Forgotten Vikings
REVIEW BY AB In AD 793, Scandinavian raiders launched an attack on the island of Lindisfarne that would go down in history, and thus the Viking Age began. Or did it? In this new book, Alex Harvey takes a wider…
Early Medieval
Caring for the sick at Cookham monastery
Archaeologists excavating an Anglo-Saxon monastery in Cookham have unearthed 23 intact human burials, along with the disturbed remains of multiple other individuals. The site, which has been excavated by the University of Reading since 2021 (see CA 392) with permission…
Rare Pictish ring found at Burghead fort
An intricately set Pictish ring has been unearthed during excavations at Burghead, in Moray, home to the largest-known Pictish coastal promontory fort. Overlooking the Moray Forth, the fort would originally have covered around 5.5ha, but the construction of the town…
Did Vikings have glass windows?
New research indicates that windows with glass panes may have been present in Viking Age buildings in Scandinavia.
The Hidden Länd
A new exhibition takes visitors on a journey through 1,000 years of life in south-west Germany.
Finds Tray: Early medieval harness pendant
This intricately decorated early medieval harness pendant dates to AD 475-570, and was found in Quarley, Hampshire, on 13 July. It is made of copper-alloy, which has been cast and then gilded to achieve a gold finish. Pendants such as…
Malmesbury’s first confirmed Anglo-Saxon burials discovered near abbey
Dozens of Anglo-Saxon burials have been uncovered on the site of the Old Bell Hotel, which is located next to Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire. Some 24 articulated skeletons and the disarticulated remains of 22 more individuals were excavated by Cotswold…
High-status Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered in Banbury
Excavations ahead of a new housing development in Banbury, Oxfordshire, have uncovered a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon cemetery of more than 50 burials, many of them richly furnished. These findings were recently announced by Border Archaeology, who excavated the 8,300m2 Calthorpe…
Time Team at Sutton Hoo
The most intensive excavation to take place at Sutton Hoo in two decades has revealed new aspects of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery pre-dating the site’s famous royal burial ground, as well as recovering more pieces of the Bromeswell Bucket, an enigmatic artefact first identified in the 1980s. Carly Hilts visited the dig to learn more.
Picts, Gaels, and Scots: Early historic Scotland
REVIEW BY NICHOLAS EVANS This reprint of the updated 2014 edition of Dr Foster’s accessible multidisciplinary study is very welcome. Originating in a 1996 publication by Batsford for Historic Scotland, the 2014 edition was substantially altered to take into account…
Bluetooth’s Kingdom
I have embarked on an odyssey to revisit Viking Denmark decades after I first became familiar with it through editing Klavs Randsborg’s landmark book The Viking Age in Denmark (1980). Randsborg’s book was regarded as heresy at the time, but…
Signs of the tines: Tracing bone- and antler-working in early medieval Ipswich
Following the publication of a major new work combing through antler- and bone-working evidence, as well as signs of Scandinavian influence, from early medieval Ipswich, Ian Riddler and Nicola Trzaska-Nartowski explain how a chance meeting at a railway station helped to transform understanding of this early medieval craft.
Eye-opening insights: Exploring an Anglo-Saxon settlement and beyond
Eye Kettleby ought to be far better known – it is a very rare example of an early medieval settlement, and the newly published excavation results shine a light on a formative period in English history for which we have precious little archaeological evidence, as Chris Catling reports.
