• Embroidering the Past: the Bayeux tapestry
• Castles in the cliffs: archaeology and myth in the Pyrenees
• The frontier in Raetia: heritage on the edge of the Roman world
• Becoming America: how science shaped a nation
• Digging into Paris’s past on the Ile de la Cite
Continuing last month’s exploration of high medieval monasticism, this month I will visit sites across the country, both well known and less well known, that reflect the profound impact the Church had on society during this era, and the discoveries made by modern-day archaeologists which highlight this
Marking the 1,000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror, 2027 has been designated the Year of the Normans. Events to mark the millennium are planned all over Europe, with castles as a major theme. In Ireland, the best guide to the hundreds of defended structures surviving from the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169 is the late David Sweetman, Ireland’s former Chief Archaeologist, whose book on The Medieval Castles of Ireland reveals how these 12th- and 13th-century symbols of Anglo-Norman power evolved from earthworks to commodious towers that dominated the landscape. Chris Catling reports.
The Bayeux Tapestry is perhaps the most recognisable piece of early medieval art – and, almost 1,000 years after the brutal events that it depicts, rather friendlier relations between England and France have seen the famous embroidery travel to the British Museum for a hotly anticipated exhibition. Carly Hilts visited to learn more about what its images can tell us about life in the 11th century.
Britain has been overcome by Bayeux Tapestry fever (as has CA: see our feature on here and more in Sherds on here) with the famous embroidery returning to British soil for the first time since its creation almost 1,000 years…
The Bayeux Tapestry has gone on display at the British Museum at last, despite the fears of some conservators that transporting it to London would cause irreparable damage. In the event, two threads were found to be broken when the Tapestry was inspected after arriving in London.
This season’s excavation at Huttons Ambo in North Yorkshire has uncovered new details about the small village’s medieval past, including potentially one of the most high-status buildings yet found on the site. This is the fourth year the project has…
As the Bayeux Tapestry goes on show at the British Museum, Matthew Symonds explores some of the enigmatic messages encoded in its exquisite needlework.
In the 12th century, the counts of Foix began creating a unique network of fortifications using caves and other natural features in their part of the Pyrenees. Colin Duncan Taylor explores their origins and reveals how, starting in the 19th century, these castles in the cliffs were ransacked by early archaeologists and fortune hunters in search of fabled Cathar treasure.
An exhibition at the Met Cloisters explores depictions of fantastical hybrid creatures from medieval Europe and the ancient Americas.
We can see Latin, scratched into the book’s wax 700-800 years ago. What is it? This well-preserved medieval ‘notebook’ dates to the 13th or 14th century. Measuring 10cm by 7.5cm, the book comprises ten wooden tablets covered in wax –…
It’s a rip-roaring start, with three deaths in five pages as Harald Hardrada (or Haraldr Sigurdarson as he’s termed here), Tostig (wayward brother of Harold Godwinson), and an unnamed farmer all get decapitated. We start on a battlefield, yet not…
One of the joys of the Current Archaeology archive is its ‘tales of the unexpected’. After last month’s column on early medieval monasteries, this and next month’s columns will be companion pieces exploring .
While research is increasingly looking at the experience of children in the past, this is still an under-researched area, and in terms of children’s exposure to violence, while cases of exceptional mass events can be recognised in archaeology, subtler, systematic…
This volume by Helena Hamerow and her team is the interpretive companion to their digital database () for the recently finished five-year FeedSax project. It explores the profound changes in farming and environment across the period, with new insights on…
Tiny traces of medieval wall-paintings have been discovered at Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire, transforming our understanding of how its chapel was decorated. Carly Hilts spoke to Sophie Stewart to learn more.
