CA418

Current Archaeology’s December Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home

There are many brilliant archaeological events coming up into the New Year, from new exhibitions to conferences, talks, and more. If you would prefer to get your history and heritage fix at home, though, there is a wide variety of offerings to choose from, including virtual museum- and site-tours, digital collections, podcasts, and TV shows. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.

Fit for an emperor? Excavating a monumental building in Roman Carlisle

Excavations at Carlisle Cricket Club are uncovering the remains of the largest Roman building ever found on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Frank Giecco to find out more.

Current Archaeology Live! 2025

In partnership with: Our upcoming conference, Current Archaeology Live! 2025, will be held on Saturday 1 March. We are delighted to be returning to University College London’s Institute of Education near Russell Square for the event, which is run in…

Holyroodhouse: Tracing the history of Scotland’s official royal residence

The Royal Collection Trust, the Department of the Royal Household that manages the public opening of the King’s official residences, has published new histories of Windsor Castle (CA 341) and St James’s Palace (CA 394) in recent years. Now it is the turn of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the King’s official Scottish residence, to be the subject of a comprehensive new history, as Chris Catling reports.

CA Letters 418 – December

Poem to remember This poem was written at a time when I was a Chemistry Lecturer at Llandaff College of Technology and also an amateur archaeologist. At the time, I marvelled that chemists were detecting cholesterol in graves where only…

Fleeting finds: Investigating intertidal discoveries in the Severn Estuary

Intertidal archaeological sites are challenging to investigate, often being exposed for just a few hours at a time, but they can be rich repositories of organic finds and environmental evidence. Martin Bell, Thomas Walker, and Adam Turner describe the illuminating discoveries that have been made at Goldcliff in the Severn Estuary over the last three decades.

Unearthing the Peebles Hoard: A unique collection from Bronze Age Scotland

In CA 417, we described how best-practice reporting, expert archaeological work, and cutting-edge analysis were coming together to give intriguing insights into a remarkable assemblage that had lain undisturbed in the Scottish Borders for 3,000 years. Matthew G Knight, Emily A Freeman, Mary Davis, and Fraser Hunter take up the story to reveal what has been learned so far.

Star Carr: Excavating the CA archive

After more than 50 columns exploring the archaeology of the British Isles through a geographic lens, I begin here a new thematic focus: that of ‘great’ sites visited by Current Archaeology down the years. As I neared the end of my tour of the four nations, I reflected on the enduring power of a ‘great’ site.

Rock to the rescue

The sounds that one associates with places of worship are those of an angelic choir or the intricate patterns of a Bach fugue. Some churches have, however, been enjoying success with the rather more unexpected pairing of doom metal bands and church organs.

Intentional offerings? Examining Bronze Age metalwork from the River Trent

An exhibition running at the University of Nottingham Museum showcases the intriguing and eclectic Bronze Age metalwork that has been recovered from the waters and wetlands of the River Trent. Carly Hilts spoke to Mark Pearce and Clare Pickersgill to learn more.

Friends of the Roman Road and Fleam Dyke

Fleam Dyke is a linear earthwork some 5km in length, built in phases between the mid-4th and the mid-7th centuries. The path along the top leads to Mutlow Hill, where the Dyke (now 8m/26ft in height) skirts a Bronze Age…

Museum news

The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words

A new exhibition at the British Library shines vivid light on female deeds and desires between 1100 and 1500, as Carly Hilts reports.

