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Current Archaeology Live! 2025 will be here before we know it, and tickets are selling fast. Our sister-magazine’s Current Archaeology upcoming conference will be held on Saturday 1 March. We are delighted to be returning to University College London’s Institute of Education near Russell Square for the event, which is run in partnership with the UCL Institute of Archaeology.
As ever, we have an exciting line-up of expert speakers spanning prehistory to the present day, and showcasing fieldwork and scientific research from across Britain and further afield, including a talk by Professor Rosalie David exploring the latest insights into ancient Egyptian mummies. The ever-popular Archaeology Fair will return, too, with a wealth of exciting stalls.
The conference will host the results of the Current World Archaeology Photo of the Year competition as well (for more details, see www.world-archaeology.com/photo2025), and in the evening we will find out the winners of the 17th annual Current Archaeology Awards. To see the nominees for these prestigious prizes and celebrate the people, projects, and publications that have made an outstanding contribution to archaeology, and to find out how to cast your vote, read on.
HOW TO BOOK
Tickets for Current Archaeology Live! 2025 are now on sale with a special discount for CWA subscribers. Visit archaeology.co.uk/live to book. At the checkout use code ‘cwa-ticket’ to save £16 off the £65 price.
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS (not in order of appearance)
Saturday 1 March
Three sessions of talks and a keynote address will run from 9.15am-5pm, with two coffee breaks and a pause at 1pm
Mark Beattie-Edwards (Nautical Archaeology Society) – Klein Hollandia: discovering a British ‘Act of Piracy’
Natasha Billson (Behind the Trowel) – From the Trench to the Screen: public archaeology in the digital landscape
Dr Amanda Chadburn (Bournemouth University) – The Sun, Moon, and the Monuments of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site
Dr Oliver Creighton & Professor Alan Outram (University of Exeter) –Medieval Warhorse: the archaeology of a medieval revolution?
Professor Rosalie David (Professor Emerita, University of Manchester) – Ancient Egyptian Mummies: insights provided by bio-scientific research
Anna Giecco & Nick Henderson (Uncovering Roman Carlisle) – From Hadrian to the Severans: the story of Carlisle’s monumental Roman complex
Dr Helen Gittos (University of Oxford) – Sutton Hoo and Syria: the Anglo Saxons who served in the Byzantine army?
Antonietta Lerz & Han Li (MOLA) – A Puzzlement: reconstructing the Roman paintings of Southwark
Keynote speaker: Nick Card (Ness of Brodgar Trust) – Ness of Brodgar: a millennium in the making; 20 years of discovery
The CA Awards will be announced at 5pm
ARCHAEOLOGIST OF THE YEAR
Professor Julian D Richards
Julian is Professor of Archaeology at the University of York, where he researches archaeological computing and Viking archaeology. He first encountered Vikings as a student digger at Coppergate, and he has excavated important Viking sites at Cottam, Heath Wood, and Torksey. Computing started as a hobby, but in 1996 he founded the Archaeology Data Service, and co-founded one of the world’s first open-access online journals, Internet Archaeology. The ADS has developed into a key resource for archaeological study and research, and it preserves and publishes data generated from thousands of projects, both commercial and academic. From 2024, Julian is also leading a major AHRC-funded initiative to build a sister-service for Heritage Science. Julian was awarded an OBE for services to heritage and digital archiving in the 2024 New Year Honours List.
Professor Joyce Tyldesley
With a background in prehistoric and Egyptian archaeology and extensive fieldwork experience in Britain, Europe, and Egypt, Joyce has a career-long determination to make the past accessible to all. She has taught archaeology at many levels, from free online MOOCs and podcasts to night school classes (including WEA and U3A) and university courses. She is currently Professor of Egyptology at the University of Manchester, where her team has developed a pioneering suite of online Egyptology programmes designed to reach students who, for various reasons, could not dream of attending traditional, face-to-face lectures. She has written over 20 scholarly yet user-friendly books for adults, and many books for children, as well as working in the museum sector, and as an interviewee on many television documentaries. In 2024, she was awarded the OBE in recognition of her services to Egyptology and heritage.
