Archaeology

Saving Saranda

Strictly speaking Saranda cannot be saved. When I first came here in September 1993, a year after Albania became a democracy, it was a blissful Ionian seaport. Many of its citizens had left for Greece, so it felt empty, yet…

Smelling the past

Even those who have never ploughed through Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past will know that the French author’s multi-volume reminiscences were sparked by the taste and smell of madeleine cake crumbs combined with lime-flower tea.

Oasis of archaeology

AlUla is an oasis town in north- western Saudi Arabia with a deep historic past as a major stepping stone for the traders who brought frankincense and myrrh north into Egypt and the Levant.

Rock art of Wadi Rum: Preliminary investigations into the prehistoric and protohistoric past

Survey work in Wadi Rum is revealing fascinating new insights into the age and variety of its rock art. Genevieve von Petzinger and George Nash share the findings so far.

Bronze Age – Fires of change

A major exhibition at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden explores a period of massive transformation in the Netherlands and beyond. Amy Brunskill spoke to curator Luc Amkreutz to find out more.

Silver-gilt vessel

The vessel was… packed with precious objects and placed upside down. What is it? This lidded, silver-gilt vessel is c.150mm tall, and 92.4mm in diameter at the rim. It was discovered as part of the Viking Age Galloway Hoard, filled…

Worlds beneath the waves: Seeking the submerged story of Liman Tepe

A chance discovery at Liman Tepe prompted a pioneering archaeological project that is setting the submerged portions of this ancient city alongside its remains on dry land. Evidence won from the sea is revealing new stories about how a major emporium evolved over the millennia, as Vasıf Sahoglu explained to Matthew Symonds.

Petite but picture perfect

A small, ornately decorated house has been uncovered in Pompeii during ongoing excavations of the Insula of the Chaste Lovers, in the centre of the ancient city. Archaeological investigations of this newly discovered residence are still under way, but it…

Collapse and decline

Few experiences seem to bring us closer to people in the past than literally following in their footsteps on the streets of abandoned ancient cities, among the ruins of what they once called home. The effect can be dampened, though, when we reflect that these remains only exist because at some point the population left their houses, temples, palaces, and plazas for better or – more likely – worse.

CWA #129 crossword, and answers to crossword #128

Across 8 Ancient Greek historian and geographer (6)9 2nd-century Greek theologian, author of Against Heresies (8)10 Fabled city of South America (2,6)11 Mayan style of architecture from northern Yucatan (3,3)12 Inca citadel (9)14 Recess in the wall of a Roman…

Embers of the Hands: hidden histories of the Viking Age

REVIEW BY CARLY HILTS Popular imaginings of the Viking Age are often dominated by larger-than life figures – kings, warlords, explorers, poets – with the experiences of ordinary men, women, and children fading anonymously into the background. This vibrant book…

Memory in Fragments: the lives of ancient Maya sculptures

REVIEW BY BRYAN R JUST Megan O’Neil’s Memory in Fragments provides a comprehensive and nuanced presentation of a topic the author has been exploring for years, namely the myriad ways the ancient Maya interacted with monumental sculptures over their long…

In the Darkest of Days: exploring human sacrifice and value in southern Scandinavian prehistory

REVIEW BY MARIANNE HEM ERIKSEN Human sacrifice constitutes a perennially fascinating topic for scholars and general audiences alike. It is also a research area where the risk of leaning into sensationalism and exoticisation can be relatively high. In the Darkest…

Beneath the surface of a Viking Age cemetery

A large Viking Age burial ground has been discovered in Halland, western Sweden. Archaeologists Anders Kjellin and Petra Nordin tell us about their findings.

CWA news in brief

A curious composition New analysis of an inhumation burial unearthed in the 1970s at a Gallo Roman cemetery in Pommerœul, Belgium, has revealed that this ‘individual’ in fact comprises bones from at least four different Late Neolithic people, as well…

Silk at Sanxingdui

A specialised analytical approach has identified the first archaeological evidence for silk at the Bronze Age site of Sanxingdui. The settlement, which lies in the Sichuan Basin in south-western China, is believed to have been the capital of the ancient…

A parasitic passenger

Between the 12th and the 16th centuries, the city of Bruges in Belgium was an important commercial hub, home to a number of foreign merchant communities, several of whom set up their own ‘nation houses’, which served as administrative seats…

The art of fishing

Analysis of engraved stone slabs from the 15,800-year-old site of Gönnersdorf, located on the banks of the Rhine in west-central Germany, has identified a set of carvings that appear to depict fish nets or traps. Gönnersdorf has produced a rich…

