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.
Territoriality and the Early Medieval Landscape: the countryside of the East Saxon kingdom
Review by Nick Higham. Stephen Rippon must be congratulated on a handsome, well-illustrated book that is a new must-read for anyone interested in the East Saxons or what the transition from Roman
HMS Invincible: excavating a Georgian time capsule
In its heyday, HMS Invincible was considered one of the finest ships in the Royal Navy – and although it sank off Portsmouth in 1758, its remains represent the best-preserved 18th-century warship known in UK waters. Carly Hilts spoke to Daniel Pascoe, who headed recent excavations of the wreck, and visited an exhibition currently running at The Historic Dockyard Chatham to find out more.
The Great British Dig: History in Your Back Garden
Review by Eugenia Ellanskaya. When it comes to interpreting archaeological sites, invisible ink comes to mind as a common medium that has been used to paint the elusive picture of our past.
Wreckage of 17th century warship HMS Gloucester discovered off Norfolk coast
‘This can be claimed as the single most significant historic maritime discovery since the raising of the Mary Rose in 1982.’
Bronze Age spearhead unearthed among other prehistoric finds in Gloucestershire
Six Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age timer-posted roundhouses and an array of animal bone and pottery fragments were also uncovered.
Palaeo-Indian red ochre quarry identified as the earliest known mine in America
Radiocarbon analysis of well-preserved bison bone fragments revealed the earliest phase of red ochre mining began around 12,840 to 12,505 years ago.
Leicester and Roman Africa: exploring ancient multiculturalism in the Midlands
Last month we explored the evolution of Roman and medieval Leicester. Now Mathew Morris explains how recent University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) excavations in the city have revealed links between its Roman predecessor and North Africa.
The archaeology of Black Cat Quarry: farming, flooding, and fighting in the Great Ouse valley
Recent excavations at Black Cat Quarry in Bedfordshire have revealed a story of farming communities spanning the Neolithic to the early medieval period, as well as the possible remains of an important Viking encampment described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Ben Dyson, who supervised the majority of excavations and undertook the post-excavation analysis for Archaeological Research Services Ltd, explains more.
Thousands of possible prehistoric pits found near Stonehenge
Among the larger features excavated in the course of the investigations, the team found a 10,000-year-old pit that had been dug into the chalk bedrock, perhaps to catch game such as aurochs.
Survey identifies remains of Greasley Castle in Nottinghamshire
The survey work showed that the complex was a ‘courtyard castle’ with corner turrets and a great hall…
A Contemporary Archaeology of London’s Mega Events
Review by Robin Hughes In this engaging example of contemporary archaeology, Jonathan Gardner explores the multifaceted impacts of three London-based ‘mega events’ on the capital: the Great Exhibition of 1851, the 1951
Barrows at the Core of Bronze Age Communities: Petersfield Heath excavations 2014-18 in their regional context
Review by David Field. Rarely in recent times have extant barrows, let alone groups of them, been excavated, for in most cases developer-funded excavation has only encountered levelled examples and the ditch
The science of conservation: preserving Tudor bricks from the Mary Rose
The Tudor vessel sank during the Battle of the Solent in 1545, and its surviving timbers and contents have been undergoing conservation since the wreck was raised in 1982
Finds tray – Roman owl figurine
This copper-alloy owl figurine was found last year by a metal-detectorist on cultivated land in the Cotswolds, and it dates to the Roman period, when owls were associated with the goddess Minerva.
Muldlark’d: hidden histories from the River Thames
Review by HB. This lavishly produced volume offers an introduction to Thames ‘mudlarking’ – the practice of searching the river’s foreshore (with a permit!) for historical objects and other items of interest.
Hyde900 project finds Hampshire abbey’s medieval nave
All that remains of the abbey above ground since its demolition at the Dissolution of the Monasteries is an arched stone gatehouse.
Farming Wales
This image shows Esgair Llewelyn in Powys, one of the oldest farmhouses in Wales. It was built as a cruck-framed upland hallhouse c.1500. It would have originally had an open fire in
From scandalous sculptures to Selfridges
The objectionable trough has survived, though the figures are so eroded that you need advanced powers of imagination to see anything erotic or outrageous in these maenads – female followers of the wine god, Dionysus.
From Julius Caesar to Boadicea: a century of Icenian coins
Iron Age coins are not just currency: they are miniature works of art. Carly Hilts visited the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford to see a new special display exploring the imagery of the Iceni.
Restoring Marble Hill: how archaeology helped to revive a Georgian gem
When Henrietta Howard (née Hobart) built her Thames-side country house in Twickenham in the 1720s, it represented so much more than a fashionable escape from the bustle of court life: it was a refuge from her abusive marriage, and a sign of hard-won independence. With the house and its grounds now restored to their Georgian glory, and the site reopening to the public, Carly Hilts visited to find out more.