REVIEW BY SAM LEGGETT This volume reads as a ‘Who’s Who’ of early medieval cremation research, with most of the top historians, funerary-, and bio-archaeologists assembled. Williams and Lippok have been truly innovative here with how they have assembled the…
REVIEW BY JONATHAN LAST Cable routes and similar projects are a challenge to archaeologists because their narrow footprints are not necessarily representative of the broad landscapes they pass through. Yet they often offer glimpses into areas little touched by other…
REVIEW BY KK This book synthesises what is currently known about the Neolithic in Jersey, highlighting the fact that while our knowledge for some areas of the island and for some phases of the Neolithic is fairly extensive, for other…
REVIEW BY KK This is a nice short book on the history of the English banknote, and is rather timely, with the era of the banknote seemingly coming to an end as online transactions and credit card payments become ubiquitous.…
REVIEW BY SIMON ROFFEY Winchester: city of kings presents an authoritative exploration of one of England’s most historic cities, and one that has been the subject of extensive archaeological research. Consequently, this book traces the evolution of Winchester from its…
There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there is a variety of resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.
New Kingdom fortress found Excavations at the site of Tell el-Kharouba in North Sinai, Egypt, have uncovered the remains of a large military fortress dating to the New Kingdom period, c.1550-1070 BC. The fortification’s southern wall and narrow entrance, as…
Researchers from Canterbury Christ Church University have developed a novel method for visualising Roman footwear, even in cases where the leather has completely disintegrated, by using radiography on soil-blocks containing hobnails. The study was based on a Romano-British (late 3rd…
A major excavation, undertaken in advance of the East Anglia TWO and ONE North developments by ScottishPower Renewables, has uncovered 6,000 years of human activity within an East Anglian landscape, including a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon settlement. The initiative represents the…
Further analysis of the ‘Trojan War’ mosaic, first discovered at Ketton, Rutland, in 2020 (see CA 383), has revealed more details about its imagery, suggesting that Roman Britain was not as isolated from the Classical world as has been previously…
Archaeological investigations in and around the Houses of Parliament have uncovered remains spanning the last 6,000 years, highlighting the site’s importance not just in modern history, but during the medieval period and stretching as far back as the Mesolithic. The…
Recent fieldwork at the Durrington Walls ‘superhenge’ has explored a series of large pits forming what appears to be a 2km-wide (1.2 mile) circular boundary around the monument, revealing new evidence to suggest they were deliberately dug and not natural…
Digitising Irish towns New technology developed at the University of Bradford has created digital twins of two historic walled towns on the island of Ireland: Kilmallock in Co. Limerick, Ireland (RIGHT), and Derry/Londonderry in Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. This new…
The extraordinary diversity of modern dog types is often attributed to Victorian breeding practices, which led to a major increase in the number of dog breeds. A recent study looking into canine skull forms, however, has found that there was…
The skeletal remains of a wildcat, found in the Burren, Co. Clare, have been radiocarbon dated to c.3600 BC, providing the first concrete evidence that this species, now-extinct in Ireland, was present during the Neolithic period. A total of 39…
This copper-alloy mount or strap link was discovered by a metal- detectorist in June 2025, near Snape in Suffolk. It has few parallels, and most other similar items come from antiquarian stray finds. Based on its design, however, and comparisons…
In partnership with: Current Archaeology Live! 2026 will be here before we know it, and tickets are selling fast. The conference, again held in partnership with University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, will be on 28 February (Saturday) and will…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
REVIEW BY JACQUELINE A NOWAKOWSKI Diligent reporting of a dispersed hoard of more than 50 Roman coins by metal-detectorists to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) in 2009 led to a major landscape study of an unexplored area of Devon. Landscape…
Memories of Gallowgate Reading your news article ‘Evidence of Glasgow’s medieval expansion uncovered at Gallowgate’ (CA 429) reminded me of previous work carried out in the area as part of the Youth Opportunities Scheme in the late 1970s and early…
Mint House is a Grade II*-listed timber-frame building, which stands opposite Pevensey Castle on Pevensey High Street in East Sussex. It has been on the Heritage at Risk Register since 2022, and is currently in extremely poor condition – but…
Since CA 428, my columns have focused on prehistoric Britain, and while researching these I read about a series of mines dating to the Neolithic and/or Bronze Age. This is a fascinating rabbit-hole to climb into, and next month I will follow it with an exploration of medieval and modern mines.
A sign that Sherds saw in a bookshop recently claimed that ‘reading is cheaper than therapy’, but universities in the UK are reporting the opposite: that students suffer stress when asked to read.
Reviled when they were first constructed, cooling towers are now admired for their gracious hyperboloid curves and sculptural presence, just as they are about to disappear from the landscape. The Twentieth Century Society has described the group of eight towers…
Excavations at East Farm, Barnham, have uncovered the oldest-known traces of deliberate fire-making – a game-changing step in the human story that we now know took place 350,000 years earlier than was previously thought. Carly Hilts reports.
The Lords of the Isles ruled large swathes of the western islands and highlands of Scotland between 1140 and 1493, but documentary evidence for their activities is thin and the period is shrouded in myth. By excavating two islands in Loch Finlaggan, reputed to be the site of inauguration ceremonies and meetings of the Council of the Isles, a team led by David Caldwell of National Museums Scotland has enriched the story of this powerful Gaelic state. Chris Catling reports.
Hadrian’s Wall may be primarily associated with stone fortifications, but trees played a key role in Roman life on the northern frontier. Complementing our preceding geological exploration of this region, David Breeze now turns the spotlight on to sacred species, wooden artefacts, and iconic views.
Today, Heathrow is Europe’s busiest airport – but the underlying and surrounding river terraces have long been a rich hunting ground for archaeologists, concealing a palimpsest of buried landscapes. Since the late 1960s, they have seen dozens of excavations ahead of quarrying and development. Robert Cowie reports on one such project.
Archaeologists have long sought to understand how the Romans made use of natural resources on their northern frontier, both in constructing its famous fortifications and supporting the lives of those who garrisoned them. Ian Jackson offers a thought-provoking insight into what geology can add to this picture – and what it cannot.
A recent field-walking and metal-detecting event in coastal Cornwall has added new details to our knowledge of the area, from prehistory to the present day. Laura Miucci reports.