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.
Renovation reveals hidden secrets of Durham Castle
Recent renovations at Durham Castle have revealed new details of how the fortification was redecorated and altered over its almost 1,000-year history. With the renovation of the castle presenting a rare opportunity
A cut above: Examining the use of woodworking tools in Late Bronze Age Britain
Archaeological wood specialist and traditional woodworker Hamish Darrah describes his ongoing research combining wear analysis and experimental archaeology to illuminate the diverse uses of woodworking tools in Late Bronze Age Britain.
Go digging!
With the summer digging season rapidly approaching, we will be running a series of pages highlighting excavation opportunities across Britain and Ireland. This month features projects ranging across East Anglia, the Midlands, and the South-East.
South-east England’s Saxon Shore forts: Excavating the CA archives
Following on from last month’s column, here I continue my survey of the Saxon Shore forts of south-east England: a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel thatwere established in the late 3rd century AD to defend Britain against the incursions of Saxon raiders
World news
Africa’s oldest cremation? Archaeological investigations in the shadow of Mount Hora, in northern Malawi, have revealed the oldest evidence for human cremation yet found in Africa. The burial, which dates to c.9,500
19th-century industrial heritage uncovered near Swansea
Excavations at the former Hafod–Morfa Copperworks have revealed rare evidence of copper-processing techniques used in the Lower Swansea Valley during the 19th century which, at its peak, accounted for an extraordinary amount
17th-century shipwreck found on Dorset beach
Ancient footprints are not the only archaeological discoveries that have been brought to light by recent winter storms. At the end of January, gale-force winds and massive waves revealed a large fragment
2,000-year-old footprints revealed on Angus beach
A series of 2,000-year-old footprints have been unexpectedly revealed on an Angus beach following a barrage of winter storms. They add to only a handful of ancient human tracks that have been
Vikings: the immersive experience and Pilgrimage of Love: Eleanor of Castile
Newly opened exhibitions at Dock X, London, and Leeds Castle, Kent,
include AI technology that brings the past to life in a startlingly personal way,
offering interactive audiences with medieval queens: one from Viking Age Scandinavia and the other from 13th-century England. Carly Hilts reports.
Viking Age mass grave found outside Cambridge
Excavations at Wandlebury Country Park, just south of Cambridge, have uncovered a large burial pit containing the remains of at least ten individuals who died violently in the 8th- to 9th-century AD
Assessing the impact of Roman occupation on health
New research examining the transition between the Iron Age and Romano-British period has shed new light on the detrimental impact of Roman occupation and urbanisation on population health. Previous studies had already
UK news in brief
New heritage law for Jersey New legislation unanimously passed by the States of Jersey will make it compulsory to report archaeological finds to Jersey Heritage within a fortnight of their discovery, with
Pointing to the past: Arrowheads, experimental archaeology, and the CA Awards
James Dilley, who crafted the upsized arrowheads that adorn this year’s CA Awards, describes the process of replicating prehistoric projectiles – and their archaeological inspiration.
Current Archaeology Live! 2026
At the end of February, our annual conference returned to UCL’s Institute of Education in London, with hundreds of people coming together to share the latest news about the past. For those who weren’t there, here is a round-up of what went on.
Roman Roads Research Association
By AD 150, the Roman road system extended for some 300,000km (more than 186,000 miles – 7.5 times the circumference of the earth). This comprehensive transport infrastructure underpinned the mobility and trade
Saving shipwrecks: HMS Invincible, East Solent
There are currently 57 nationally important shipwrecks in English waters, spanning the Bronze Age to the 20th century, designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 – including the remains of HMS
Upon a White Horse: journeys in ancient Britain and Ireland
Peter Ross has made quite a name for himself in recent years. His previous books, A Tomb with a View: the stories and glories of graveyards (2021) and Steeple Chasing: around Britain
Pets & their People
Today, 17 million UK households have at least one pet. Carly Hilts visited a new exhibition in Oxford exploring humans’ long and varied relationships with animals.
Pets & their People
Why do so many of us choose to share our lives – and our homes – with at least one animal? Pets & their People (published to accompany an exhibition of the