Hadrian’s Wall Quiz
Hadrian’s Wall stretches for 80 Roman miles from coast to coast. How many modern miles does this equate to?
Britain
The Watlington Hoard: coinage, kings, and the Viking Great Army in Oxfordshire, AD 875-880
Review by Murray Andrews This exciting new book is the definitive publication of the Watlington Hoard, a remarkable find of precious metal coins, ingots, and jewellery hidden in Oxfordshire in the late 870s AD and rediscovered in October 2015. Richly…
Conquer We Must: a military history of Britain 1914-1945
REVIEW BY ANDREW MULHOLLAND Strategic history may seem dry or even daunting to some, but Robin Prior has broken new ground here. Not only has he tackled a huge subject in a different way, but he has presented his material…
War of Words – ‘Britannia’
Ancient Britain was known to the Mediterranean world. The Greeks called the island Pretannia, but the Romans named it Britannia, and made it part of their empire. The term ‘Britannia’ therefore figures prominently in military history. The Roman conqueror Julius…
A Viking Market Kingdom in Ireland and Britain: trade networks and the importation of a southern Scandinavian silver bullion economy
This book is the third in Routledge’s ‘Archaeologies of the Viking World’ series, and maintains the high standard of the others in terms of content. The book’s core idea is that groups with connections to southern Scandinavia established an often-loose…
Lost Realms: histories of Britain from the Romans to the Vikings
Review by CH As the last vestiges of official Roman administration flickered out in Britain, the resulting power vacuum produced a patchwork of small kingdoms. Some – Mercia, Northumbria, East Anglia, Kent – have come to dominate popular imaginings of…
No stone unturned: new insights from community archaeology on Hadrian’s Wall
Over the last three years, the WallCAP community project has carried out illuminating archaeological fieldwork at more than 15 sites on and around Hadrian’s Wall. With the initiative now drawing to a close, Rob Collins and Jane Harrison explore some of its key findings.
Atlas of the Hillforts of Britain and Ireland
Review by Andrew Tibbs. This invaluable contribution to our knowledge of hillforts is the most complete study on the subject in Britain and Ireland to-date. A long-awaited volume, it sheds much light on these somewhat enigmatic structures, detailing the results…
Hadrian Quiz
Hadrian was born in AD 76. In which year did he become emperor?
Iron Age Britain Quiz
When is the Iron Age usually said to have begun in Britain...?
Artistic obscurity: analysing Britain’s most elusive Roman sculptures
Research in the hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall has revealed remarkable examples of Romano-British artistry hidden in plain sight. Ian Haynes and Lindsay Allason-Jones explore some of the key examples identified by the Elusive Sculptures project, and how these carvings have evaded archaeological attention in the past.
Early Medieval Britain c.500-1000
Is there room for another general history of early medieval Britain? The answer is ‘yes, of course’ when it is as fresh and interesting as this one. Its USP is that it examines the history of the different peoples of…
British Islands Quiz
Which monk founded a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in around 634?
Roman figurine re-identified as an African warrior
It was likely included as a grave good in an interred cremation burial.
Bronze artefact offers evidence of execution ‘by lion’ in Roman Britain
The central figure might represent a damnatio ad bestias scene, depicting a condemned captive facing execution by being thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre.
Nine historic sites recognised to mark Festival of Britain anniversary
Running from May to September 1951, the Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair promoting British design, science, technology, architecture, industry, and the arts.
Neolithic Britain Quiz
The Neolithic period was the final part of the Stone Age. Which years did it span in Britain?
Fishguard, February 1797: the last French invasion of Britain
Patrick Mercer begins an occasional series looking at some of history’s less well-known battles.
Hadrian’s Wall Quiz
Hadrian’s Wall stretches for 80 Roman miles from coast to coast. How many modern miles does this equate to?
Secret Britain: unearthing our mysterious past
From a small spindle whorl to an expanse of moorland, there are many objects, individual sites, and entire landscapes in Britain that offer a portal to the past. In her engaging new book, Mary-Ann Ochota is our guide to the…
Age of ink: inkwells and writing in Roman Britain
The power of the Vindolanda and Bloomberg tablets to evoke our Roman past has made them justly famous, but just how widespread were writers in Roman Britain? Hella Eckardt reveals what inkwells can tell us about the arrival of literacy.