Finds Tray – Vulcan figurine

This figurine was found by a metal-detectorist near Holton-le-Clay in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire. Although it is lacking its head, enough stylistic features have survived to identify it as representing Vulcan, Roman god of fire and the forge, who lends his…

Traces of medieval Richmond revealed

Richmond in North Yorkshire has an unusual semi-circular marketplace in the town centre, and it has long been suggested that this might be because it once formed part of the outer bailey of Richmond Castle, which was built to help…

Science Notes: Put that in your pipe – archaeological evidence for the effect of tobacco-consumption on bones

Many studies have been carried out into the impact of smoking on the human body, and one need only to glance at a pack of cigarettes to be confronted with imagery detailing some of the consequences in gory detail. In…

Exploring a lost landscape and palaeolithic practices in Oxfordshire

Archaeologists working in north Abingdon have revealed evidence of one of our early human ancestors, as well as traces of ancient river systems, during preparation works for the new A34 interchange at Lodge Hill. Sixteen trial trenches were dug during…

Protective symbols revealed at Gainsborough Old Hall

Previously undiscovered markings identified as apotropaic symbols (protective carvings sometimes referred to as ‘witch marks’), as well as a rare ‘curse’ inscription, have been revealed during volunteer research at English Heritage’s Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire. The hall was originally…

Uncovering Oxford’s Anglo-Saxon defences

Excavations at Oxford University’s Oriel College have helped to confirm the limits of the city’s Anglo-Saxon defences. Oxford first appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in AD 911 It was a burh, a fortified settlement, and while this entry does not…

Almost 4,500 burials uncovered at Bristol workhouse cemetery

Archaeological work on the site of a Victorian workhouse and hospital has revealed the remains of almost 4,500 individuals, offering a rare opportunity to study the lives and deaths of the institution’s residents. Blackberry Hill Hospital was originally founded as…

UK news in brief

Time Team at Sutton Hoo Following a successful return to Sutton Hoo this summer, Time Team have again joined forces with the National Trust and will carry out another investigation in Garden Field in 2025. Working in partnership with the…

‘King Arthur’s Hall’ 4,000 years older than thought

Dating analysis of a monument on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall has revealed that it may be 4,000 years older than previously imagined. King Arthur’s Hall – comprising 56 standing stones set within a rectangular bank of earth and stone measuring…

World news

Painted throne room discovered in Peru Excavations in a large square-pillared Moche building in Peru have uncovered a painted room which is believed to be the throne room of a previously unrecognised female ruler, dating to around AD 650. The…

Celebrating heritage ‘Game Changers’: Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire

A giant ephemeral land artwork the size of four Olympic swimming pools has been unveiled by Sir Tony Robinson at Whitby Abbey, to mark the 30th birthday of the National Lottery and celebrate the achievements of seven heritage ‘Game Changers’.…

Where Men No More May Reap or Sow

REVIEW BY SOPHIA CHAPPLE In Where Men No More May Reap or Sow, Richard Oram analyses five centuries of Scottish environmental history across 13 chapters. This project initially sought to cover the early medieval period up until COP26, recently held…

Artefact

REVIEW BY CH Corinium is how the Romans knew Cirencester; today it is the name of the Cotswold town’s museum. Its displays include a wealth of Roman finds, as well as artefacts spanning prehistory to the present day – and…

Daisy Wheel, Hexfoil, Hexafoil, Rosette: Protective marks in gravestone art

REVIEW BY BRIAN HOGGARD The title of this book suggests it will look at the occurrence of the daisy-wheel symbol in gravestone art, which it partly does. The geographical area surveyed for the book is principally the north-east of America…

Trelawny’s Cornwall

REVIEW BY JOANIE WILLETT Growing up in Cornwall has been indelibly etched throughout my social learning, which makes reading (and viewing) material about Cornwall tricky. The overwhelming most books, TV, and films are written about middle-class escape or escapism which,…

Ash-sharq: Bulletin of the Ancient Near East

REVIEW BY CH The latest issue of Ash-sharq includes a particularly thought-provoking contribution by Dr St John Simpson, senior curator in the British Museum’s Department of the Middle East, which focuses on artefacts from Anglo-Saxon England. Among the lavish grave…

Footpaths: A British history

REVIEW BY RP Most people see the British footpath for its immediate purpose: a means of getting from A to B (seldom achieved without also acquiring muddy shoes and the occasional nettle-sting). Not so for Tom King, who has spent…