Description
In this issue:
– The science of Stonehenge: tracing the origins of the bluestones
– A Jacobean jigsaw in Bath Abbey
– Poulton’s unexpected Iron Age finds
– Exploring identity in early medieval England
– Delving into the development of working-class dwellings
– How to explore the past from your home
Plus: News, Reviews, Comment, Sherds, Odd Socs, and more!
From the Editor:
Last summer, we ran a feature about the long-running excavation at Poulton, near Chester, which was then exploring a cemetery associated with a medieval farming community. Within the grave fills, however, the team found far older artefacts: hints of earlier occupation. Now they have revealed the remains of a completely unexpected Iron Age and Romano-British settlement, which is set to transform our understanding of the region during this period.
A similarly unexpected find is the focus of our second feature. Archaeological work at Bath Abbey revealed quantities of decorative 17th-century plaster, and when one of the team happened to glance through a pub window while collecting lunch, he noticed an ornate ceiling bearing strikingly similar motifs. Can this lucky spot help reconstruct the Abbey’s once glorious interior?
Further painstaking piecing-together of minute details is taking place at Stonehenge, where cutting-edge techniques are helping to pin down the sources of the bluestones with ever-greater precision, by analysing their mineralogical make-up.
As for more modern constructions, we cover the archaeology of working-class housing: what can be added to written accounts of the poorest during the Industrial Revolution?
Our final feature focuses on the Anglo-Saxon period. The appropriateness of this term as a historical descriptor has recently been the subject of heated debate. But what did the Anglo-Saxons call themselves?
We also have another special round-up of ways to explore ‘Heritage from Home’ – with a bonus page to highlight places that are welcoming visitors once more. We would love to hearyour experiences of visiting a newly reopened museum or site.
Cover Date: Sep-2020, Volume 31 Issue 6