Dirt, Dwellings and Culture: Living Conditions in Early Medieval Dublin
REVIEW BY MARY DEEVY Viking Dublin was absolutely crawling! It is a rich treasure trove for an archaeoentomologist like Eileen Reilly, who examined 12,895 of its tiny inhabitants from 100 samples taken from 13 phases of habitation at Fishamble Street.…
Timber hall uncovered among exciting early medieval discoveries in East Yorkshire
The University of York’s Department of Archaeology has uncovered a large timber hall in Skipsea, dating to the early medieval period, among other finds of ‘national significance’. Measuring 6m wide and 16m long, the hall is a rare find, thought…
Science Notes: Tracing the origins of silver in medieval Europe’s revolutionary coins
In CA 411, we carried a news story about the exciting implications of recent research into early medieval silver coinage; for this month’s column, we delve deeper into the science behind the study to reveal how these conclusions were reached.…
Kinship and marriage in a steppe warrior society
DNA analysis of the Avar empire people, who lived on the Great Hungarian Plain some 1,500 years ago, is revealing details of their social structure, kinship practices, and marriage traditions. The Avar empire was founded by groups of mounted warriors…
Museum news
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions
Combing through history: Ipswich, Suffolk
A new publication, An Early Medieval Craft: antler and bone working from Ipswich excavations 1974-1994, details the extraordinary Viking Age finds discovered over the course of 20 years of digging in the town by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (SCCAS).…
Tracing the origins of early medieval silver coinage
During the mid-7th century AD there was an abrupt economic shift in north-west Europe, particularly around the North Sea, with silver coinage largely replacing the use of gold. Recent research has suggested that at least some of this coinage was…
More exciting clues uncovered at early medieval site in the Coquet Valley
In 2021 and 2022, archaeological work along a headland near Felton in the Coquet Valley of Northumberland revealed evidence of early medieval activity, including a late 6th-/early 7th-century sunken-featured building (SFB), as well as evidence for the presence of the…
National Gallery excavations uncover more of Anglo-Saxon London
Archaeologists from Archaeology South-East, part of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, have uncovered remains from early medieval London during excavations in advance of the National Gallery’s redevelopment project. The investigations were carried out along Jubilee Walk, the north of Trafalgar…
A tale of three giants? New evidence for the evolution of Cerne Abbas’ chalk colossus
The 55m-tall hill-figure that towers above the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset has long been the subject of debate, in terms of both its date and whom it represents. Mike Allen reports on fieldwork undertaken in 2020-2024 which revealed new clues – and surprises – about the Giant.
Scandinavia’s earliest ship burial
With a diameter of 60m, the burial mound of Herlaugshaugen is one of the largest in Norway. New research has now revealed that it is older than was previously thought. The site on the island of Leka was excavated on…
Battle for the Island Kingdom
REVIEW BY JEFFREY JAMES This new book by Don Hollway ambitiously sets out to describe the complex interplay between competing European royal houses during what academics call ‘The Second Viking Age’. Hollway does so by examining the motivations and ambitions…
Rare early medieval burials uncovered near Fonmon Castle in south Wales
A rare early medieval cemetery containing the remains of several women has been found near Fonmon Castle in South Wales. The remains, estimated to be of roughly 80 individuals, were buried around 1,500 years ago and are believed to have…
Jorvik Viking Festival 2024
Carly Hilts reviews York’s annual celebration of its Norse heritage, which took place last month, and highlights three new archaeological displays and exhibitions in the city that you can still go and see.
Early medieval cemetery uncovered on Fonmon Castle estate
A large cemetery dating to the 6th-7th centuries has been discovered on the Fonmon Castle estate – a fortified castle just to the north-west of Cardiff Airport. The project, led by Dr Andy Seaman, began in 2021 when the team…
New evidence of women’s mobility during the Conversion Period
Recent discoveries of exceptionally well-furnished 7th-century female burials – such as those from Trumpington (CA 343) and from Harpole (CA 395) – have drawn increasing attention to a phenomenon associated with the Conversion Period. Isotope analysis of three of these…
Life in Early Medieval Wales
REVIEW BY HOWARD WILLIAMS A truly stupendous achievement of synthesis and evaluation, Life in Early Medieval Wales is a first for Welsh archaeology. Nancy Edwards’ concise prose draws on the experience of a lifetime spent teaching and researching early medieval…
Museum news
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions
A new chronology for Dinas Powys
The hillfort of Dinas Powys, located about 9km south-west of Cardiff, was first excavated by Leslie Alcock in the 1950s. While the excavation and its subsequent report were pioneering for their time and led to Dinas Powys being widely considered…
Anglo-Saxon cemetery revealed in Lincolnshire
Another Anglo-Saxon cemetery associated with Bronze Age monuments was recently uncovered by Wessex Archaeology in Lincolnshire. The discovery was made during excavations in advance of the National Grid’s ambitious new infrastructure project, the Viking Link, which will allow for the…
Bronze Age barrows and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered in Hampshire
Excavations this past summer have revealed the remains of three Bronze Age barrows, as well as a large Anglo-Saxon cemetery in New Alresford, Hampshire. Led by PCA Winchester and the environmental consulting group RPS, the project was carried out last…
Antler combs uncover Viking Age connections
Analysis of early Viking Age combs from Hedeby has revealed new evidence of links between the town at the base of the Jutland peninsula and distant upland regions of northern Scandinavia.
Recent storms reveal further burials at the Wemyss Caves
Two burials were discovered this past December along the coastline in front of the Wemyss Caves in Fife. While investigations are ongoing, it is thought – based on the date of other burials that have previously been found nearby –…