Description
In this issue:
– Beyond the ramparts: exploring within Dorset’s hillforts
– Henry I and Reading Abbey
– Finding hidden history in the Yorkshire woods
– How the Roman military shaped Britannia’s industries
– The fight for women’s suffrage in ten objects
Plus: News, Reviews, Comment, Sherds, Odd Socs, and more!
From the Editor:
One hundred years ago this month, the Representation of the People Act 1918 made political history, giving British women the vote for the first time. Electoral rights were only extended to a select portion of the female population (I wouldn’t have qualified) but it was a watershed moment. This might seem more like social history than archaeology, but objects and buildings from the time bear eloquent witness to this historic episode and the hard-fought campaigns that led to it.
From landmark changes to archaeological landmarks, our cover feature explores Iron Age hillforts – imposing earthworks dominating their surrounding landscape. Dorset boasts 35 such enclosures, but until recently little attention had been paid to what went on within their ramparts. Now extensive geophysical surveys are illuminating their interiors once more.
Long-hidden secrets are also emerging at Reading Abbey. One of the grandest religious buildings of its day, and home to Henry I’s tomb, it was completely destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and many of its details were lost to history. Now, a new study is piecing together the story of a vanished religious community and its royal past.
Traces of other lost communities have been found during a major investigation across 1,300ha in Yorkshire. In woodlands and on isolated moorland, over 400 sites – including abandoned villages and industrial relics – have been recorded. Meanwhile, evidence of much earlier industry comes from the Weald, where the Roman military may have run major mining enterprises.
Finally, our annual conference has come around again – find the latest details on p.62. We hope to see you there!
Carly Hilts
Cover Date: Mar-2018, Volume 28 Issue 12