Museum news
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
Roman Britain
Insights from above
Last month we shared images from Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, highlighting how recent drought conditions have revealed the outlines of long-buried archaeological remains. Features both familiar and newly identified have also been emerging across Wales this summer, and have been documented by Dr Toby Driver, the Senior Investigator for Aerial Survey at the Royal Commission.
Fossil find from Roman Colchester
Archaeology is often confused with palaeontology – with most archaeologists having been asked at least once in their career about the most interesting fossil they have found. Now archaeologists from Colchester Archaeological Trust (CAT), at least, can provide an answer…
More finds from Magna Roman Fort
The latest season of digging at Magna Roman Fort is currently uncovering further details of how the site was used both during and after the Roman period. One of the star finds for 2026 so far is a die which…
Roman hoard uncovered in Buckinghamshire
A metal-detectorist has discovered a hoard of Roman bronze objects in the Chilterns, Buckinghamshire, including a rare rattle that may have been used in religious ceremonies (below centre). Adam McClelland was detecting with the permission of the landowner when he…
Following the Eagle, After the Fire, and Treasure: Hidden, Lost, Found
CA recently visited exhibitions at three sites in the care of North East Museums, with displays exploring Roman military life and ideas of ‘treasure’.
Brutality at Brading? Reinterpreting human remains from a Roman villa on the Isle of Wight
Recently published research suggests that the bones found around Brading Roman Villa could reflect violent events linked to 4th-century political upheaval. Kathryn Krakowka reports.
An Egyptian presence in Roman York?
A small glass bottle excavated at Tanner Row in York 40 years ago has been identified as a kohl bottle – a type of eye make-up container that was very common in Roman Egypt, but is extremely rare outside this…
Finds Tray: Iron fetter
This is an iron fetter, probably from a set of shackles, dating to the Romano-British period. Found near Horncastle, Lincolnshire, following river-dredging, it is in exceptionally good condition, perhaps because of the waterlogged conditions in which it was found. The…
Binchester Roman Fort
The excavated remains of Vinovia, a major cavalry fort and civilian settlement near Bishop Auckland, have reopened to the public under the management of The Auckland Project. CA reports.
Rare Genius at Vindolanda
A Roman relief of a Genius – a protective guardian spirit – has recently been found at the Roman fort of Vindolanda, hidden underneath the floor of a barracks. While inscriptions dedicated to genii have been found across Roman Britain,…
The Lexden Lady: Examining a rare lead coffin burial from Roman Colchester
A recently discovered high-status burial offers rare insights into ancient funerary practices and Colchester’s late Roman past. Carly Hilts spoke to Laura Pooley at a new exhibition about the finds.
Further finds from Halberton Roman villa
A Roman mosaic thought to be the most westerly example of the polychrome style yet found in Britain is among the discoveries emerging from a large Roman villa complex near Halberton in Devon. Excavations by the SHARE project (Saving Halberton’s…
Roman Britain in Twenty Towns: a visitor’s guide
The idea of a guidebook is an ancient one – Pausanias’ Guide to Greece is perhaps the first – but these days the idea of wandering around sites clutching a book conveying detailed information might be thought to be superfluous…
From the fringes of the Roman Empire: Locally crafted empires
In our high-speed modern world, it can be easy to forget that the ancient world was experienced at a slower speed. Rubina Raja shares the insights that can spring from exploring the edges of the Roman world on foot.
