World News in Brief
CA explores the latest archaeological news from across the globe, including the discovery of the world's oldest Christian monastery.
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Letters – CA November 2021
Your views on previous issues of Current Archaeology.
Over 90 burials discovered in Deal
Most of the later burials were found outside the ring ditch, but inside the prehistoric enclosure the archaeologists found the c.AD 550 grave of a warrior.
St Gregory’s Minster, Kirkdale, North Yorkshire: archaeological investigations and historical context
his Archaeopress volume represents the long-awaited full publication of Philip Rahtz’s 1994-2004 investigations at Kirkdale parish church, where the famed sundial records Orm Gamalson’s c.1060 rebuilding of a ‘broken and fallen’ minster. Rahtz’s work was initiated with a trench dug…
Excavating the East Midlands
While investigating a site near Clifton in the south-western suburbs of Nottingham, Wessex Archaeology found evidence of a late Iron Age/early Romano-British farmstead, as well as the remains of two of its residents.
The Wrecks of HM Frigates Assurance (1753) & Pomone (1811)
In April 1753, a British frigate called the Assurance sank on the Needles, off the coast of the Isle of Wight. Its remains were rediscovered in 1969, complete with cannon, silver coins, and many other artefacts. Designated the sixth protected…
Exhibitions, Events, and Visits
With even more heritage sites and museums around the UK opening up and in-person events being held again, we have put together a list of some of the exhibitions, lectures, and events coming up soon. However, there are also still plenty of ways to get involved in archaeology, history, and heritage from home, and Amy Brunskill has gathered a selection of the online resources, virtual tours, and other activities available now.
Friends of Canterbury Cathedral
The Friends have raised some £15 million towards projects as diverse as the purchase of a minibus for the choristers, the conservation of rare books in the library, the restoration of the splendid Tudor gatehouse, and the creation of a new garden in the cathedral precinct.
Little Hadham’s road to the past
The team uncovered evidence of farming activity within the enclosure, alongside the foundation walls of a late Roman ‘tuning fork’ corn-dryer.
London’s Roman Tools: craft, agriculture and experience in an ancient city
This new study of tools from Roman London is a hefty volume, but it more than justifies the bookshelf space. Thorough coverage of dozens of crafts and tool types will ensure that it becomes a standard reference work for artefact…
CITiZAN’S Climate Emergency: protecting the future by understanding the past
Can studying past coastal change help us to ameliorate the climate crisis facing us today? A project focused on Mersea Island in Essex has illuminated invaluable information, report Oliver Hutchinson, Danielle Newman, and Lawrence Northall.
Iron Age shrine unearthed in the Yorkshire Wolds
Excavations on a hill in the Yorkshire Wolds have uncovered the remains of a 24m2 Iron Age shrine packed with cow skulls, deer antler, and other animal bones. The site appeared as crop marks in aerial photographs taken over 20…
Cruck Building: a survey
Crucks, curving roof timbers that in their purest form go from the ground to the apex of the roof, have long been a puzzle. They superficially appear to be a primitive form of roof framing, but we have no real…
Biocodicology and the proteomics of parchment
By analysing the proteins found in early modern legal records, a team of researchers have been able to prove that people in early modern Britain preferred to write their documents on sheepskin
Picturing the past in Wales: the evolution of archaeological illustration
No more waiting for photographs to be processed only to discover that half of them are under- or over-exposed or out of focus: we live in the age of selfies, and social media based on images taken with mobile phones that are many times more sophisticated than the cameras of the past, giving instant results. It is therefore easy to forget what a lengthy and difficult process it was to illustrate archaeological journals in the past. Chris Catling has been learning all about the ways in which archaeological illustration has evolved from an illuminating book produced to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Cambrian Archaeological Association.
Stranger in the Mask of a Deer
‘Dreamer, can you cast your mind back to before you were islanded?’ This thoughtful and thought-provoking book-length poem is described by its author, Richard Skelton, as a ‘call-and-response from the present to the past’. The text drifts into a dream-like…
Northampton Museum & Art Gallery
Following a £6.7 million transformation, Northampton Museum & Art Gallery has reopened to the public, with new galleries showcasing the town’s history – particularly its proud shoemaking heritage. Carly Hilts visited to find out more.
Excavating Scotland’s earliest railway
A community project excavating Scotland’s first railway has uncovered three 18th-century phases of timber construction layered on top of each other. The unprecedented discovery was made in East Lothian by the 1722 Waggonway Project, and has been described by railway…
Early medieval disc brooch
Crafted from copper-alloy, this early medieval disc brooch features a bird holding a branch (outlined above by Peter Reavill, Finds Liaison Officer for Shropshire and Hereford). The item is thought to date to between c.AD 800 and c.AD 1000, and…
A Mighty Capital Under Threat: the environmental history of London, 1800-2000
The London we know today traces its roots directly back to the modest settlement developed on the banks of the Thames in the late 9th century, in the time of the Saxon king Alfred the Great. In spite of fires,…
Sutton Hoo: capturing a ghost ship
It is one of hundreds of images of the investigation that are now available to browse online thanks to the conservation and digitisation efforts of the National Trust.
Museum news
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
Living like common people: uncovering medieval peasant perceptions of landscape
How did medieval villagers understand the world around them? Stephen Mileson and Stuart Brookes addressed this question in a research project and recently published book. Here Stephen reports on their findings, and how they met the challenges of uncovering the perceptions and sense of identity of ordinary rural people in the past.
Experimental ‘Bronze Age roundhouse’ unveiled
The new roundhouse was built almost entirely by 33 volunteers from Operation Nightingale, a charity assisting the recovery of wounded and traumatised military personnel and veterans through archaeology.
Roman Venus figurine found in Gloucester
Dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD, the moulded statuette is just 17cm high and has been interpreted as a religious icon, probably imported from elsewhere in the Roman Empire
Church Communities and Heritage
Churches are significant repositories of community history; they contain rare and precious objects; they are, in a very real sense, museums at the heart of every community. They are also places of reflection and spiritual sustenance...
From aurochsen to abbey tiles: uncovering Mesolithic and medieval finds at Blick Mead
Excavations at Blick Mead, a significant Mesolithic occupation site close to Stonehenge, continued this autumn. Carly Hilts travelled to the site to learn more about prehistoric hunters and traces of a priory associated with a medieval queen.
News in brief
A round-up of some of the latest news in UK Archaeology.
Secrets of scotch
Archaeologists from the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) are discovering the secrets of Speyside malt at the old site of The Glenlivet Distillery in Upper Drumin (pictured right), as part of the ‘Pioneering Spirit’ project, a partnership between NTS and…
Iona in the Viking Age: laying a ‘zombie narrative’ to rest
The traditional story of Iona’s early medieval monastery ends in tragedy and bloodshed, with the religious community wiped out by vicious Viking raiders. Increasingly, though, the archaeological and historical evidence does not support this persistent narrative, as Adrián Maldonado, Ewan Campbell, Thomas Owen Clancy, and Katherine Forsyth report.