REVIEW BY RP The site of Regis House (encompassing 41-46 King William Street and adjoining properties in EC4, London) was extensively excavated between 1994 and 1996 by the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS, now MOLA). This new report by…
Archaeological investigations in south Lincolnshire, linked to the ‘Digging Market Garden’ project, have uncovered objects relating to one of the largest airborne assaults in history – as well as some unexpected medieval finds. Operation Market Garden was an attempt by…
East Africa’s earliest farming Excavations in Kenya have uncovered equatorial east Africa’s earliest evidence for plant farming. Working in Kakapel Rockshelter in the Lake Victoria Basin, archaeologists have discovered remnants of the legume crop cowpea (black-eyed pea) in a hearth,…
Archaeologists excavating an Anglo-Saxon monastery in Cookham have unearthed 23 intact human burials, along with the disturbed remains of multiple other individuals. The site, which has been excavated by the University of Reading since 2021 (see CA 392) with permission…
Excavations at Arthur’s Stone, a Neolithic burial chamber overlooking the Golden Valley in Herefordshire, have revealed evidence of a second megalithic monument on the site: a possible stone circle some 65.5ft (20m) in diameter. Dating back 5,500 years, Arthur’s Stone…
A new study published in Fish and Fisheries has uncovered the piscine preferences of medieval countries in the southern North Sea area. The research analysed fish-bone remains from sites across the UK, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, focused on the…
A summer excavation in the Oxfordshire village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell has revealed a Roman road lying beneath the local primary school’s field. Jason Debney, chairman of the local history society, recalled being told by a resident many years ago that the…
An intricately set Pictish ring has been unearthed during excavations at Burghead, in Moray, home to the largest-known Pictish coastal promontory fort. Overlooking the Moray Forth, the fort would originally have covered around 5.5ha, but the construction of the town…
The remains of a ‘lost’ 17th-century house built by a friend of Oliver Cromwell has been rediscovered during excavations at Auckland Castle in County Durham. During the Interregnum (the period between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the…
Restoring Boden Fogou Volunteers from the Meneage Archaeology Group have restored part of a passageway in an Iron Age fogou, which was rediscovered near Boden in west Cornwall in 2003 (see CA 414 for more about excavations on the site…
This Roman chatelaine was found in Walkeringham, Nottinghamshire, and dates to AD 100-200. Cast from copper alloy, and weighing just 7g, it is beautifully decorated with a pattern of 15 rectangular cells, some still set with the sky-blue enamel that…
As summer comes to an end, it is the perfect time to reflect on any heritage-filled travels, archaeological projects, or visits to historical sites around the world. Dig out your best photos on an archaeological theme – these can be…
The Silk Road has long been seen as a conduit for exotic goods travelling both east and west. But taking a wider perspective reveals how extraordinary objects and ideas were moving much more widely, as Sue Brunning and Luk Yu-ping told Matthew Symonds.
On a cold March day in 1995, fortune blessed me. I had written to the ancient historian N G L Hammond to see if he might meet me. He was 87, so it was a long shot. Not only did…
Once home to Celtiberians, Romans, Visigoths, and Moors, the ancient city of Valeria is now the venue for an archaeological project focusing on investigating the imperial Roman forum. Catalina Urquijo and Dionisio Urbina share their surprising discoveries.
Pilgrims once flocked from across the Inca Empire to Pachacamac. But just how ancient and rigorously planned was the layout of the cult complex that attracted them? Krzysztof Makowski reveals the remarkable results of recent excavations at the site
Around 2000 BC, a successful and prosperous Bronze Age culture in Southeast Arabia suddenly collapsed. Traditions and settlements that had developed over centuries disappeared, apart from in one small enclave towards the north of their former territory. Derek Kennet told Matthew Symonds how attempts to hold on to the past ushered in a new era.