CA 437 Letters – July
Preserving trig points There are various ways of protecting trig points (‘Sherds’, CA 436). This example (below) sits within the Iron Age hillfort known as Castle Hill, close to the Roman fort of Bar Hill on the Antonine Wall in…
Myths on the Edge of Empire: how Classical mythology spread throughout Roman Britain
This book explores an important, new aspect of archaeological interpret-ation that deals with the description and transmission of mythical romanitas. One of the most prominent and novel features of Dr Turner’s study is his use of what he terms ‘heat…
Mosaics in Britannia
Stephen Cosh, together with his colleague Dr David Neal, are the authors of a truly monumental and authoritative five-volume survey of all the Roman mosaics of Britain, the only province of the Empire which brought such a venture to completion:…
Seeking the Saxon Shore: a guide to the coastal forts of Roman Britain
This new book from Pen & Sword is a most welcome one: many people are familiar with the Saxon Shore forts of east and south-east England, but there has not been a comprehensive guide to them published since Andrew Pearson’s…
The Roman Footwear from Vindolanda
The Roman auxillary fort of Vindolanda has produced by far the largest assemblage of Roman footwear to be recovered anywhere. The remains of 5,000 shoes have been found, many in a remarkably good state of preservation, allowing 1,000 to be…
Rare Roman lead coffin displayed at Colchester
Excavations in Colchester have unearthed a rare and exceptionally well preserved lead coffin, housing the remains of a woman who lived and died during the later Roman period. Recent analysis has now provided new insights into the experiences of this…
Relativism and the Frontiers of Empire: critical perspectives on Roman soldiers, communities, and military landscapes
This volume celebrates the career of Professor Simon James and his contributions to archaeological scholarship. Following Simon’s lead for innovative approaches to the study of Rome’s armies and their indigenous adversaries, Anna Walas and Andrew Birley have corralled an impressive…
Classis Britannica clues at Bodiam Castle
A second season of excavations at Bodiam Castle in Sussex has revealed extensive evidence of a Roman presence, with tiles and pottery confirming that the site was home to a port for the Classis Britannica – the Roman naval fleet…
Time flies: Marking five years since the return of Time Team
In 2021, an archaeological household name returned to our (computer) screens, as Time Team relaunched on YouTube. Carly Hilts visited the team at their first dig of 2026 and spoke to the show’s creator and Executive Producer Tim Taylor about how technology gave the show new life – and could transform the future of how archaeological stories are told.
Britannia under the Boot: Roman militaria from the ‘civil zone’ of southern England
The story of Roman Britain is often seen as a tale of two zones. To the south and east lay a ‘civil zone’, where towns and villas were at their most plentiful, while to the north and west a profusion…
Antonine Wall fortlet found
Archaeological investigations in Bearsden, near Glasgow, have revealed evidence of a previously unknown fortlet on the Antonine Wall. This is the 13th Antonine Wall fortlet to have been confidently identified, adding to other examples that were recently revealed during geophysical…
Recycled Roman well discovered at Rolls-Royce site
The watering hole found near Gloucester is not the only reworked water source recently discovered in England. Excavations in advance of a new Rolls-Royce extension site at Goodwood, near Chichester in West Sussex, have revealed evidence of a thriving Iron…
Buried on the boundary: Interpreting Venta Icenorum’s enigmatic ditch deposits
The latest excavation by the long-running Caistor Roman Project has uncovered a series of unusual deposits within the monumental triple ditches that encircled Venta Icenorum, capital of the Iceni. At the same time, recent GPR surveys have shed new light on aspects of the settlement that these once-imposing earthworks surrounded. Giles Emery and Will Bowden report.
South-east England’s Saxon Shore forts: Excavating the CA archives
Following on from last month’s column, here I continue my survey of the Saxon Shore forts of south-east England: a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel thatwere established in the late 3rd century AD to defend Britain against the incursions of Saxon raiders
Assessing the impact of Roman occupation on health
New research examining the transition between the Iron Age and Romano-British period has shed new light on the detrimental impact of Roman occupation and urbanisation on population health. Previous studies had already highlighted the likely health consequences of ‘Romanisation’ in…
Roman Roads Research Association
By AD 150, the Roman road system extended for some 300,000km (more than 186,000 miles – 7.5 times the circumference of the earth). This comprehensive transport infrastructure underpinned the mobility and trade that characterised the Roman Empire. Later, it enabled…
Fractured Britannia: the twilight of Roman Britain
The end of Roman rule in Britain is not a niche topic: it is one that has been intensely studied for decades. And yet we still have so much to learn about how it unfolded and how much of a…
England’s Saxon Shore forts: Excavating the CA archive
The Saxon Shore (litus Saxonicum) was a military command consisting of fortifications built on both sides of the English Channel, which were established in the late 3rd century AD to defend Britain against the incursion of Saxon raiders. Its nine English forts are mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum, a document that details the administrative organisation of the late Roman Empire.
Home on the range: Examining a late Roman villa estate at Milton, Cambridgeshire
The discovery of an extensive and long-lived late Roman agricultural landscape near Cambridge has added illuminating details to our understanding of a region that appears to have been home to numerous villa estates. With the project now published in full, Francis M Morris, who recently completed the post-excavation analysis for Archaeological Research Services Ltd, is our guide to the key findings.
The last piece of the puzzle: Withington Roman Villa mosaics, Corinium Museum
For the first time in more than 200 years, colourful fragments of the ‘Orpheus’ mosaic excavated at Withington Roman Villa in 1812 have been reunited in a new display at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, thanks to long-term loans from…
Uncovering Roman Carlisle: Where worlds met and Gladiators of Britain at Tullie, Carlisle
Two new exhibitions shed vivid light on different aspects of life within the most northerly Roman town on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.