefacts found within sediments thought to… 
Rare Roman mausoleum unearthed in Southwark A large Roman mausoleum, used to bury high-status individuals, was recently discovered by MOLA during excavations in advance of the redevelopment of a site near Borough Market in Southwark, by… Views
Park life then and now: Victoria Park, London The Picture Desk For 40 years, since the establishment of the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England in 1983, Historic England has been protecting the country’s parks and… 
Excavating the Current Archaeology Archive Comment Joe Flatman explores over half a century of reports from the past. 
Current Archaeology’s August Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home What's on There are many great ways to get involved with archaeology and heritage this summer, including new exhibitions, events, activities, and more. Or, if you would prefer to get your history… 
Saving Spilsby sandstone structures Comment Christopher Catling, Contributing Editor for CA, delves into the eccentricities of the heritage world. 
Lancashire Parish Register Society Groups We are grateful to LPRS Council member Simon Oliver for contributing this month’s ‘Odd Socs’ column. 
Finds tray: Early Bronze Age pin Objects This is a unique early Bronze Age pin, made from the first phalanx (or toe-bone) of a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). It is the only example ever found in a… Reviews
Current Archaeology’s August Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home There are many great ways to get involved with archaeology and heritage this summer, including new exhibitions, events, activities, and more. Or, if you would prefer to get your history… 
Pirates: Explore beneath the surface A new exhibition running at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth takes a deep dive into how perceptions of piracy have evolved since the 17th century, and the reality… 
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… 
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Carly Hilts reviews the latest outing of cinema’s most celebrated archaeologist. 
Wroxeter Roman City A new site museum tells the story of what was the fourth-largest town in Roman Britain. Carly Hilts visited to find out more. 
Villas, Sanctuaries, and Settlement in the Romano-British Countryside REVIEW BY NEIL HOLBROOK Did all the buildings in the Roman countryside that we call ‘villas’ perform the same function? Were they mostly nicely appointed homes of people who had… 
The Eagle and the Bear: a new history of Roman Scotland REVIEW BY MATTHEW SYMONDS Roman Scotland has long been a battleground. The remarkable remains of military works testify to the manpower that Rome committed to northern Britain, while the ancient… 
The Drowning of a Cornish Prehistoric Landscape: Tradition, deposition, and social responses to sea level rise REVIEW BY JACQUELINE A NOWAKOWSKI Mount’s Bay, west Cornwall, hosts a major drowned landscape. This attractive and well-produced monograph successfully integrates results of the excavation of a Bronze Age enclosure… 
Roman Frontier Archaeology in Britain and Beyond: Papers in honour of Paul Bidwell presented on the occasion of the 30th annual conference of the Arbeia Society REVIEW BY ANDREW TIBBS The study of Roman frontiers goes from strength to strength, as demonstrated in this volume, which marked the 30th annual conference of the Arbeia Society, the… 
From the editor
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Don’t worry, you haven’t accidentally picked up the Christmas issue – rather, it’s the height of summer, which means it’s site-visit season.
In the last few weeks I have driven through some truly beautiful countryside (and along some seriously dreary stretches of motorway) and, by the time you read this, will have visited projects in Northumberland, the Welsh borderlands, Kent, Berkshire, and Norfolk – and hopefully more that I am yet to pin down (have notebook, will travel!).
One of my adventures took me to Hadrian’s Wall, which has been a hotbed of excavation this summer – I visited three digs, two of which form the focus of our first two features. They are a starkly contrasting pair: first we hear the latest news from the extra-mural settlement outside Birdoswald, one of the most intensively investigated forts on the Roman frontier, followed by a new project at Magna, which represents the first modern research excavation of this fort and nearby Milecastle 46.
Remaining in the Roman period, we next explore a new exhibition running in Colchester, which reveals recent findings – and busts some myths – about gladiatorial games in Britain. From there we jump forward in time to learn about two very different medieval sites: a 15th-century farmstead in Jersey, and a ‘lost’ church in Saline, West Fife. Finally, we finish in York, where an award-winning initiative has been using archaeological fieldwork to boost the mental health and wellbeing of local residents.
Before you go, a date for your diaries: next year’s CA Live! will be held on Saturday 24 February 2024, in partnership with the Institute of Archaeology. Save the date!
