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.
Prehistoric pioneers: how female migrants changed the face of Bronze Age Orkney
Analysis of human remains from the Links of Noltland, Westray, has revealed the first concrete evidence of a major influx of non-local people into Orkney during the Bronze Age – and, uniquely for the period, it appears that this movement of migrants was dominated by women. Carly Hilts reports.
New images of Rutland’s Roman villa
Earlier this year, CA reported the discovery in Rutland of a stunning Roman mosaic featuring scenes from the Trojan War. It was inside the opulent dining room of ‘a sprawling late Roman
The British Sundial Society
The British Sundial Society is compiling a register of all the Mass dials (also known as scratch dials) in the country. So far, 5,500 examples have been recorded and the society is
Last word on Roman London
Traders poured in, London flourished, and in ten years it became the biggest town in Britain. But then, disaster! Boudica rebelled and London was destroyed: traces of burning from this episode are still visible in the lower layers of excavations.
Excavating Hertfordshire
The site began life as a simple farmstead in the 1st century AD and transformed over the centuries into quite a grandiose stone structure, with a swimming pool and bath complex, by the mid-2nd century AD.
UK events, exhibitions, and heritage from home 2022-2023
As we head into spring, there are many fantastic opportunities to get out and about and enjoy the UK’s history, archaeology, and cultural heritage, whether you’re looking for historical re-enactments, excavation opportunities, or new exhibitions. If you prefer, there are also plenty of resources available online, ranging from digital museum collections and 3D tours of heritage sites to activities and archaeological TV shows for the whole family. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Museum news: the return of JORVIK Viking Festival, and Darwin’s missing notebooks
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
A festival of finds: celebrating Chichester’s Roman past
The people of Chichester – or Noviomagus Reginorum, as the settlement was known in the 1st century AD – have much to celebrate when it comes to their Roman heritage. Claire Walton and James Kenny explore the city’s Roman archaeology, and explain how it has served as both a platform for public engagement and the inspiration for an annual celebration of all things Roman.
Crucible of Nations: Scotland from Viking Age to medieval kingdom
Review by Russell Ó Ríagáin. This book is the third in a series associated with the Glenmorangie Company Research Project at National Museums Scotland, treating various aspects of Iron Age and medieval
Street Furniture
Review by AB. The term ‘street furniture’ encompasses a wide range of everyday objects that are found along roads and in towns and cities around the world, from manhole covers and postboxes
For peat’s sake: peatlands, climate change, and the future of archaeology
How can understanding the archaeology of peatlands help to ameliorate the current climate crisis? Rosie Everett and Gillian Taylor share the latest research.
Mosaics in Roman Britain
Review by Stephen R Cosh. Anthony Beeson has been among those at the forefront of mosaic research in Britain for many years, particularly on mythological subjects. This little book is very much
Edwardian excavations: Corbridge, Northumberland
This newly colourised image, based on an black-and-white photograph taken over a century ago, shows Edwardian labourers excavating the granaries at Roman Corbridge, an ancient town and supply base that began life
London in the Roman World
Review by Owen Humphreys. You wait decades for a new book about Roman London, then two come along at once. Dominic Perring’s previous work Roman London (Routledge, 1991) was the standard reference
Brick Wonders
Carly Hilts travels around the world in 31 LEGO models at The Novium Museum, Chichester.
Scanning the Elgin Marbles
The story was seen as a further blow to the argument that the Marbles must stay in London – replicas ‘accurate to a millimetre’ could be displayed at the British Museum and few visitors would know the difference.
Reinventing Ratae: exploring Roman and medieval Leicester
Nearly 50 years of excavations have explored much of Leicester’s north-eastern quarter – and now a newly published thematic volume, Life in Roman and medieval Leicester, draws together the results from these extensive investigations. Covering such a large area, and a time span that starts with the late Iron Age and carries through to the Norman Conquest and beyond, the report looks at the cycles of growth and decline in the life of the town and draws out the similarities and differences between the Roman and medieval settlement, as Chris Catling reports.
Waterloo Uncovered: Hougoumont Farm exposed
Phil Harding and Emily Glass describe recent excavations by the charity Waterloo Uncovered, which has made exciting new discoveries on the eponymous Belgian battlefield.
Ruins, Remains and Relics: Sussex
Review by Robin Hughes. Ruins, Remains and Relics: Sussex is a miscellany, organised into the three titular groups, of various historical curiosities from across the historic county of Sussex. Horlock explicitly emphasises