Current Archaeology 435
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An enduring landscape: Uncovering 8,000 years of life and death on the Cotswold Edge
Recent excavations at Milestone Ground on the eastern edge of Broadway have revealed one of the most intriguing archaeological landscapes yet found in Worcestershire. Beneath quiet pasture lay evidence of human activity stretching back 8,000 years, including Mesolithic flint tools, Bronze Age burials, hundreds of Iron Age storage pits, a Roman farmstead, and the largest late Roman cemetery known in the county. Constance Mitchell reports.
Llanbedrgoch: Exploring a unique early medieval trading centre on Anglesey
Ninth-century Carolingian coins from the reigns of Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald are not the sort of objects you would expect to find on a remote farm on the Isle of Anglesey, so, when metal-detectorists began reporting these and other exceptional artefacts from the early medieval period, the National Museum of Wales (now Amgueddfa Cymru) sent Mark Redknap, then Curator of Medieval and Later Archaeology, to investigate. Between 1994 and 2012, Mark led ten seasons of fieldwork on the site, revealing the remains of a trading settlement with a form unparalleled in Wales. With the full report recently published, Chris Catling describes its key findings.
New study reveals Bronze Age daggers were not status symbols, but used for animal processing
New research finally answers the question of what Bronze Age daggers were used for, as Isabella Caricola and Andrea Dolfini reveal.
Assyrian art found in underground complex
Between c.900 and 600 BC, the Neo-Assyrian empire expanded across south-eastern Anatolia, establishing rule over many Aramean city-states, and using Assyrian art to express and consolidate their power.
Palaeolithic people created art by firelight, new study suggests
The research focused on a collection of 50 limestone plaquettes from the rock-shelter site of Montastruc in southern France, which was occupied in the Magdalenian period (23,000-14,000 years ago).
Rare bones of men and horses found at Waterloo
The discovery was announced by Waterloo Uncovered, the archaeological charity which has returned to the battlefield site in Belgium for its first excavations there since 2019.
Scenes from Prehistoric Life: from the Ice Age to the coming of the Romans
Review by Molly Masterson. In just a few hundred pages, Scenes from Prehistoric Life takes readers on a journey through 900,000 years of prehistory, weaving a narrative that connects the ancient and
At first light
Jodrell Bank Observatory, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of The University of Manchester, is a working research facility that has supported the discovery of meteors, black holes, and the afterglow
Excavating Suffolk
The result of many years’ fieldwork by local voluntary and educational organisations came to a head there in the early 1990s, when a long-proposed bypass was constructed, destroying major elements of the Roman settlement.
Seasonal Settlement in the Medieval and Early Modern Countryside
Review by Stephen Mileson. This latest, well-produced, and richly illustrated contribution to the Ruralia series tells us much about medieval and early modern use of the mountains, moorlands, forests, and remote coastlines
Butser Ancient Farm at 50: celebrating half a century of experimental archaeology
With Butser Ancient Farm marking its 50th birthday this year, Trevor Creighton reflects on the past and present of this pioneering experimental archaeological site, and shares the memories of some of the people who have been involved with its work.
More details on the historic royal shipwreck found off Norfolk coast
The find has been hailed as the most significant British maritime discovery since the Mary Rose.
Warrior Treasure: the Staffordshire Hoard in Anglo-Saxon England
Review by Kevin Leahy. This book joins the growing list of publications on the Staffordshire Hoard, but Warrior Treasure is published by Historic England and can be viewed as an ‘official’ popular
News in brief: Second World War graffiti and treasure found in Wales
A round of some of the latest archaeological news stories from the UK.
Stone circle discovered inside Cornwall henge
This represents a rare find for the area: the only other known Cornish henge monument with a stone circle is Stripple Stones on Bodmin Moor.
Buried: an alternative history of the first millennium in Britain
Review by E O’Brien. In Buried, Alice Roberts, derives information relating not only to the death of individuals but to the lives lived by those individuals from examination of their bones. Topics
The Florence Nightingale Museum, London
With the Florence Nightingale Museum having recently reopened, Carly Hilts dropped by to learn more about the life, legacy, and legend of the ‘Lady with the Lamp’.
Cissbury Ring: Neolithic flint-mines in the digital age
Seventy years after John Pull’s excavations at Cissbury Ring transformed our understanding of Neolithic flint-mining, an innovative new interpretive trail has been launched at the West Sussex landmark. Carly Hilts visited the site with James Brown and James Sainsbury to find out more.
Travellers from an antique land: exploring the collections of the Society of Antiquaries of London
As the Society of Antiquaries of London launches a new affiliate membership, increasing access to its library and museum collections for the general public, Carly Hilts visited Burlington House to learn more about three centuries of antiquarian activity, and its very eclectic holdings.
The Romano-British Villa and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Eccles, Kent
The site at Eccles in Kent was excavated on a shoestring from 1962 to 1976 by Alec Detsicas with the Lower Medway Archaeological Research Group and then the Eccles Excavation Committee. Lack