Dr Clive Waddington
Clive is a prolific archaeologist who has made significant contributions to academic, commercial, and volunteer archaeology over 30 years. After lecturing at Newcastle University, where he set up, led, and published the groundbreaking Milfield, Howick, rock-art, and Maelmin Heritage Trail projects, he founded Archaeological Research Services Ltd, the first archaeological contractor to win a King’s Award for Enterprise. Appearing regularly on TV and radio, he has delivered and published high-profile excavation projects, industry guidance, coastal zone assessments, and award-winning community projects at Fin Cop, Creswell Pele Tower, and Whirlow Hall Farm, as well as setting up and funding the Community Archaeology Radiocarbon Dating (CARD) Fund, which celebrated its 100th date for UK community projects this year.
BOOK OF THE YEAR
Life in Early Medieval Wales
Nancy Edwards (Oxford University Press; CA 409)
‘A truly stupendous achievement of synthesis and evaluation… drawing on a lifetime of teaching and researching early medieval archaeology.’
Crypt: life, death, and disease in the Middle Ages and beyond
Alice Roberts (Simon & Schuster; CA 410)
‘Compelling… in her usual fashion, Roberts covers intellectual points in a comprehensible and engaging way.’
Places for the Living, Places for the Dead: archaeological discoveries on the N25 New Ross Bypass
James Eogan & James Hession (Transport Infrastructure Ireland; CA 411)
‘Engaging and evocatively written, packed full of detail and always accessibly presented… an illuminating and very enjoyable read.’
Death in Irish Prehistory
Gabriel Cooney (Royal Irish Academy; CA 412)
‘An inspirational book, drawing on rich experience to provide a thought provoking and highly accessible volume.’
Must Farm Pile-dwelling Settlement: Volumes 1 & 2 (landscape, architecture and occupation/specialist reports)
M Knight, R Ballantyne, M Brudenell, A Cooper, D Gibson,
& I Robinson Zeki (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research; CA 412)
These comprehensive publications document Britain’s most-complete prehistoric settlement and explore analysis of its remarkable finds.
Excavations along Hadrian’s Wall 2019-2021: structures, their uses, and afterlives
Rob Collins & Jane Harrison (Oxbow Books; CA 413)
‘Demonstrating the great potential of citizen science… clearly written and well-illustrated.’
In Search of Norfolk’s First Stone Churches
Peter Wade-Martins (BAR Publishing; CA 413)
‘An almost unrivalled wealth of knowledge and experience… refreshingly approaching this subject from the perspective of a field archaeologist rather than an architectural historian.’
Stone Circles: a field guide
Colin Richards & Vicki Cummings (Yale University Press; CA 415)
‘A book for stone circle fans… with suggestions for enriching the visitor experience.’
Stonehenge: sighting the sun
C Ruggles & A Chadburn (Liverpool University Press; CA 417)
‘Abundantly illustrated… this book, crammed full of insights, is exactly what is needed.’
Exploring the Antonine Wall with Terrestrial Remote Sensing
W S Hanson, R E Jones, & N Hannon (Archaeopress; CA 417)
‘A highly readable and comprehensive synthesis of two decades of geophysical survey work along the Antonine Wall.’
RESEARCH PROJECT OF THE YEAR
The following are some of the most exciting projects to have featured in CA over the last 12 months.
The Klein Hollandia: discovering a 17th-century Dutch warship off Eastbourne
Nautical Archaeology Society/The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE)/Historic England, CA 406
A wide-ranging project to identify an anonymous shipwreck off the Sussex coast, and an innovative initiative to protect the historic remains.
From the Caucasus to Cambridgeshire: retracing the story of Offord Cluny’s ‘Sarmatian’ burial
MOLA Headland Infrastructure/Durham University/Francis Crick Institute, CA 408
Excavation and genetic research have revealed the first physical evidence of the Sarmatian warriors forcibly brought to Britain in AD 175.
Excavations over the White Cliffs of Dover: uncovering the Second World War story of Fan Bay and its surroundings
National Trust/Wanstone Rediscovered Project, CA 412
An initiative to explore and conserve significant Second World War defences outside Dover traces the important military history of the area.
Signs of the tines: tracing Viking Age comb production in Ipswich
Ian Riddler and Nicola Trzaska-Nartowski, CA 413
Detailed research has transformed our understanding of early medieval comb-making, as well as revealing some Scandinavian surprises.
Building Roman Cirencester and beyond: Roman tile production in the north Wiltshire countryside
Cotswold Archaeology, CA 413
Community excavations near the village of Minety have illuminated the impressively far reach of a Roman tile-making centre.
