Cover Story
Prosperity and plague: Examining a well-connected Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Broughton Lodge The diverse grave goods excavated at a 6th-century cemetery in Nottinghamshire testify to a wealthy community with wide-ranging trade links – but, as well as new objects and materials, did these networks help to spread deadly diseases, and might this… Features
Skin in the game: Examining the lives of Britain’s oldest church doors Tree-ring dating has enabled the identification of some very ancient church doors, which are still in situ and in use after nearly 1,000 years. Several were once covered with leather… 
Silver beyond Empire: Offering a new perspective on the late Roman to early medieval transition Over the last 15 years, international research focused on a series of silver hoards and other finds from the late Roman and early medieval periods has shed new light on… 
Home on the range: Examining a late Roman villa estate at Milton, Cambridgeshire The discovery of an extensive and long-lived late Roman agricultural landscape near Cambridge has added illuminating details to our understanding of a region that appears to have been home to… News
A rock and a hard place: Sarsen study sheds new light on the construction of Stonehenge How did the builders of Stonehenge manage to work with sarsen – a notoriously hard material – to create the Neolithic monument’s towering trilithons? Carly Hilts spoke to Phil Harding… 
New dating of Buckquoy dispels Viking story First excavated in the 1970s and now mostly eroded into the sea, the settlement of Buckquoy in Orkney has frequently been used as an example of how the Pictish-Viking transition… 
Science Notes: Towards solving the secrets of syphilis Apart from the Black Death, there is not another historical disease that piques public interest quite like syphilis. The question of whether the bacterium responsible was brought to Europe from… 
New timeline for the drowning of Doggerland Analysis of a sediment core from Doggerland – the prehistoric landscape that once connected Britain to mainland Europe – has provided the clearest chronology yet for when this area became… 
Tracing historical children’s burial grounds in Ireland Historically, the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland did not permit the burial in consecrated ground of stillborn babies and infants who died before they could be baptised (a rule that… 
Elite Anglo-Saxon centre uncovered near Skipsea Castle Excavations near Skipsea Castle in East Yorkshire have uncovered a series of high-status early medieval buildings, suggesting this site may have been a ‘lordly centre’. The project, which is led… 
Bronze Age brought to life at Harden Quarry Excavations at Harden Quarry, an active hard-rock quarry that is operated by Tarmac at Biddlestone in the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland National Park, has revealed a near complete view of… 
Millennia of transport, trade, and travel along the A66 Excavations along the A66 in Cumbria are revealing how this area formed a vital corridor for transport, travel, and trade over millennia. After an initial evaluation in 2022-2024 and ahead… 
World News Monumental finds in Mexico Excavations at Aguada Fénix in Tabasco, south-east Mexico, have revealed a large complex that was constructed c.3,000 years ago, making it possibly the oldest Mayan monument… Views
Places of Worship Renewal Fund Comment Organisations in the heritage sector welcomed January’s news that the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport was going to invest £1.5 billion in capital funding for the arts, cultural, and… 
CA 433 Letters – March Letters Pleased about potin coins I was so amused when I saw the ‘pastry potin’ coins on the ‘Letters’ page in CA 432. I remember David Holman some years ago showing… 
Current Archaeology’s March Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home What's on There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If… 
England’s Saxon Shore forts: Excavating the CA archive Comment The Saxon Shore (litus Saxonicum) was a military command consisting of fortifications built on both sides of the English Channel, which were established in the late 3rd century AD to defend Britain against… 
The last piece of the puzzle: Withington Roman Villa mosaics, Corinium Museum The Picture Desk For the first time in more than 200 years, colourful fragments of the ‘Orpheus’ mosaic excavated at Withington Roman Villa in 1812 have been reunited in a new display at… 
The Carpenters’ Fellowship Groups Timber-framing is gaining momentum as a mainstream construction technique for new buildings in the UK because of its environmental benefits. Timber substantially reduces the carbon emissions and high energy costs… 
Uncovering Roman Carlisle: Where worlds met and Gladiators of Britain at Tullie, Carlisle Museum, What's on Two new exhibitions shed vivid light on different aspects of life within the most northerly Roman town on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited to learn more. 
Samurai Museum, What's on A new exhibition at the British Museum traces the story of Japan’s famous warriors from the medieval period to the present day, separating history from myth and exploring how their… 
Finds Tray: Stirrup mount Objects This is an early medieval stirrup mount made of copper alloy, which was found late last year by a metal-detectorist near Wick St Lawrence in northern Somerset. It would have… Reviews
Current Archaeology’s March Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If… Uncovering Roman Carlisle: Where worlds met and Gladiators of Britain at Tullie, Carlisle Two new exhibitions shed vivid light on different aspects of life within the most northerly Roman town on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited to learn more. Samurai A new exhibition at the British Museum traces the story of Japan’s famous warriors from the medieval period to the present day, separating history from myth and exploring how their… 
Domination: the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity Through her TV work and writing, Professor Alice Roberts is a powerful and effective advocate for archaeology in the public realm. In Domination, she extends her coverage to explore Christianity in… 
Common Ground in Scottish Archaeology: contributions in honour of Anna Ritchie Few people have made such a profound impact on the understanding of Scotland’s prehistoric and early medieval past as Anna Ritchie. In 2022, the Scottish Society for Northern Studies and… 
Archaeology of Britain’s Oldest Church Doors For lovers of church archaeology, anything by Warwick Rodwell is a must. His new book covers two subjects: medieval ecclesiastical doors – the Westminster example is pre-Conquest and the Hadstock… 
Neolithic Timber Halls and a Bronze Age Settlement with Hoard at Carnoustie, Angus The timber halls ex-cavated at Carnoustie between 2016 and 2017 are some of the most significant Neolithic discoveries in Scotland in recent decades, particularly considering that the bigger of the… 
The Archaeology of the Stonehenge Visitor Centre This book draws together diverse excavations; geophysical, augering, and fieldwalking surveys; and other investigations carried out between 1991 and 2009 to help determine a location and explore design options for… 
Neolithic Impressed and Related Wares in Britain and Ireland This volume comprises 11 regional or national papers and a synthesis of lipid analysis results. Several contributors note that Impressed Wares have been a ‘Cinderella’ among Neolithic pottery traditions. They… 
From the editor
It has been a particularly busy few weeks at CA, with visits to Nottingham and Carlisle and, of course, our annual conference – huge thanks to everyone who came along, but, if you missed out, we have the results of the 2026 CA Awards!
This month’s cover feature takes us to Broughton Lodge in Nottinghamshire, where one of the county’s richest and most unusual Anglo Saxon cemeteries, home to an exceptional number of multiple burials, was uncovered during a pioneering community project in the 1960s. Why had so many people died over a short period in the 6th century? Subsequent scientific analysis may hold the answer.
We next examine a trio of stunning silver hoards from late Roman and early medieval Scotland. What can their contents, together with other finds from across Britain and Scandinavia, tell us about how this metal was used and viewed during a period of great cultural change?
From shining silver, we then turn to traces of leather preserved on some of Britain’s earliest church doors, which tradition holds represent the skins of ill fated Danish raiders. How did these associations, now proven to be myth, arise, and what else can these rare survivals tell us?
Finally, we venture into the Cambridgeshire countryside, where development-led excavations have uncovered an extensive, affluent Roman farming landscape, possibly part of a villa estate.
CARLY
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