Review by Owen Humphreys. You wait decades for a new book about Roman London, then two come along at once. Dominic Perring’s previous work Roman London (Routledge, 1991) was the standard reference for nearly 30 years. Now, just three years…
Nearly 50 years of excavations have explored much of Leicester’s north-eastern quarter – and now a newly published thematic volume, Life in Roman and medieval Leicester, draws together the results from these extensive investigations. Covering such a large area, and a time span that starts with the late Iron Age and carries through to the Norman Conquest and beyond, the report looks at the cycles of growth and decline in the life of the town and draws out the similarities and differences between the Roman and medieval settlement, as Chris Catling reports.
Earlier this year, CA reported on excavations at a 2.3ha site called ‘Field 44’ near Tempsford in Central Bedfordshire, where archaeologists from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) and the Cambridge Archaeological Unit found the remains of two Iron Age roundhouses…
The sculptures could be representations of a family group from inside a Roman mausoleum.
Excavations found the mosaic in what is thought to have been a Roman dining room at The Liberty of Southwark site.
Julius Caesar raided Britain in 55 and 54 BC. But which emperor began the Roman conquest in earnest in AD 43?
The Roman fort at Maryport is best known for the collection of altars, dedicated to the god Jupiter, that were found buried in a series of large pits just outside its walls. Where was this religious stonework originally displayed – and what can we learn from the remains of two temples first discovered almost 150 years ago? Carly Hilts explores a wide-ranging report on the site by Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott.
This copper-alloy Roman vessel mount, produced sometime between AD 43 and AD 410, was found last year by a metal-detectorist on farmland near St Ives, Cornwall. The c.4.5cm-tall mount, most likely for a tripod, may once have supported some kind…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
The popular archaeology series Time Team has returned with its first new episodes in a decade. Felix Rowe took Current Archaeology behind the scenes at two very different excavations, investigating Iron Age Cornwall and Roman Oxfordshire.
Burials near Whitminster villa Ten human burials have been uncovered at a development site near Stroud in Gloucester (below), which Cotswold Archaeology is investigating ahead of the construction of new training pitches for Forest Green Rovers FC. Excavations at the…
The recent renovation of Trimontium Museum in Melrose has given archaeologists the opportunity to re-examine the enduring mystery of what happened at the nearby Roman fortress of the same name – as John Reid explains.
The team also found the remains of a high-status, middle-aged woman who had been laid to rest in a lead-lined coffin.
Your observations, your objections, and your opinions.
It appears that, in one burial, the skull of the deceased was positioned between their legs.
Review by CH. This engaging overview of archaeological evidence in the Nene Valley spans the Iron Age to the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. Although relatively slim at 72 pages, it is packed with information and richly illustrated, drawing on the…
There are many wonderful archaeological, historical, and heritage-related events on offer over the coming months, whether you’re looking for exhibitions and conferences or an opportunity to get your hands dirty at a real excavation. Or if you’d prefer to get your archaeology fix at home, there are still plenty of ways to experience the past from your sofa, ranging from virtual tours of museums and heritage sites to online learning resources and educational games. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the best options available.
Review by Andrew Tibbs. Over a decade of excavation has taken place at the Manor Pit quarry site in Baston, Lincolnshire, and this volume details the archaeological work undertaken at the site, and subsequent analysis. Initially occupied in the Neolithic…
Eighty-five years ago, an inscription was discovered at Brough-on-Humber hinting that the town was once home to a Roman theatre. Peter Halkon and James Lyall report on more recent excavations seeking to relocate its remains.
MOLA Headland Infrastructure uncovered c.300 pieces of animal bone and deer antler while excavating a small Roman settlement between 2016 and 2018 as part of the National Highways A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme.
Prehistoric anthropomorphic items made of wood represent rare finds in British archaeology.
The team found Iron Age and Roman settlement phases with rubbish pits, postholes, and boundary ditches.
Around ten percent of the excavated individuals were missing skulls, with many clearly decapitations, evidenced by visible cut marks and placement of the head between the legs.
The substantial figure, measuring 67cm in height, was discovered in July 2021 in Buckinghamshire, southern England
Very often, the stories we tell about archaeology are of objects being dug up, excavated, or otherwise unearthed. Sometimes, however, little actual digging is required, because the object being searched for has been there all along – right in front of the eye, hiding in plain sight, just waiting to be discovered.
Research in the hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall has revealed remarkable examples of Romano-British artistry hidden in plain sight. Ian Haynes and Lindsay Allason-Jones explore some of the key examples identified by the Elusive Sculptures project, and how these carvings have evaded archaeological attention in the past.
For me, the crux of this book comes on page 132. Peter Davenport explains that ‘the plan of the Classical temple [was altered] into something quite similar to the more usual plan of temples in the north-west of the empire,…
The ditch was not recorded on English Heritage’s 2010 Hadrian’s Wall map and was thus in danger of fading from written records.
Excavations in advance of HS2 construction in Northamptonshire have uncovered the remains of a previously unknown Iron Age village that grew into a flourishing Roman trading settlement. Carly Hilts spoke to James West to find out more.
• Uncovering scenes of the Trojan War in Rutland
• Wall paintings and rood-screens in Welsh churches
• African identities in Roman Britain
• Reconstructing the Dunch Hill roundhouse
• From West Africa to Wisbech: analysing an abolitionist’s campaign chest
This well-produced collaborative volume (with 12 subsidiary authors and two illustrators) presents – very timeously – the results of the 2018 excavation of c.4.5ha of development land on the outskirts of Ely. While intermittent use is attested from the late…
The anthropomorphic figure, which is 67cm tall and 18cm wide, was found in an excellent state of preservation due the ditch being water-logged
We all gathered round on another day, when a whoop of excitement emerged from the next-door shop, where Professor Frend was working in a cellar. He had just found the lovely bronze statuette of Venus, now a proud exhibit in the Verulamium Museum
The mosaic, which measures 11m by almost 7m, once formed the floor of a dining or entertaining room within a large villa complex occupied during the late Roman period.
It is 70m from where archaeological remains thought to represent a 1st-century AD temple were discovered
An intricate Roman mosaic depicting the triumph of the Greek warrior Achilles over Hector of Troy, recently unearthed in Rutland, has been hailed as the region’s most stunning archaeological discovery to-date. Hazel Blair spoke to John Thomas, Anthony Beeson, David Neal, and Peter Kruschwitz to find out more about the meaning behind its motifs.