This year is the 380th anniversary of the Siege of King’s Lynn, an important but often overlooked engagement during the Civil War. David Flintham presents the latest findings of a community archaeology project exploring the town’s fortifications.
Your views on issues raised in Current Archaeology.
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the world.
Review by Rosalind Love The engagingly lyrical writing of Eleanor Parker has gained many admirers through her website ‘A Clerk of Oxford’, which gently introduced readers to the rich literature, folklore, and religion of early medieval England. Her latest book…
Review by Hugh Cheape Professor Ian Bradley has identified a network of routes extending for miles across our upland and island areas and radiating out from long-used burial grounds. The routes are marked by cairns where funerals, carrying the deceased…
This summer offers a wealth of opportunities to get involved in fieldwork in the UK and Ireland. Ceri Pennington has put together some regional highlights for 2023, but see www.the-past.com/digs for even more archaeological experiences.
A recent study aimed to determine whether stone axes and adzes – common tools during the Neolithic – were also used as weapons.
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the UK.
A new exhibition at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery features artefacts recovered from the wreck of the Gloucester, which sank off Norfolk in 1682. Carly Hilts visited and spoke to curators Professor Claire Jowitt and Dr Francesca Vanke to find out more.
Review by Stuart Brookes Falling somewhere between a gazetteer, reference manual, and coffee-table book, it’s a little difficult to figure out who the intended market for this volume might be. Although containing many beautiful photographs, it doesn’t quite qualify as…
This was the first evidence for the cult of Mithras in Scotland, and it changed our view of Roman religion on the northern frontier.
Most of us would guess that this was a word of recent coinage, but it first occurred in the lyrics of a 1938 song by the blues singer Lead Belly
Researchers suggest that this could have been some kind of sexual implement, something that is rarely considered among archaeological artefacts
Last month, Warwick Rodwell guided us through recent research in Canterbury Cathedral, focusing on the virtuosic mosaic that once lay before the shrine of Thomas Becket. As a sequel, he now reveals what was learned about the shrine itself, and the chapel in which it stood before the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
There are lots of great archaeological events coming up over the next few months, including new exhibitions, lectures, and conferences. Or, if you would prefer to get your history and heritage fix at home, there is a wide selection of resources available, from virtual tours of museums and heritage sites to radio and TV shows, games, and activities. Amy Brunskill has put together a summary of some of the options available.
As most cressets from Britain do not have any evidence of residue on them, it had previously been thought that they may have been used to hold ceramic lamps
Review by James Gerrard This is a handsomely produced and richly illustrated volume detailing the results of the University of Reading’s research excavations at Little London, just to the south-west of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester; see CA…
At the end of February, more than 400 people came to UCL’s Institute of Education in London for our first in-person conference since 2020. Here is a round-up of what went on.
The members of the Wealden Iron Research Group (WIRG) are dedicated to recovering the evidence for an industry that began in the Iron Age and blossomed under Roman imperial management, producing materials for the building of towns, villas, and farms,…
Skellig Michael – the larger of two rocky islets that lie 8 miles (13km) west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland – was the favoured retreat of early medieval monks seeking an escape from worldly temptations. Reading the newly published Book of the Skelligs, Chris Catling gains some insights into the conditions those hermits endured and the reasons why the islands were added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 1996.
This January, conservation of the roughly 2,500 timbers recovered from the wreck was completed – a process that took 14 years
Review by Peter Halkon As the cover note states, this is an accessible introduction to the major artefacts and sites within the county. As Adam is a member of the curatorial staff at the Yorkshire Museum in York, the book’s…
The chamber is believed to have been built in the 2nd century AD and would have been semi-subterranean, with brightly painted stone walls and a concrete floor.
A new exhibition running at St James’s Church in Piccadilly tells the story of how HS2 works uncovered a huge Georgian and Victorian burial ground near Euston Station, and introduces some of the individuals laid to rest there. Carly Hilts visited to find out more.
Review by KK In the latest addition to the 50 Finds series from the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), Laura Burnett, the Finds Liaison Officer for Somerset, takes us on a tour of the county through some of the most important…
Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex is home to the largest collection of in situ Roman mosaics in Britain – including the famous ‘Cupid on a Dolphin’ mosaic seen here. There are 29 such floors on display. In advance of…
This late medieval silver-gilt strap-end was recently featured in the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and Treasure annual reports. It was discovered in October 2021 by a metal-detectorist in the parish of Worldham in East Hampshire. Dating to around…
Govan Old Parish Church is home to one of the most significant collections of Viking Age carved stones in the British Isles, and recent fieldwork in the churchyard has revealed the presence of further examples buried beneath the turf. Carly Hilts spoke to Stephen Driscoll about the latest findings, and about an initiative to forge new connections between the church, its archaeological holdings, and the local community.
The artefact was found at Bar Hill, approximately four miles north-west of Cambridge, and is believed to date to the Iron Age (c.750 BC-AD 43).
The latest on exhibitions, acquisitions, and key decisions.
The vase was found in a grave, located outside Roman Colchester, having been reused as a cremation urn.