Description
In this issue:
– SAVED FROM THE SEA: Rescuing ten millennia of history
– POULNABRONE’S PORTAL TOMB: Honouring the Neolithic dead
– ‘A PREY TO PAGAN PEOPLE’?: The Viking impact on Britain and Ireland
Plus: News, Reviews, Comment, Sherds, Odd Socs, and more!
From the Editor:
What do we really know about the Vikings? Yes, they raided, and they hoarded (as illustrated by our richly tangled cover shot). But what cultural footprint did they leave in Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland, and how does their archaeological legacy differ from place to place? Carly Hilts explores a wealth of data on the Vikings in Britain and Ireland, as newly published by the British Museum in a must-read book.
In ‘Saved from the sea’, Clive Waddington explains how unceasing coastal erosion at Low Hauxley, on the Northumberland coast, has revealed the sort of deep sequence that we normally only expect from the great ‘tell’ sites of the Near East. Here, he and his team have uncovered some 10,000 years of human history, from the Mesolithic onwards. However, the same sea that revealed the site is now threatening to swallow it up. The race has been on to record what they can.
Vast stone slabs balanced on slender uprights: portal tombs are among our most astonishing ancient monuments. But how were they constructed, and what do we know about how they were used? New research by Ann Lynch is providing answers.
Other highlights in this issue include a low-down on Lord Carnarvon of Tutankhamun fame. What led this privileged playboy (and owner of Highclere Castle, now known to many as ‘Downton Abbey’) to Egypt? Best-selling archaeological author Brian Fagan explains all.
Good reading!
Cover Date: Jan-2015, Volume 25 Issue 10