Description
In this issue:
– The changing face of Iceni coins: the imagery of Boudica’s people
– Frontier life for Roman women
– New dig at Sutton Hoo: the story of a royal burial ground
– Reconstructing medieval Windsor Castle
– The life and death of ‘Blodwen’, a Neolithic woman
Plus: News, Reviews, Comment, Sherds, Odd Socs, and more!
From the Editor:
As I sat down to write this month’s ‘Welcome’, the internet was awash with images of Processions, a mass participatory artwork celebrating the centenary of voting rights being extended to (some) women in Britain. We explored the 1918 Representation of the People Act’s archaeological legacy in CA 336, and the anniversary also inspired a recent conference at Maryport. Some of the research presented there forms the basis of this issue’s lead feature, which asks: what can archaeology tell us about the lives of women living on the Roman Empire’s northern frontier?
The Iron Age Iceni are most famous for the exploits of another woman, the rebel queen Boudica – but the tribe’s sophisticated metalworking skills deserve to be just as well known. Our cover story explores how a ten-year study of their coinage has illuminated its intricate and evolving imagery, including a host of enigmatic ‘hidden faces’.
Meanwhile, at Windsor Castle we examine how architectural appearances can also change over time, tracing the royal residence’s development from its early medieval-origins to its 14th-century zenith as the centre of Edward III’s chivalric court.
From the political to the personal, we travel to Llandudno to meet a late Neolithic woman nicknamed ‘Blodwen’. What can her remains tell us about her life and death 5,500 years ago?
Finally, this issue we have extended the ‘News’ section with two longer reports. The first gives the latest on a Roman sarcophagus discovered last year – intriguing clues about its occupant have now emerged. The second visits Sutton Hoo to hear about the first excavation within the scheduled area in almost 30 years.
Carly Hilts
Cover Date: Aug-2018, Volume 29 Issue 5