On 9 February 1538, Abbot Thomas Rowland signed a Deed of Surrender, formally handing over his monastery to Henry VIII, and the 1,000-year history of Abingdon Abbey came to an end. As a reward for giving up their property voluntarily,…
Norwich today has more medieval churches than any other city north of the Alps. The Brooke Commission concluded in 1970 that only six were required for parish worship and that either alternative uses should be found for the rest or they should be demolished. Fortunately, 31 remain, with half a dozen continuing to be used as churches and 18 in the care of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust. A newly published and sumptuously illustrated interdisciplinary study shows us what these churches can tell us about the city’s past and its people, as Chris Catling reports.
The mechanisms by which bone degrades in the burial environment are poorly understood, with large amounts of variation seen even within the same cemetery containing the same environmental and soil conditions. While it has been hypothesised since the 19th century…
Excavation reports often have a long gestation, and the publication of the City of Hereford Archaeology Unit’s 1993 excavations on the site of Hereford Cathedral’s new Mappa Mundi museum has been eagerly awaited. Yet any frustration at the delay quickly…
It was found by a walker in a rock crevice. What is it? This spectacular sword scabbard fitting dates to the 6th century, during Norway’s Migration Period. The rectangular object measures 6cm wide by c.2cm high and is just a…
Analysis of two votive offering vessels from Pompeii is enhancing our understanding of Roman domestic rituals.
Don Hollway’s account of the life of the Norse warlord Olaf Tryggvason (king of Norway in the years c.995-1000) covers a period of momentous social and religious change in the lands bordering the Baltic Sea. The author tracks his hero’s…
Many of Cornwall’s churches preserve centuries-old murals of saints and religious scenes. Laura Miucci shares some of the stories behind these colourful creations, and explores how organised Community Archaeology visits to sites like these can boost the well-being of participants.
A team from Wessex Archaeology – working with FlyThru, a commercial drone company – have recently conducted a survey of a medieval well, once a vital source of water for Sheffield Castle’s Norman motte. The well was discovered during Wessex…
I visited Norwich as a teenager several times in the 1970s while my brother was at the School of Art there. Even then, the city was ‘known’ for having a church for every week of the year, and a pub…
Recent analysis of a mandible (lower jawbone) from an individual buried inside the East Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen has identified a rare example of late medieval/early post-medieval dentistry: the earliest evidence of dental interventions yet found in Scotland.…
In last month’s column, I examined a series of sites associated with William the Conqueror and the legacy of the Norman Conquest. One of these was Westminster Abbey, which I will now cover in more detail, alongside two other major church buildings
that regularly feature in Current Archaeology: St Paul’s Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral.
The ways in which archaeologists and historians analyse economies in the past often do not align with how economies are assessed today. Modern economics is primarily based on GDP, which is inherently grounded in monetary values, making it impossible to…
Ritual practices have been part of human life for almost as long as we can trace archaeological remains. The supernatural and inexplicable attract, excite, and worry people, with religion and its associated rituals being one of the main ways through which humans try to make sense of the world, create structure, and seek support
The sheer length of the Anglo-French conflict known as the ‘Hundred Years War’ – which actually lasted 116 years – has long invited debate about the label. Contemporaries, of course, did not use the term, which was first coined by…
This volume was occasioned by the anniversary of the foundation charter of the burgh of Glasgow in 1175. The tongue- in-cheek title obscures the serious intent to recount the history of Glasgow through an examination of its central throughfare, which…
We are what we eat, they say, and a new study by the University of Cambridge has found that this was as true in the medieval period as it is today, with diet being highly dependent on social status. The…
Under the rather ponderous headline ‘Revealing Misunderstandings about Stewardship of Our Ancient Churches’, Historic England has just published the results of its survey into public awareness of the crisis facing the nation’s places of worship. The results show that people are blithely unaware that many are at risk of closure and sale.
This is a medieval seal matrix, made of copper alloy, that was recently found by a metal-detectorist near the village of Patrick Brompton in North Yorkshire. The matrix’s handle extends out from the die in a pinched bell shape with…
Recent renovations at Durham Castle have revealed new details of how the fortification was redecorated and altered over its almost 1,000-year history. With the renovation of the castle presenting a rare opportunity to learn more about this World Heritage Site’s…