More finds from Magna Roman Fort
The latest season of digging at Magna Roman Fort is currently uncovering further details of how the site was used both during and after the Roman period. One of the star finds for 2026 so far is a die which…
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Roman Frontier Archaeology in Britain and Beyond: Papers in honour of Paul Bidwell presented on the occasion of the 30th annual conference of the Arbeia Society
REVIEW BY ANDREW TIBBS The study of Roman frontiers goes from strength to strength, as demonstrated in this volume, which marked the 30th annual conference of the Arbeia Society, the organisation that manages the Roman fort and recreated buildings at…
London in the Roman World
Review by Sadie Watson Scholars of Roman London might wait years for a major synthesis such as Dominic Perring’s London in the Roman World to be published. This is hardly surprising when you consider the amount of research that has…
News in brief: Hadrian’s Wall, Bishop Auckland, and Scottish heritage
A round-up of some of the latest stories from the realm of UK archaeology.
Multi-hued Roman gatehouse marks anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall
The installation is part of the HW1900 Festival and will be open to the public until 30 October.
Unraveling medieval lives with isotopic analysis
The researchers examined the isotopic properties of their samples and were surprised to find strontium and oxygen ratios in the tooth enamel which indicated that some of the Cramond individuals were brought up hundreds of miles away
Burghead Pictish fort digitised in 3D
The fort sits on a sand dune and is thought to have been occupied as early as the 6th century AD
Roman wall restored in Horncastle
The wall will continue to serve as a lasting reminder of the large 3rd- to 4th-century Roman fort of which it was once a part
Birdoswald: exploring a Roman town on Hadrian’s Wall
Birdoswald is one of the most-excavated Roman forts on Hadrian’s Wall, but the area beyond the fort walls has been investigated in much less detail. Following the launch of a new four-year project to explore its remains, Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts visited the excavation to hear the latest news from Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott.
Section of Hadrian’s Wall unearthed in Newcastle
Built in AD 122, Hadrian’s Wall stretched 73 miles from the North Sea to Solway Firth and marked the furthest limit of the Roman Empire.
Hadrian’s Wall: A Roman frontier revisited
How much do we really know about Hadrian’s Wall? After more than a century of scientific research into this magnificent Roman monument, it might be suspected that few mysteries remain. Instead, the recent ‘Pilgrimage’ along the Wall showed that debate is still in rude health, as Matthew Symonds reveals.
Roman-inspired sculptures installed at the Antonine Wall
In an online campaign, the public voted to name the sculpture ‘Silvanus’, after the Roman god of woodlands.
The wider Wall: a decade of discoveries and debates
Excavation and survey along Hadrian’s Wall are casting doubt on old certainties, and setting new questions for the future. But how are our views of the monument changing, and why? Current World Archaeology's Matthew Symonds reports.
Hadrian’s Wall: creating division
Could the relationship between the Roman army and local communities living in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall hold the key to understanding this remarkable monument? Current Archaeology's Matthew Symonds investigates why it was built.
A story of two castles: tracing the origins of two fortifications in the March of Ewyas
Straddling the border between Herefordshire and Monmouthshire in the lee of the Black Mountains, the parish of Longtown has the remains of two castles. One is a popular visitor attraction in the care of English Heritage, with a stout-walled round keep. Half a mile away is another, in the form of a large earthen mound. When the members of the Longtown & District Historical Society decided to investigate, they realised that little was known about either castle, so they set out to find out when they were built, by whom, and why there were two in such close proximity. Current Archaeology's Chris Catling reports.
Destroyed 19th-century Alaskan fort identified
The team behind a large geophysical survey in Sitka, south-east Alaska, believe they have identified the location of a 19th-century Tlingit fort, destroyed during a battle against Russian colonising forces in 1804.
Excavating the CA Archive: Black Country
From Birmingham's industrial heritage to a Roman riding school: Joe Flatman explores half a century of reports from the West Midlands
Tomen y Mur, Snowdonia National Park
Tomen y Mur was abandoned by AD 130, but had lasting political and cultural significance into the medieval period.
News in brief
British Museum launches protective platform The British Museum has launched a global platform called ‘Circulating Artefacts’ (CircArt) to fight against the looting and trafficking of antiquities. This initiative combines a restricted object database with an online public service where users…
Recent Roman discoveries during the A1 upgrade in North Yorkshire
In 2018, Highways England opened an upgraded section of motorway on the A1 in North Yorkshire. Construction of the new road prompted a series of large-scale excavations, with illuminating results. Stuart Ross and Cath Ross present some of the preliminary findings.
Community spirit: Hadrian’s Wall, Cumbria
For Historic England, Hadrian’s Wall has always been a site needing active research – many questions about the frontier remain unanswered, and only by the kind of refreshed understanding that research brings, and by addressing the interests and concerns of the public, can the frontier remain relevant.
Reconstructing Roman Carlisle: Fort life on a shifting frontier
The Roman fort at Carlisle was founded decades before the construction of Hadrian’s Wall. How did the site’s use change as the frontier was fortified, and what can we learn about the lives of its inhabitants? John Zant reports.
Buried at Birdoswald: excavating a Roman cremation cemetery outside the fort
To-date, the 3rd-century cremations discovered above Birdoswald fort remain the only Roman cemetery to have received major archaeological attention along the line of Hadrian’s Wall. What light does it shed on the people who lived and died on the frontier? Tony Wilmott explains.
A Roman clock at Vindolanda
In CA 224 we reported a splendid new discovery from Vindolanda. The excavators – and just about everyone else – thought it was part of a calendar. Not so, says leading ancient technology specialist Michael Lewis. It is something much more spectacular. The 8cm-long bronze fragment turns out to be part of one the most sophisticated technical devices known to antiquity: an anaphoric water-clock.