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 Moyes and John Gooder report on recent efforts to find it once more.
• Lost orders: Time Team and the Knights Hospitaller of Halston Hall
• Discovering the distinctiveness of Cornish architecture
• Fortress Londinium: tracing London’s Roman defences
• The bare bones: Neolithic monuments of the North Channel
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Christopher Catling, Contributing Editor for CA, delves into the eccentricities of the heritage world.
REVIEW BY JOHN HUNT Burton Dassett, in the Warwickshire Feldon, has previously attracted attention as representing rural settlements in the area that suffered depopulation in the late medieval period. This long-awaited publication of the excavations undertaken at Southend between 1986…
In the south-eastern margins of the Zimbabwe plateau sit the ruins of southern Africa’s first major city, Great Zimbabwe. The city was established as the capital of the Karanga kingdom in the 11th century AD, and remained occupied until the…
Last summer, one day stands out. While on holiday on the Ionian island of Kefalonia, I persuaded three friends to spend a morning investigating a castle that has intrigued me. Situated on a high hill, the ruins command breathtaking views…
Archaeologists working at Old Dongola in Sudan have stumbled across a set of unusual 13th-century Christian wall paintings.
Graham Goodlad analyses the events that enabled Parliament to win control of northern England.
REVIEW BY ALLISON FOX Tim Clarkson’s aim, to ‘present a narrative political history of the Isle of Man’, is achieved in this book, which covers the pre-Viking era through to the end of Scandinavian influence on the island, and the…
The Knights Hospitaller were forged in the fury of the Crusades, providing protection, hospitality, and medical care for travellers in the Holy Land, and building fundraising communities back in Britain. Few of these sites have been excavated in detail, but Time Team have been investigating a Shropshire example. Carly Hilts spoke to Stewart Ainsworth.
Review by John Blair On the whole, classics are better left unrevised. New material unbalances a familiar format, and the less it feels like the same book the less one sees the point. But there are exceptions, of which this…
Such objects were used to play a variety of medieval board games known as ‘tables’, some of which resembled modern-day backgammon.
Having recently celebrated its 50th birthday, the York Archaeological Trust manages one of the oldest commercial units operating in the UK today, as well as several heritage-themed attractions within its home city, including the famous JORVIK Viking Centre. David Jennings explores some of the key projects that the Trust has been involved in, and the innovative ways in which it has presented the past to the public.
had King Charles been in need of distraction or amusement during his Coronation in May 2023, he could have done worse than study all the graffiti carved into the woodwork of the Coronation Chair
The study confirms that the Norse had the ability, knowledge, and vessels necessary to bring timber from North America until well into the 14th century, if not longer.
The fanciful character of Dracula the vampire evolved from a real-life figure who was just as terrifying as any fiction. Tim Newark explores the myth and reality of a deadly medieval warrior.
A round-up of some of the latest discoveries from across the globe.
Joannes Dekker, along with researchers from the Universities of York, Copenhagen, Chester, and Leiden, used a type of mass spectrometry to visualise the two-dimensional distribution of proteins in both archaeological and modern teeth. In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we explore the results from this project.
The Stone of Destiny – an ancient symbol of the Scottish monarchy – has undergone extensive new analysis in preparation for its role in the Coronation of Charles III at Westminster Abbey. The Stone was taken by Edward I during…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the UK.
Investigations by Cotswold Archaeology revealed finds spanning the Mesolithic through to the modern period, with the majority of the remains relating to a medieval farmstead with associated enclosures and trackways
As the Tuscan city of Siena grew in prosperity, its citizens made their mark through magnificent art and architecture, from aristocratic towers to allegorical frescoes. Historian Jane Stevenson takes us on a tour of its medieval monuments.
Review by Stuart Brookes Falling somewhere between a gazetteer, reference manual, and coffee-table book, it’s a little difficult to figure out who the intended market for this volume might be. Although containing many beautiful photographs, it doesn’t quite qualify as…
Last month, Warwick Rodwell guided us through recent research in Canterbury Cathedral, focusing on the virtuosic mosaic that once lay before the shrine of Thomas Becket. As a sequel, he now reveals what was learned about the shrine itself, and the chapel in which it stood before the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
As most cressets from Britain do not have any evidence of residue on them, it had previously been thought that they may have been used to hold ceramic lamps
This January, conservation of the roughly 2,500 timbers recovered from the wreck was completed – a process that took 14 years
This late medieval silver-gilt strap-end was recently featured in the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and Treasure annual reports. It was discovered in October 2021 by a metal-detectorist in the parish of Worldham in East Hampshire. Dating to around…
Among the objects on show are the pipes from the cathedral’s great organ and a stained-glass panel from the cloister of the sacristy
Excavations near the village of Hune in the North Jutland region of Denmark have uncovered evidence of a large Viking Age hall.
One of the bloodiest encounters between Scottish and English armies took place not on British soil – but in northern France, as part of the Hundred Years War. William E Welsh describes the events that lead to the Battle of Baugé, on 22 March 1421.
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Review by Michael Potterton Thirty years ago, when I was a history and archaeology undergraduate at University College Dublin, the phrase ‘Ireland and the Crusades’ seemed almost as absurd as ‘Ireland and the Palaeolithic’ or ‘Ireland and the Renaissance’. Times…
Detailed analysis of an elaborate 13th-century mosaic at Canterbury Cathedral has revealed a medieval masterpiece that may be unparalleled in either Roman or medieval Britain. Warwick Rodwell explains further.
Orford Castle in Suffolk has reopened to visitors after detailed conservation work – a project 13 years in the making – was completed in January. The castle was originally built for Henry II between 1165 and 1174, as a royal…
When an unusual female burial was discovered in the apse of All Saints Church, York, it was interpreted as possibly representing the remains of a religious recluse. Since then, archaeological science and historical research have given new perspectives on the woman’s life, as Carly Hilts reports.