Description
In this issue:
– THE CELTIC RIDDLE: Deciphering hidden meanings in shape-shifting art
– REWRITING ROCHESTER: A lost cathedral found
– FULL CIRCLE?: Ten new facts about Stonehenge
– ANCESTRAL HOMES?: Constructing memory at Broxmouth hillfort
Plus: News, Reviews, Comment, Sherds, Odd Socs, and more!
From the Editor:
We are used to seeing the Celts through the filter of Greek and Roman propaganda. Ancient writers poke fun at the luxuriant moustaches sported by Celtic warriors, and cast them as the barbaric foils to Classical civilisation. Celtic art, though, tells a different story. Hidden among its graceful curves and elegant motifs are elusive abstract animals, conjured by master craftsmen. These designs allow us to catch a glimpse of the Celts on their own terms.
The vestiges of a rather larger grand design lie concealed beneath Rochester Cathedral. In the 11th century, work on a magnificent new edifice was launched by Bishop Gundulf, a celebrated architect renowned for designing the Tower of London’s keep. But less than a decade after the cathedral was consecrated in 1130, it was ravaged by fire. Now, new investigations are teasing out the details of its lost east end.
How many secrets ‚ that archaeology can resolve ‚ does a well-studied monument like Stonehenge still hold? The answer is quite a few. We take a look at ten little-known facts that allow us to see Stonehenge and its landscape in a new light.
There is also far more to the late Iron Age roundhouses in Broxmouth hillfort than immediately meets the eye. The use of stone in their walls was once seen as an expression of their inhabitants’ eagerness to embrace Roman know-how. Artefacts secreted in these homes, though, reveal a society dedicated to commemorating their ancestors’ ways.
Matt Symonds
Cover Date: Oct-2015, Volume 26 Issue 7