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 volume by Helena Hamerow and her team is the interpretive companion to their digital database () for the recently finished five-year FeedSax project. It explores the profound changes in farming and environment across the period, with new insights on…
The Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) has been excavating sites along the banks of the River Great Ouse since 1994, keeping one step ahead of sand- and gravel-quarrying that is steadily transforming the landscape from solid ground to a series of lakes that will eventually form a large nature reserve. Chris Catling reports on the latest volume to emerge from this project, which brings together a series of excavations exploring a c.5km length of the river at the point where it enters the Fen marshlands near Earith in Cambridgeshire.
Hilary Wilson describes the many depictions of birds in ancient Egyptian tomb scenes.
A series of 2,000-year-old footprints have been unexpectedly revealed on an Angus beach following a barrage of winter storms. They add to only a handful of ancient human tracks that have been found across Britain to-date, and are the first…
Excavations near Skipsea Castle in East Yorkshire have uncovered a series of high-status early medieval buildings, suggesting this site may have been a ‘lordly centre’. The project, which is led by Dr Elaine Jamieson and Dr Jim Leary from the…
Excavations along the A66 in Cumbria are revealing how this area formed a vital corridor for transport, travel, and trade over millennia. After an initial evaluation in 2022-2024 and ahead of proposed upgrades to the route, Oxford Cotswold Archaeology (OCA,…
In partnership with: Current Archaeology Live! 2026 is coming up quickly, and tickets are selling fast. The conference, held in partnership with University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, will be on Saturday 28 February, at the UCL Institute of Education,…
REVIEW BY FEDERICO SANTANGELO Shortly after the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, David Breeze gathered an outstanding lineup of contributors to reflect on specific sections of Hadrian’s Wall: the result was a brilliant little book that should be required…
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.
Increasingly, archaeologists are concerned with the here and now. This is evident in a new study, led by researchers from the University of York, which has examined how our discipline can deal with modern materials. In particular, they consider the…
A remarkable site containing Palaeolithic stone tools was found in modern rainforest near Anyama, Côte d’Ivoire, in the 1980s. The chronology of these deposits remained unclear, but could modern dating techniques help to fill in this blank? Matthew Symonds learnt from Eslem Ben Arous, James Blinkhorn, and Eleanor Scerri what happened when a field team returned to Anyama.
REVIEW BY MATT RITCHIE This is a very fine biography of Britain and Ireland’s once extensive ancient forest and woodland. The book is nicely balanced – the first half spans the millennia from the Mesolithic to the Normans, while the…
The medieval Eaglais na h-Aoidhe (St Columba’s Church) stands on the coastline at Aiginis on the Isle of Lewis. In 2015, coastal erosion threatened to undermine parts of the Scheduled church and graveyard site and revealed deeply stratified midden layers.…
Two locations on the Isle of Skye have recently revealed evidence for occupation during the Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP). Now new research (published in the Journal of Quaternary Science: ) into the environment at this time shows that these Palaeolithic…
REVIEW BY RP Cotswold Archaeology’s latest monograph (free to download at ) covers excavations that took place ahead of the construction of the Collection Management Facility, Science, and Innovation Park at the former site of RAF Wroughton between 2018 and…
Spring is upon us in the northern hemisphere and people are venturing out into the open again: into their gardens, onto their balconies, into urban parks or the countryside to enjoy the miracle of spring and the verdant, flowering flora that accompanies it.
REVIEW BY EDWARD STEWART This volume brings together an exciting range of contributions to provide new insights into the cultural landscapes of the north-east of Scotland, a region that has seen many exciting archaeological investigations in recent decades. The book…
Until around 8,000 years ago, Britain and the European mainland were connected by a land bridge that today is known as Doggerland. Although now submerged beneath the North Sea, this lost landscape has been recreated in an interactive simulation by…
Recent research suggests that engraved stones discovered on the Danish island of Bornholm may have been ritual offerings in response to climatic change caused by a huge volcanic eruption almost 5,000 years ago. Over the past few decades, hundreds of…
Recently published research focused on the bones of birds of prey spanning the early Bronze Age to the medieval period has revealed striking differences between their eating habits and those of modern raptors. Researchers at the University of Reading analysed…
REVIEW BY JAMES SAINSBURY The Rother Valley comprises a series of papers, compiled and edited by John Boardman and Ian Foster. The book covers the prehistoric archaeology and palaeoecology of the Rother in great detail, with a masterful contribution from…
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.
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.
REVIEW BY ADAM DAUBNEY This volume sets out the results of excavations and survey along a 5km stretch of the A160/A180 in north-east Lincolnshire. Excavations were carried out within an archaeologically important landscape of drained former marshland near the Humber…
New research published in Nature Geoscience suggests that a sudden major shift in the course of the Nile, 4,000 years ago, created a greatly enlarged area of fertile land. The team from Sweden’s Uppsala University and the University of Southampton…
REVIEW BY TIMOTHY DARVILL Archaeology is not just concerned with learning about the past – it is also about using our hard-won understandings to help inform the present and shape the future. Nowhere is this more urgent than with reference…
REVIEW BY MARY DEEVY Viking Dublin was absolutely crawling! It is a rich treasure trove for an archaeoentomologist like Eileen Reilly, who examined 12,895 of its tiny inhabitants from 100 samples taken from 13 phases of habitation at Fishamble Street.…
New interdisciplinary research from the University of Aberdeen has suggested that Holme I – a Bronze Age timber circle in north Norfolk that is also known as ‘Seahenge’ – was created as a response to a period of climatic deterioration.…
REVIEW BY JULIA BEST This engaging volume explores human interactions with birds from the end of the last Ice Age to around 1650 AD. An expert in avian zooarchaeology and the social meaning of birds, Serjeantson balances a data-rich exploration…
For two centuries, European scholars have explored prehistoric settlements preserved in Alpine lakes and bogs. The discovery of ancient pile-dwelling sites in the Mediterranean region of southern Europe makes it evident that this phenomenon did not stop at the Alps. Albert Hafner reveals the intriguing findings emerging from ongoing investigations in Albania, Greece, and North Macedonia.
It is generally assumed that archaeological remains buried in the ground are relatively safe, and that – aside from the effects of climate change and natural forces like erosion – human-created developments represent the main factor that might affect their…
Being able to determine changes in the environment, and how humans may have adapted to those changes, is an increasingly important aspect of archaeological study. In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we explore a recent project, led by Dr Amy Styring…
A research team from the University of Reading, led by Professor Martin Bell, has been working for the last 33 years to record eroding Mesolithic archaeology from the seabed of the Severn Estuary at Goldcliff, near Newport (see CA 331…
REVIEW BY ANDREW SELKIRK What fields are left for Barry Cunliffe to conquer? After the Celts and the Bretons, Europe between the oceans, the Atlantic Ocean, the Scythians, and the Steppe, he has now turned his attention to Africa, and…