Think of the archaeology of Oxford and thoughts will inevitably turn to the historic city centre. In the suburbs, however, there is a heritage every bit as rich and distinct. The Archeox project was set up to investigate the archaeology…
The definition of what is considered ‘Treasure’ is to be revised by the Government, to broaden its parameters and provide increased protection for archaeological finds made in England and Wales. It will be the first change made to the Treasure…
Footprints in the desert The earliest-known human footprints from the Arabian Peninsula have been discovered in an ancient lake deposit in the south-west of the Nefud Desert. They were discovered as part of the Palaeodeserts Project, which is studying the…
• Tantra: an archaeology of enlightenment
• War, plague, & pollution from a European ice core
• Roman mosaics in Turkey
• Cedrocucho, Peru: pre-Inca farming of the rainforest?
• Arctic archaeology
• A deity’s demise in Albania
There is no email I await with greater anticipation and, indeed, trepidation, than one captioned ‘Your radiocarbon results’.
When the UK locked down against COVID-19 last spring, many archaeologists were unable to work as normal – but Rob Wiseman found a silver lining. He brought together more than 100 furloughed archaeologists to create a volunteer task force that has shed light on sites all over the country, spanning prehistory to the present day. Here, he shares some of the project’s highlights.
Within its 225 square miles, the Isle of Man boasts an impressively diverse historic landscape spanning some 10,000 years of human activity. In this compact but wide-ranging book, our guide is Matthew Richardson, curator of social history at Manx National…
Peak prehistory and Britain's first cave art: Joe Flatman explores half a century of reports from Derbyshire
A unique digital archive preserves a wealth of images spanning the history of photography, offering long-lost views and vivid insights into how the historic environment has evolved over time. Janice Kinory is our guide.
The study found that 37 of the 49 World Heritage Sites are already at risk from floods, and 42 from erosion, although the level of risk varies from site to site, with Venice and Ravenna particularly at risk from flooding, and Samos and Tyre from erosion
The National Museum of Denmark has one of the oldest established collections of prehistoric artefacts in the world. It dates back to King Frederik VI, who set up The Royal Commission for the Preservation of Antiquities in 1807. More than 200 years after the Commission’s founding, the ground floor of the Prince’s Palace (where the collection moved in 1855) beautifully presents artefacts from across Denmark, which offer a detailed look at the people who lived there, as well as further objects from the land that once connected Denmark to Britain.
British Museum revamps Collection Online The British Museum has recently launched a new version of its Collection Online website, featuring over half its collections, making it one of the largest such databases of any global museum. The updated resource encompasses…
Visitors to Stonehenge have been taking photographs of the monument – and themselves – for almost 150 years. Lucia Marchini visited the site to explore a new exhibition showcasing some of these images, and the stories they tell.
The Thames Discovery Programme – whose volunteers record the archaeology of the Thames foreshore – has recently celebrated its tenth birthday. Eliott Wragg, Nathalie Cohen, and Josh Frost explore some of the initiative’s most important findings from its first decade of life.
Even today, getting to the Channel Island of Sark is an adventure, involving a 55-minute journey by sea from Guernsey, and then a climb from the quay through a tunnel in the rock to reach the top of the sheer cliffs that surround the island on all sides. Given the challenges of getting to Sark, the island provides the perfect opportunity to study connectivity and isolation down the ages – one of Sir Barry Cunliffe’s perennial preoccupations, sparking his excavations there. Who came here, when, and why? And what does it tell us about the mobility of past visitors? Chris Catling reports.
What can objects tell us about how people objected to the authority of the day? A new exhibition at the British Museum tells the story of rebels ancient and modern. CA went along to find out more.
What link is there between archaeology and a best-selling series of children’s books? To find out, Lucia Marchini tours the British Library’s major new exhibition.
Since 2009, the Scottish Government has been designating themed years to mark specific aspects of Scotland’s cultural and creative life, as well as the country’s natural beauty. As we look back on 2017, the Year of History, Heritage, and Archaeology, Julianne McGraw explores how Scotland’s World Heritage Sites played their part in the festivities.
Using the unlikely site of Butrint in Albania as a prime example, Richard Hodges explains how the work of archaeologists defines them as placemakers
Five years after he first explored the prospects of Archaeology as an academic discipline in these pages, John Schofield revisits this topic and reveals what has changed.
Dominic Green gives us a preview of an exhibition about to open at the Getty Center in Los Angeles that shows us how the ancient world was viewed through medieval eyes
When earthquakes strike, the consequences can be catastrophic. Yet what do we really know about their impact on past cultures? All is revealed in Andrew Robinson’s latest unputdownable book Earth-Shattering Events: Earthquakes, Nations and Civilization.
Stonehenge has to be the most intensively studied prehistoric monument in the world, which begs the question: ‘is there anything left to say?’ A new English Heritage study of the wider Stonehenge World Heritage Site landscape has come up with a few surprising facts which, if not all new, are perhaps not widely known, as Chris Catling now reports.
From sea shanties to the shipping forecast, boats and the sea are woven into the fabric of English life and culture, and yet we only began to take shipwrecks seriously as historical and archaeological monuments in the 1970s. Chris Catling looks at what we have gained in the 40 years since the passing of the landmark Protection of Wrecks Act in 1973.
That's why skeletal remains and mummies are so popular in museum exhibitions - people can relate to them in a way that not everyone can relate to other archaeological finds such as pottery.
We have to move past the idea that building in a youth-focussed programme on a dig site is enough to inspire young people to get involved with archaeology.
Best of all, the cameras were rolling to capture the archaeologists’ euphoria as the geophysical plot emerged from a bulky printer in the back of the survey vehicle.
Today we take it for granted that aerial photographs are an essential tool for understanding the historic environment, but for the pioneers of aerial photography it was a struggle to gain acceptance, as Chris Catling, who has been reading Martyn Barber’s new book, A History of Aerial Photography and Archaeology, now relates.
In response to Mark Horton’s prediction of an ‘oncoming crisis’ for archaeology in universities (CA 268), John Schofield argues that archaeology degrees are among the best, the most enriching, and the most useful one can take. Dr John Schofield will take over as Head of the Archaeology Department at York University in October.
Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in Spring this year, archaeologist Simon Kaner insists there is much to celebrate about the country’s heritage – and much to mend.
The most important quality we look for is enthusiasm and a love of all things in the past.
A tough and comfortable pair of boots and clothing for all seasons should be on anyone's list when they go digging in the UK.
Always be willing to ask questions, no one ever gets it right first time and no one minds, we all did our first dig once!
When you are about to embark on a dig, it’s a good idea to double check you have everything you might need – here is a quick checklist with the essentials.
Archaeology graduate Emma Watts-Plumpkin recalls her fieldwork experiences, from rooky through to old hand.
A sense of humour may come in handy for those days when it is wet and windy on site but these are balanced by the days out in the glorious warm weather of the summer.