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 once been affixed to the top of a triangular stirrup,…
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 by Dr Elaine Jamieson and Dr Jim Leary from the…
More than 70 years ago, Brian Hope-Taylor led excavations at Yeavering in Northu mberland – investigations that have gone down in archaeological history, both for his skill in recording and analysing the scant remains of the royal palace of Edwin of Northumbria, and for illuminating a previously unlit period in early medieval history. Roger Miket’s new book Ad Gefrin traces the story of Hope-Taylor’s life and work, and recounts the latest thinking on the sites that he excavated. Chris Catling reports.
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 you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there is a variety of resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Diarmaid MacCulloch, the eminently readable author of numerous books on ecclesiastical history, gave his bestselling work on the history of Christianity the provocative subtitle ‘The first three thousand years’, making the point that there is much in Christian ritual and iconography that is drawn from pre-Christian practice.
REVIEW BY CH Nicholas Higham’s comprehensive exploration of how ‘Roman Britain’ transitioned into ‘Anglo-Saxon England’ brings with it a wealth of topics that still resonate today – discussions of migration, integration, and cultural influences; Britain’s relationship with continental Europe; and…
REVIEW BY KK On the threshold between the Lowlands and the Highlands, the King’s Seat fort, 1.5km (a mile) west of Dunkeld on the River Tay, sits in an important location in the landscape. Despite its importance, little was known…
Over the past few years there have been several research papers that have made headlines because of their insights into major genetic shifts in the population of Britain throughout time (see CA 338 regarding the Bronze Age Beaker migration, CA…
Ongoing excavations on the site of the planned Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk have uncovered an early medieval barrow cemetery with evidence of high-status activity, including a double burial accompanied by elite grave goods, as well as the…
An intriguing woman’s grave has been discovered in Bjugn, in Trøndelag County, Norway. Researchers were alerted to the burial by a metal-detectorist who came across an oval brooch of a style typical for the Viking Age and the centuries before.…
REVIEW BY SAM LEGGETT This volume reads as a ‘Who’s Who’ of early medieval cremation research, with most of the top historians, funerary-, and bio-archaeologists assembled. Williams and Lippok have been truly innovative here with how they have assembled the…
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 you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there is a variety of resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.
A major excavation, undertaken in advance of the East Anglia TWO and ONE North developments by ScottishPower Renewables, has uncovered 6,000 years of human activity within an East Anglian landscape, including a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon settlement. The initiative represents the…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
• Rendlesham rediscovered: landscapes of power in early medieval East Anglia
• People of the past: Scotland’s archaeological human remains
• Rediscovering the many lives of the Woolwich Rotunda
• Exploring intertidal and inland sites with the Nautical Archaeology Society
• Must Farm Bronze Age boats at Flag Fen Archaeology Park
Over the last two decades, evidence of a high-status early medieval settlement has been emerging just four miles from Sutton Hoo. What can Rendlesham tell us about the evolution and exercise of royal power in early medieval England? Carly Hilts spoke to Christopher Scull, Faye Minter, Stuart Brookes, and Tom Williamson to learn more.
REVIEW BY FINBAR McCORMICK This book is the first interdisciplinary analysis of early Irish kingship based on both historical and archaeological sources; it was formerly the preserve of just historians. This new approach is a fresh contribution to our understanding…
Review KK This debut novel by Tony Robinson, of Time Team and Blackadder fame, takes us on a tour of 9th-century Europe: from the Holy Roman Emperor’s royal residence at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) in Francia, to the home of the Pope…
REVIEW BY KK Encapsulated within this volume are the published proceedings of the conference held in 2020 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP) – but it is so much more than a…
REVIEW BY ALEXANDRA SANMARK This book is a welcome addition to our knowledge about Viking Age and Norse colonisation and settlement in the Hebrides, and provides the first overview of this time period in western Scotland. The book is structured…
REVIEW BY CARLY AMEEN This fifth volume in the ‘Daily Living in the Anglo-Saxon World’ series exemplifies contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship. The editors, Maren Clegg Hyer and Gale R Owen-Crocker, have assembled contributions that seamlessly weave evidence from archaeology, history, art…
A wooden beam decorated with a lifelike human face has been discovered in Lake Lednica, Poland. Systematic underwater archaeological research in Lake Lednica has been taking place since the 1980s and has uncovered a wealth of material. Among the finds…
Helmet parts of this date are rare finds in Denmark… What is it? This piece of a remarkable pre-Viking Age helmet comprises two fragments that fit together perfectly to make up a section c.10cm long in total, representing two-thirds of…
REVIEW BY EMMA LOUISE THOMPSON From Norwegian courts to Icelandic households and British burial grounds, the lives of Viking women were as intricate as the worlds they inhabited. The Hidden Lives of Viking Women offers a ‘kaleidoscopic review’ drawing on…
In CA 426’s exploration of the impact of the Viking Great Army on the north of England, we mentioned research that had shed light on the make-up of a Viking hoard discovered at Bedale, 56km (35 miles) from York. Here,…
This past autumn a rare gold shilling – called a thrymsa – was found in a field near Norwich by a metal-detectorist. It represents a completely new type of coin, dated to the 7th century and containing both Christian and…
Newly published research has added more evidence to our growing understanding of kinship and migration in Anglo-Saxon England, revealing that two 7th-century individuals, buried over 250km (153 miles) apart, each had a grandparent with West African ancestry. One of these…
Recent excavations at Rathgurreen Ringfort, on the Maree Peninsula in County Galway, have revealed new details about the site’s history, indicating that it may have evolved from a late Bronze Age/early Iron Age monument and that, during the early medieval…
REVIEW BY COLLEEN BATEY The arrival of the Great Army on the shores of East Anglia in AD 865 was a seminal moment in English history. This marked the move away from the seasonal raids of war bands to the…
A major new exhibition explores the impact of the Viking Age across northern England. Carly Hilts visited the displays and spoke to Adam Parker to learn more.
Re-examination of an early medieval burial found at Bull Wharf in the City of London suggests that the probably female individual may have been the victim of an execution, and that she had perhaps been placed on the Thames foreshore…
A remarkable discovery in the fields near Vindelev revealed objects that are both beautiful and informative. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, and Rubina Raja bring us up-to-date about a find shedding fresh light on runic writing, the history of religion, and royal power in Denmark.
A Viking Age burial site has been uncovered at Lisbjerg, near Aarhus, in Denmark. Excavations carried out by archaeologists from Moesgaard Museum have revealed 30 burials, although it is possible that there could be more in the surrounding area. The…
This design is… known from the Sutton Hoo and Valsgärde helmets. What is it? This rectangular copper-alloy object is 1-1.5mm thick and measures 4.5cm by 3.7cm. It dates to c.AD 550-625 and is a type of stamping die known as…
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
REVIEW BY JEFFREY JAMES King Harald III of Norway’s sobriquet Hardrada conjures up an image of a resolute, ruthless, no-nonsense leader, yet may in fact be a corruption of the Norse word harfagri, meaning ‘the fine or fair haired’. Nevertheless,…