Underground, overground: excavating an Iron Age fogou and Romano British remains at Boden
Meneage Archaeology Group, CA 414
This long-running community dig is exploring a network of Iron Age tunnels, Bronze Age roundhouses, and unusual Romano-British activity.
Unearthing ancient Tweeddale: ‘Merlin’s Grave’and other lost stories embedded in the landscape
GUARD Archaeology/Arthur Trail Association, CA 415
This project set out to explore Drumelzier’s legendary links, and illuminated the area’s Iron Age and early medieval past in the process.
Pioneering spirit: exploring the archaeology and history of The Glenlivet whisky
Pioneering Spirit Project (National Trust for Scotland/The Glenlivet), CA 416
This intriguing initiative shed light on the industrialisation of whisky production.
Seeking a Scottish source: updating the story of Stonehenge’s Altar Stone
Richard Bevins, Rob Ixer, Nick Pearce, and Tony Clarke, CA 415/417 Cutting-edge analysis indicates that a stone at the centre of Stonehenge
RESCUE PROJECT OF THE YEAR
Rescue archaeology is carried out in areas threatened by human or natural agency.
People of Ranelagh: repopulating a forgotten settlement cemetery in Co. Roscommon
IAC Archaeology/Queen’s University Belfast/Roscommon County Council/Transport Infrastructure Ireland, CA 407
Archaeological investigations revealed the evolution of a very long-lived medieval settlement and its multi-generational cemetery.
If walls could talk: tracing Beaumaris’ lost town defences
CR Archaeology, CA 407
Excavations revealed part of Beaumaris’ medieval defences, long believed to have been demolished: discoveries designated ‘of national significance’ that led to the historic remains receiving scheduled status.
Piety and plague: exploring evidence for life and death in Cambridge’s Augustinian friary
Cambridge Archaeological Unit/After the Plague, CA 409
Illuminating archaeological work has revealed structural and human remains associated with one of Cambridge’s religious communities.
Frame of reference: rare wooden funerary finds from Roman London
MOLA, CA 409
Excavations have uncovered part of a waterlogged Roman cemetery, including five oak coffins and what may be Roman Britain’s first complete funerary bed.
A villa unveiled: uncovering luxury living and ‘ritual activity’ in Roman Oxfordshire
Red River Archaeology Group, CA 411
Excavations have uncovered the remains of a previously unknown Roman villa, insights into the lives of its inhabitants, and hints of more enigmatic ceremonial activity at the site.
From stronghold to Steel City: uncovering the ‘birthplace of Sheffield’
Wessex Archaeology/Sheffield City Council, CA 414
Recent archaeological work in central Sheffield has uncovered long-buried traces of the city’s medieval castle, as well as remains relating to its influential industrial past.
Buried at Bodicote: investigating unusual inhumations at an Iron Age farmstead in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
Archaeological Research Services Ltd, CA 416
Excavation ahead of a new housing development near Banbury has uncovered the remains of an Iron Age farmstead, including ten pit burials with unexpected characteristics.
Archaeology and climate change: cherishing our archaeology in the face of environmental challenges
RCAHMW, CA 417
An innovative project investigating the impact of climate change on archaeological sites on both sides of – and under – the Irish Sea.
ALL THE FUN OF THE (ARCHAEO) FAIR
Our exciting Archaeology Fair is back for another year, offering a diverse range of stalls for you to browse in the breaks between sessions. Make sure you stop by to learn about travel, fieldwork, and study opportunities, as well as specialist archaeological services – and to pick up a book or several!
This year’s fair will include our partner for the event, UCL Institute of Archaeology, as well as leading archaeological publishers and booksellers, including Archaeopress, BAR Publishing, and Chris Snook Booksales. For those interested in archaeological travel, you can find out more about expert-led tours and heritage-themed holidays from the likes of Andante Travels, Hidden History Travel, Kirker Holidays, The Cultural Experience, and Peter Sommer Travels. Further information on archaeological fieldwork and studies can be gained from Kent Archaeological Society and Cardiff University BioArchaeology, while you can learn about the archaeological services offered by Wessex Insurance Brokers Ltd and AS Geospatial Surveys Ltd. There is sure to be something to interest everyone.
HOW TO VOTE
As ever, our awards ceremony recognises the best in archaeology, as voted for by you the reader. Please vote online at www.archaeology.co.uk/vote. Voting is open until 10 February!
We are grateful thanks to this year’s award sponsors:
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