An ancient Egyptian ritual blend

New analysis of an ancient Egyptian ritual vessel is shedding light on the complex concoction it once held. Bes vases are a type of ceramic vessel decorated with the head of Bes, an ancient Egyptian guardian figure associated with protection,…

A gathering place by the water

The remains of a unique Neolithic ceremonial site have been uncovered in the province of Skåne, in southern Sweden. Investigations were carried out in 2024 in the village of Hammar, outside Kristianstad, by archaeologists from the country’s National Historical Museums…

Come, tell me how you live: a national archaeology outreach programme in Denmark

Rubina Raja and Julia Steding discuss a collaboration between the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions and the NGO Videnskabsklubben that has resulted in a brand new, first-of-its-kind archaeological outreach programme for schoolchildren in Denmark.

Current Archaeology Live! 2025

In partnership with: Current Archaeology Live! 2025 will be here before we know it, and tickets are selling fast. The conference, held in partnership with University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, will be on 1 March (Saturday) and will return…

Current Archaeology’s January Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home

There are lots of great historical and archaeological events coming up over the next couple of months, from exhibitions and lectures to archaeology days and conferences. Or, if you would prefer to get your heritage fix at home, there are many opportunities to do so, including virtual site-tours, digital resources, TV shows, and games. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.

CA Letters 419 – January

Language and linen I have just finished reading the latest ‘Sherds’ column in CA 417. His pieces are always thought-provoking, and I thoroughly enjoyed the section on the Norse/Anglo-Saxon influence on our modern language. I am fascinated by place-names, and…

Fields of gold: Understanding the Snettisham Hoards

Over the course of eight decades, at least 14 separate hoards of Iron Age metalwork have been recovered from a single field at Snettisham in Norfolk. Now, following the publication of a new book describing the excavation, conservation, and scientific investigation of these spectacular finds, Jody Joy and Julia Farley describe how they came to be discovered, and reveal some of the secrets that have come to light since then.

Iceni updates: Expanding our understanding of Venta Icenorum

The Caistor Roman Project has returned for another summer excavation outside the walls of Venta Icenorum – once the most important town in Roman East Anglia. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Will Bowden and the Caistor team to hear the latest thinking about the settlement and its inhabitants.

Under the infirmary: Revealing the secrets of medieval Berwick

Archaeological work ahead of the construction of a new hospital in Berwick-upon-Tweed has revealed significant new evidence of the border town’s medieval defences. David Fell reports.

Fishbourne Roman Palace: Excavating the CA archive

My ‘great site’ this month is one close to many people’s hearts. When I think of the locations that embody the best of Current Archaeology as a magazine and British archaeology as a community, I consistently alight on Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex. This site has it all – great coverage in the magazine, enthusiastic public engagement, stunning finds, and charismatic custodians.

Hopping through the history of oast houses: From 19th-century brewing sites to luxurious living spaces

The websites of upmarket estate agents will typically feature a dozen or more properties for sale in Sussex or Kent converted from 19th-century oast houses. These desirable residences once served a humbler purpose, drying the resinous hop flowers that are an essential ingredient in the nation’s beer. Patrick Grattan recorded the last of these buildings in use for that purpose in the 1960s, and his knowledge has fermented into a detailed history of the oast, as Chris Catling now reports.

Vanished voices? Tracing female experiences and aspirations in medieval England and Wales

Medieval histories are often dominated by the deeds of ‘great men’, but a rich record of female stories can still be found in the archival and archaeological record, as a new exhibition reveals. Carly Hilts reports.

Voices on the Path

Sherds does not share the passion for cycling that seems to have gripped so many people over the last two decades. In the words of the self-styled ‘Super-Tramp’, W H Davies, ‘A poor life this if, full of care,/We have no time to stand and stare’, and it is the standing and staring that walking permits, whereas cycling (uphill at any rate, with traffic presenting an ever-present threat) seems full of care

Searching for Severus: Did a Roman emperor visit Carlisle?

Last month, CA 418 reported on excavations uncovering a sumptuous 3rd-century building at Carlisle Cricket Club. Its date coincides with the period when Septimius Severus and his family are known to have been in northern Britain, and of the emperor’s military campaigns in Caledonia. One translation of the Historia Augusta states that Severus travelled to Luguvalium, Roman Carlisle, during this visit – but is it correct? David Breeze and Alan Wilkins investigate the documentary evidence.

Digital data: Fishbourne Roman Palace

When it was excavated in the 1960s, Fishbourne Roman Palace generated an archive that, for the time, was incredibly structured and detailed. However, by today’s standards, little attention was given to distribution of artefacts across the site, or relative locations…