A recent series of excavations across Burpham and Wepham in West Sussex has revealed new – and sometimes surprising – insights into their origins and evolution. James Sainsbury reports.
Defending the Demetae I enjoyed the fascinating feature on the wonderful Halberton Roman villa in CA 438. By a happy coincidence, the day before, I had visited Carmarthenshire Museum, which has recently renovated its galleries, including the Roman display for…
The caves at East Wemyss are home to traces of human activity spanning prehistory to the present day, including important Pictish carvings. In recent decades some of these interactions have been destructive, but the local community is working to preserve this unique collection. As they mark the 40th anniversary of these efforts, Mike Arrowsmith reports.
The Community Archaeology Radiocarbon Dating (CARD) Fund, which helps volunteer and community groups to date their finds, has opened applications for its 2026 funding cycle. Kimberley Teale discusses key findings from some of the projects supported by the CARD Fund in 2025 – and how to apply this year.
This unusual burial was recently found by archaeologists from Highland Archaeology Services, working in advance of the expansion of a quarry at Evelix, near Dornoch, in Sutherland. Before it was used for burial, however, the pit is believed to have…
This season’s excavation at Huttons Ambo in North Yorkshire has uncovered new details about the small village’s medieval past, including potentially one of the most high-status buildings yet found on the site. This is the fourth year the project has…
Community-created field systems in Colombia? In the wetlands of La Mojana in northern Colombia is a vast (more than 500,000ha or 1,900 square miles) field system of canals and ridges, used to control both floods and droughts. In use from…
Sculpting southern Scotland A new project, coordinated by Dr Christina Cowart-Smith and funded by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, is set to start this autumn with the aim of documenting around 200 fragments of sculpture south of the Forth–Clyde…
Milestone Ground at midsummer The description of 59 pits forming a long, neat line at the Milestone Ground, Worcestershire (CA 435) is intriguing, especially as such features found elsewhere in prehistoric Britain remain enigmatic. I suggest a clue is the…
Several recent reports have suggested that participation in cultural activities is good for one’s well-being. Under the headline ‘Daily dose of art as important to health as 5-a-day’, The Telegraph reported that cultural engagement not only slows down ageing, but is a ‘human necessity’.
Mining is rooted in Cornish heritage and woven into the fabric of Cornwall’s historic landscape, and so it seems fitting, as we mark the 20th anniversary year of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape becoming a UNESCO World Heritage…
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.
A Roman mosaic thought to be the most westerly example of the polychrome style yet found in Britain is among the discoveries emerging from a large Roman villa complex near Halberton in Devon. Excavations by the SHARE project (Saving Halberton’s…
This month’s selection of summer digging opportunities includes projects from Staffordshire, Stirling, Edinburgh, and Nottinghamshire.
Many of Cornwall’s churches preserve centuries-old murals of saints and religious scenes. Laura Miucci shares some of the stories behind these colourful creations, and explores how organised Community Archaeology visits to sites like these can boost the well-being of participants.
Community Archaeology reveals 19th-century house A recent community excavation in Belfast has revealed the remains of a 19th-century house and the partial layout of the Victorian streets in the area. Run by Community Archaeology Programme Northern Ireland (CAPNI) – an…
A geophysical survey carried out in the grounds of Crookston Castle, with the aim of learning more about the Glasgow site’s medieval and post medieval history, has unexpectedly revealed the remains of a late prehistoric settlement, including the footprints of…
This month’s selection of summer digging opportunities includes projects from across Scotland, Wales, and England.
Temperance traditions The interesting article about the Temperance movement (CA 434) reminded me of the Cornwall temperance connection at the Padstow ’Obby ’Oss festival, which takes places every May Day. The original Oss has always emerged from the Golden Lion…
In 2021, an archaeological household name returned to our (computer) screens, as Time Team relaunched on YouTube. Carly Hilts visited the team at their first dig of 2026 and spoke to the show’s creator and Executive Producer Tim Taylor about how technology gave the show new life – and could transform the future of how archaeological stories are told.
This month’s selection of summer digging opportunities includes projects from the Midlands, south-east England, Scotland, and Wales.
With the summer digging season rapidly approaching, we will be running a series of pages highlighting excavation opportunities across Britain and Ireland. This month features projects ranging across East Anglia, the Midlands, and the South-East.
The diverse grave goods excavated at a 6th-century cemetery in Nottinghamshire testify to a wealthy community with wide-ranging trade links – but, as well as new objects and materials, did these networks help to spread deadly diseases, and might this explain the unusually high number of multiple burials identified at Broughton Lodge? Carly Hilts visited a new exhibition about the site and spoke to Ann Inscker, Professor Chris Loveluck, and Dr Clare Pickersgill to learn more.
REVIEW BY KK On the threshold between the Lowlands and the Highlands, the King’s Seat fort, 1.5km (a mile) west of Dunkeld on the River Tay, sits in an important location in the landscape. Despite its importance, little was known…
Funding for Devon Roman villa The SHARE project (Saving Halberton’s Ancient Roman Environment), which is being led by archaeologists from the University of Exeter in partnership with Devon County Council, Tiverton Archaeology Group, and the Sampford Peverell Society, has been…
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…
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.
Football fact-checking It was good to see some football archaeology being reported in CA 429 (‘Cathkin Park commemorated’). However, the article is misleading when it says that after Queen’s Park moved in 1903 ‘the stadium became disused’. Founder member of…
Underwater archaeology is not all deep-sea diving. Artefacts and historic remains are periodically exposed on the shoreline before vanishing as the tide rises again, and can be found further inland in lakes and other bodies of water. Karen Moule describes the experience – and importance – of documenting these finds, and highlights three initiatives that you can join.
Excavations at Drumburgh, 10 miles (16km) from Carlisle, have unearthed a section of Hadrian’s Wall – the best-preserved part of the frontier fortification to be revealed west of the city. At the instigation of the landowners, who wanted to learn…
A community excavation exploring the remains of Derrygonnelly Castle, a 17th-century fortification in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, has revealed unexpected evidence of extensive prehistoric settlement, pushing back the known habitation of this site by more than 8,000 years. Led by…
Around 130 dodecahedra have been found across the northern Roman Empire, but the purpose of these ornate objects is unknown, and few have been recovered from datable contexts in modern excavations. An important exception forms the focus of an exhibition exploring the archaeology of Potter Hill, Lincolnshire. Carly Hilts visited the displays and spoke to Chris Clay, Richard Parker, and Clare Pickersgill to learn more.
Castles, conservation, and conquest With a week in Norfolk booked and a visit to Norwich in mind, not least to collect a fridge magnet from the Castle for a grandson, it was serendipity when CA 427 arrived with a review…
Folk memory, songs, place names, and oral histories are being deployed by the Somerset Eel Recovery Project (SERP) in its work to bring this critically endangered species back to the Somerset Levels. Those stories and songs are a reminder that the Levels once teemed with eels.
REVIEW BY KK Encapsulated within this volume are the published proceedings of the conference held in 2020 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP) – but it is so much more than a…
A well-worn joke goes that archaeologists find their careers in ruins. This is sometimes literally true: at least since the 1970s, and in cities on all inhabited continents, crises sparked by deindustrialisation, decay, and dereliction have been an assured portent of large-scale excavations. It is not just that when business goes down, archaeology goes in.