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.
Archaeology Lectures, Events, and Exhibitions – October 2021
Now that museums and heritage sites around the UK are reopening and in-person events are beginning to be held again, we wanted to highlight some of the ‘real life’ exhibitions, lectures, and activities coming up. However, if you’re still looking for ways to get your archaeology fix at home, Amy Brunskill also has a selection of online museums tours, resources, activities, and more to keep you busy.
Anglo-Saxon church and burials uncovered in Stoke Mandeville
The structure’s foundations contain reused roof tiles, possibly sourced from a Roman settlement on a hill to the east of the site
Bretons and Britons: the fight for identity
This well-illustrated book on Breton identity is a development of Cunliffe’s Facing the Ocean (2001), in which he successfully carves out a broad Atlantic cultural identity, separate to that of central Europe.
Neolithic stone balls found in Orkney tomb
The purpose of the balls remains obscure, but they could have been used as weapons to inflict head injuries, or as ritual objects.
World News: possible new hominin species, ancient shark attack, Mesolithic honey-gathering
Current Archaeology rounds up some of the latest discoveries across the globe, including the world’s oldest shark attack victim found in Japan, a scene of honey-gathering from a cave in Spain, and the analysis of a previously unknown ancient hominin species.
The hunt for Hyde Abbey: piecing together the layout of a royal monastery in Winchester
Built c.1110 on the outskirts of medieval Winchester, Hyde Abbey was an important religious centre, housing the burial place of Alfred the Great and his wife and son. For the last five years, community excavations within the area of the long-demolished monastery’s cloisters have been shedding light on the complex’s layout – and this summer, Carly Hilts visited the dig to find out more about their latest findings.
50 Bronze Age Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme
Although Bronze Age finds make up just a fraction of the Portable Antiquities Scheme database, the discoveries recorded still number over 12,000. The objects presented here, in the latest publication in the
Combining aDNA and radiocarbon dating
Humans only live for so long. Thus, if two individuals are identified as having had a close genetic relationship there can only be so many years between their dates of death
The Shipwreck Museum, Hastings, and the wreck of the Amsterdam
At very low tides, the remains of the Amsterdam, the most complete surviving example of a Dutch East India Company trading vessel, can be seen on Bulverhythe Beach near Hastings. CA Editor Carly Hilts visited the wreck, travelled to the Shipwreck Museum in Hastings’ Old Town, and spoke to Peter Marsden to find out more.
News in brief: minesweepers off Ireland, Kenyon Medal winner, and Bristol’s plague hosptial
Current Archaeology explores recent news about a WWII minesweeper HMS Mercury discovered in the Irish Sea, the winner of the Kenyon Medal which is awarded in recognition of work in fields of archaeology and Classics, and new revelations about a plague hospital in Bristol.
Looking at lakes as ornaments in the landscape
For a visitor to a late 18th-century country seat, the most striking feature of the landscape, apart from the house, would have been the lake. For that reason, it is all the more surprising these bodies of water have had such little attention from garden historians and archaeologists. Perhaps that is because it is assumed that they are natural, and that the house site was chosen to overlook the water, whereas the opposite is usually the case, as Chris Catling now reports.
Restoring Stonehenge: securing a Neolithic monument over 120 years
This autumn, specialists have been working to conserve some of the Stonehenge sarsens, the latest in a series of initiatives stretching back to the dawn of the 20th century. CA Editor Carly Hilts spoke to Heather Sebire to find out more.
King and Castle: Lincoln Castle
A century’s worth of development transformed the site from the earth-and-timber castle that was founded by William the Conqueror into the substantial stone fortress seen here.
England’s Seaside Heritage from the Air
Britain has a rich maritime history, a key part of which involves seaside resorts. This book showcases a collection of black-and-white photographs taken by Aerofilms Ltd between 1920 and 1953, illustrating scenes
Roman wall restored in Horncastle
The wall will continue to serve as a lasting reminder of the large 3rd- to 4th-century Roman fort of which it was once a part
The ‘Priest’s House’: excavating an enigmatic Roman structure at Caistor St Edmund
Ongoing excavations by the Caistor Roman Project are shedding light on an enigmatic structure that once stood close to a temple built outside the walled town of Venta Icenorum, near Norwich. CA Editor Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Will Bowden about the latest finds.
Professor of Archaeology Seán McGrail
His work included ethnographic research into different forms of shipbuilding, especially the construction of vessels without the use of metal fasteners, which took Seán to sites near and far, from the west coast of Ireland to the east coast of India.
English Landscapes and Identities: investigating landscape change from 1500 BC to AD 1086
This excellent volume addresses two key questions of archaeological research. First, can archaeology create the grand narratives practised by public historians? Second, what is the return on the long history of archaeological
Trellyffaint: how excavating a Pembrokeshire portal dolmen illuminated Neolithic dairy farming in Wales
A project that initially set out to study rock art on a c.5,000-year-old monument has uncovered what could be the earliest direct evidence of dairy farming in Wales. George Nash, Carol James, and Thomas Wellicome from the Welsh Rock Art Organisation (WRAO), and Julie Dunne and Emmanuelle Casanova from the University of Bristol, explain more.