A new exhibition running at the British Museum explores the vast network of cultural and commercial connections that spanned Europe, Africa, and Asia in AD 500-1000. Carly Hilts visited to learn how diverse ideas, materials, and people filtered along these routes to the British Isles.
Over the last two years, excavations on marshland near Poole Harbour have revealed evidence of unusual seasonal activity dating to the Bronze Age – including one of the oldest and most complete wooden tools ever found in Britain. Carly Hilts spoke to Greg Chuter and Ed Treasure to find out more.
The CHERISH Project resulted from a joint Welsh and Irish application to the European Union’s Interreg fund, the purpose of which is to bring member nations together to share innovative and sustainable solutions to regional development challenges. In this case, the challenge was climate change and its impact on the heritage sites and landscapes along the Irish Sea coast and beneath its waters. The project was conceived and led by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, and Chris Catling, the Commission’s Secretary, now reports on its methods and outcomes.
There is a great range of historical and archaeological events coming up over the next few months, ranging from exciting new exhibitions to lectures and conferences. Or, if you prefer to get your heritage fix at home, there are lots of ways to do that too, including digital museum resources, virtual site tours, podcasts, and TV shows. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the best options.
The prompt reporting and careful recovery of a Bronze Age hoard has enabled expert analysis of its contents. CA reports on the potential of the Peebles Hoard to transform our understanding of Bronze Age Scotland.
In CA 415, we reported on new scientific analysis suggesting that the origins of the Stonehenge Altar Stone lay hundreds of miles from Salisbury Plain, in the Orcadian Basin of north-east Scotland. The story has already moved on, however, with recently published research narrowing the search further, ruling out Orkney itself as a potential source. Rob Ixer, Richard Bevins, and Nick Pearce bring us up to date.
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
The Altar Stone Engravings I was recently researching the Historic England archive of Richard Atkinson’s 1958 excavations at Stonehenge, and two photographs (P50106, ; and P50107, ) revealed an astonishing feature of the Altar Stone. The photographs partially show the…
This little bird, found by a metal-detectorist in Corhampton/Meonstoke, Hampshire, was once a brooch. Dating to the 6th century, it measures just 20mm long and 10mm wide, weighing 4.06g. The brooch was cast from copper alloy, after which its surface…
In my second column on the archaeology of Greater London, I stroll through the Saxon town, meander through the medieval city, and finally alight on some post-medieval and modern sites. There is a lot to review here, from the evidence of London’s last Romans to those who lived here in some of its most difficult of times: the Blitz during the Second World War.
A collection of over 2,500 silver pennies, hidden in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, is to go on display at the British Museum later this month, before finding a permanent home close to where it was found.
Sadly, trains no longer stop at Adlestrop, the station that is the subject of Edward Thomas’ best-known poem. That was lost to the Beeching axe in 1966, but there are plenty of other places where you can read his poems…
In September, Sherds attended a lecture given by Richard Dance, Professor of Early English in the Cambridge University Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, on the theme of ‘Vikings in your Vocabulary: Adventures in the History of English’, based on his Gersum Project (www.gersum.org) looking at the Scandinavian influence on our language.
The Culver Archaeological Project has been running for almost 20 years. Carly Hilts reviews a new exhibition exploring its discoveries at two major Roman sites in Sussex’s Upper Ouse Valley.
When skeletal timbers emerged from intertidal deposits at Sand o’Erraby beach on Sanday, Orkney, earlier this year, they were soon identified as part of a shipwreck – specifically, the midships section of a vessel’s lower hull. Current thinking is that…
Excavations on Islay, in the Inner Hebrides, have uncovered the archaeological remains of an early medieval metalworking workshop. Finds of flint had been emerging from the plough soil for some time, hinting at the area’s archaeological potential, but this was…
Recent excavations in Huttons Ambo in North Yorkshire have uncovered two previously unknown medieval buildings as well as hints of an Iron Age or Roman settlement. In the 1950s, excavations within the parish – which shares its name with a…
Human remains discovered on Lindisfarne in 2022 have been identified as disturbed burials that were potentially associated with an early medieval chapel and cemetery at the island’s famous medieval monastery. The bones were initially discovered during a watching brief undertaken by AOC…
Govan Old Church in Glasgow is one of the city’s most important historical landmarks, with the site’s religious story stretching back at least 1,500 years, and the church itself renowned for housing one of the most significant collections of Viking…
Excavations at Wrexham, in north-east Wales, have revealed further traces of a known Roman settlement and the unexpected remains of an early medieval longhouse. Geophysical surveys in 2023 and 2024 had mapped a settlement with a clear grid plan, as…
An anonymous shipwreck discovered off St Alban’s Head in Dorset more than 30 years ago has finally been identified by marine archaeologists from Bournemouth University. Found in 1990 at a depth of c.27m, the 24m-long vessel was nicknamed the ‘Pin…
Third Roman stone head found in Carlisle excavations Excavations at Carlisle Cricket Club, which are uncovering the remains of a monumental Roman building, have produced a third carved stone head. Two mask-like sculptures had previously been found during the investigations…
Oldest figurative art identified The oldest narrative art in the world has been identified in Indonesia during new analysis of rock-art sites on the island of Sulawesi. A new method of dating called laser- ablation uranium-series (LA-U-series) imaging uses a…
In 2019, a metal-detectorist made a startling discovery while exploring near the edge of a stream near Pulborough in West Sussex: two curved pieces of a golden torc dating to the Iron Age. After being reported to the local Finds…
A specialist grant that helps volunteer and community groups to date their finds has reached a significant milestone after funding 100 radiocarbon dates in the last nine years. Emma Aitken discusses key results from projects supported by the CARD Fund in 2023, as well as providing details of its 2024 funding cycle and an event celebrating the 100th date.
REVIEW BY AB Once characterised as a ‘Dark Age’, Britain’s early medieval period is dark no more. These days, impressions of the era have been transformed by headline finds like the intricate gold filigree metalwork from Sutton Hoo and the…
REVIEW BY CH Located more than 100 miles from the Scottish mainland, the cluster of islands collectively known as St Kilda have variously been mythologised as a romantically remote place whose hardy inhabitants were torn from their traditional way of…
REVIEW BY AMY BAKER Bringing together work conducted by Historic Environment Scotland (previously Historic Scotland), Glasgow University, and various commercial archaeological units, this highly readable and comprehensive synthesis of two decades of geophysical survey work along the Antonine Wall offers…
REVIEW BY RP This book takes on a challenging and complex period of British history, beginning with the political upheaval of the 3rd century, and ending with the arrival of St Augustine in 597. The long, entangled tale of emperors,…
REVIEW BY ADAM KLUPS Nicola Coldstream’s latest book showcases more than 40 ecclesiastical buildings in and around Gloucestershire, highlighting their fantastically diverse architectural styles and hidden treasures. The publication contains entries for places of worship in both rural and urban…
REVIEW BY ROB IXER This is the second of two recent, non-mainstream Stonehenge books (the other is Mike Pitts’ publication on the technicalities of building the circle), both of which must be on the required reading list for this monument.…