Your observations, your objections, and your opinions: send them to cwaletters@world-archaeology.com
Archaeological work around the ring sanctuary of Pömmelte in Saxony-Anhalt has uncovered a landscape rich in ancient monuments and settlements. Franziska Knoll tells us more about the discoveries.
I would like to dedicate these pages to my PhD supervisor, Eric Higgs. After studying at the London School of Economics, he bought a hill farm in Shropshire at the outset of the Second World War, and spent the following decade rearing sheep and cattle, with the objective, he once told me, of breeding miniature versions of the former.
New research indicates that windows with glass panes may have been present in Viking Age buildings in Scandinavia.
A new exhibition takes visitors on a journey through 1,000 years of life in south-west Germany.
A reproduction of a type of Bronze Age vessel known as a ‘Magan Boat’ has just completed its maiden voyage off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The ‘Magan Boat’ is named after an ancient region in present-day Oman and the…
Bronze Age fossil collecting An object discovered in an ancient basement storeroom at Mycenae during excavations in the 1970s has just been identified as the fossilised astragalus (ankle bone) of an extinct genus of rhinoceros, thanks to recent analysis by…
New research is exploring how ancient Pueblo communities in the Southwest United States may have been connected by sound. Chaco Canyon in north-west New Mexico was once a bustling ancient Pueblo settlement, occupied c.AD 850-1150. Among the items found in…
New analysis of rock-art sites in Indonesia has identified the earliest narrative art currently known anywhere in the world. Research in recent years had already revealed that the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is home to some of the oldest figurative…
Excavations in south-eastern Norway have uncovered a unique prehistoric burial field containing graves belonging almost exclusively to children. In November 2023, archaeologists from Norway’s Museum of Cultural History working in the municipality of Fredrikstad came across 41 circular formations composed…
New research suggests that one of Stonehenge’s famous megaliths may have come from the very north of the UK. The Altar Stone is a six-tonne sandstone slab that currently lies in the middle of the famous stone circle. It was…
Archaeological work in Kenya has uncovered the earliest evidence for plant farming in equatorial east Africa. As a crossroads for various population movements throughout history, many of which included the transmission of crops, the region encompassing Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda…
A new model of Robert the Bruce, produced from a cast of his skull, has gone on display for the first time to mark the 750th anniversary of his birth. The 3D reconstruction of the medieval Scottish king is the…
On the banks of the Tweed in the Scottish Borders is the reputed site of Merlin’s Grave, the embedded remnant of a legend long associated with the nearby village of Drumelzier. Dr Ronan Toolis explains how a community archaeology project revealed why this tale became rooted to this part of Tweeddale.
In 2014, archaeologist Warwick Rodwell and art restorer Diane Gibbs bought the Grade II*-listed manor house in Northwold, Norfolk, after it had been neglected for 60 years. With water pouring in and roofs, ceilings, and floors collapsing, they set about rehabilitating the house, and much has been learned in the process about the construction of the manor, the families who lived in it, and its place in the history of the parish, as Chris Catling reports.
The Hallaton Helmet, an ornately decorated piece of Roman cavalry equipment discovered in rural Leicestershire in 2000, is undeniably an important artefact – but how do you interpret its now-fragmentary imagery for museum visitors? Helen Sharp describes an initiative that created two contrasting reproductions using traditional and cutting-edge techniques.
Since March 2020 I have criss-crossed the United Kingdom, examining its history through the eyes of Current Archaeology. I have now visited every county in every country, but I have just a few geographical loose ends to tie off, including, this month, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
There is a great selection of archaeological events coming up over the next few months, whether you’re looking for conferences, exhibitions, or heritage events for the whole family. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of home instead, there is plenty to choose from, including museum resources, virtual site tours, and new podcast and documentary series. Amy Brunskill has put together a summary of some of the options.
Excavations associated with a major road scheme in Co. Wexford and Kilkenny identified more than 35 previously undocumented archaeological sites spanning 9,000 years. James Eogan, Senior Archaeologist at Transport Infrastructure Ireland, reports.