Hadrian's Wall

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

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 from the options available.

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…

Following the Eagle, After the Fire, and Treasure: Hidden, Lost, Found

CA recently visited exhibitions at three sites in the care of North East Museums, with displays exploring Roman military life and ideas of ‘treasure’.

CA 437 Letters – July

Preserving trig points There are various ways of protecting trig points (‘Sherds’, CA 436). This example (below) sits within the Iron Age hillfort known as Castle Hill, close to the Roman fort of Bar Hill on the Antonine Wall in…

A stunning souvenir

A remarkable Roman cup discovered in central Spain is revealing links between Hadrian’s Wall and the Hispanic soldiers who served there. The object was uncovered by chance in farmland in Berlanga de Duero, in the province of Soria. Despite being…

Antonine Wall fortlet found

Archaeological investigations in Bearsden, near Glasgow, have revealed evidence of a previously unknown fortlet on the Antonine Wall. This is the 13th Antonine Wall fortlet to have been confidently identified, adding to other examples that were recently revealed during geophysical…

Hadrian’s Wall and Its Trees

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…

CA 429 Letters – November

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…

Expanding frontiers: Celebrating the Mothers of Romano-British studies

The early days of Romano-British research are often thought to have been dominated by male excavators, but many female archaeologists also made vital contributions to the discipline, in spite of social and academic barriers that stood in their way. Tatiana Ivleva and Rebecca Jones highlight some of these heroines of heritage.

Big feet at Magna Roman Fort

During the latest digging season at Magna Roman Fort, a number of unusually large shoes were discovered, larger even than any of the approximately 5,000 ancient shoes that have been uncovered at nearby Vindolanda. It is currently the third season…

The Rocks at the Edge of the Empire: 50 extraordinary rocky places that tell the story of the Romans and the landscape of their northern frontier

REVIEW BY ROB IXER Many recent popular archaeology books are text-heavy, with indifferently reproduced black-and-white illustrations printed on poor-quality paper, and with a few token colour plates. This wonderful paperback, a landscape book in both senses of the word, is…

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

There is a great selection of archaeological events coming up over the next few months, whether you’re looking for conferences, exhibitions, or heritage events for the whole family. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of home instead, there is plenty to choose from, including museum resources, virtual site tours, and new podcast and documentary series. Amy Brunskill has put together a summary of some of the options.

Rooted in the future: A cultural ecology of the Sycamore Gap tree

Do archaeological remains represent static monuments, or do they remain ‘alive’ in their natural and cultural landscapes? Emily Hanscam and Cornelius Holtorf discuss how Hadrian’s Wall and the Sycamore Gap tree can encourage us to rethink the relationships between humanity, nature, and the planet.

The tale of a tree: An archaeological history of Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall

The Sycamore Gap tree was an immediately recognisable feature of the central section of Hadrian’s Wall. Jim Crow, who directed excavations of this portion of the Roman frontier between 1982 and 1989, investigates its archaeological and landscape history.

Surprises from the Roman frontier: excavating Hadrian’s Wall in urban Tyneside

As Hadrian’s Wall is a protected World Heritage Site, opportunities to excavate across the line of the Roman fortifications are rare. In the summer of 2021, however, planned development works in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle upon Tyne offered the possibility to do just that – and Pre-Construct Archaeology’s investigations revealed not only the first turret to be uncovered along the Wall in over 40 years, but the largest example identified to date, together with other defensive features. Project Officer Scott Vance discusses the background to the discovery and its implications for the study of Hadrian’s Wall within urban Tyneside.

The Hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall and Derbyshire

REVIEW BY MARTIN HENIG The Hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall and Derbyshire is the last of 11 ‘fascicules’ produced under the auspices of the British Academy’s Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, which aims to catalogue all the sculptures of Roman Britain. This…

The Past

This week: Roman forts

It is understandable perhaps, here in Britain, that we have a somewhat partial understanding of Ancient Rome’s border defences – with most attention focused naturally on Hadrian’s Wall, the extraordinary fortified structure that is the largest Roman artefact anywhere in…

The Past

Roman forts quiz

What name is often given to a Roman frontier?

Roman women: tracing female archaeologists of the Roman frontiers

David Breeze, Tatiana Ivleva, and Rebecca Jones consider the contribution made to the study of Roman frontiers by Brenda Heywood, who died last December, and other contemporary female archaeologists.

Caesars first invasion of Britain Caesars boat is pulled Wellcome V0048276

War of Words – ‘Britannia’

Ancient Britain was known to the Mediterranean world. The Greeks called the island Pretannia, but the Romans named it Britannia, and made it part of their empire. The term ‘Britannia’ therefore figures prominently in military history. The Roman conqueror Julius…

Hadrian’s Wall: exploring its past to protect its future

Ever fancied a behind-the-scenes tour of Hadrian’s Wall? While there are many ways to explore its Roman past on the page or in the field, securing an insider’s peek at the day-to-day management of the monument has always been more…

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.

Above The turret foundations and cippi pits within the berm.

New Hadrian’s Wall turret discovered in Newcastle

It is one of the largest turrets yet discovered, and the only known example lying east of Newcastle.

The Past

This week: Remarkable stones

According to the 12th-century cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth, the famous stones that make up the Stonehenge monument were erected originally in Ireland, before being moved to their current, more familiar home on Salisbury Plain. Geoffrey’s claim may seem fanciful, but…

Opposite Overlooking WallCAP’s excavation at Cam Beck, near Castlesteads fort one of over 15 sites on the Roman frontier that the initiative has investigated.

No stone unturned: new insights from community archaeology on Hadrian’s Wall

Over the last three years, the WallCAP community project has carried out illuminating archaeological fieldwork at more than 15 sites on and around Hadrian’s Wall. With the initiative now drawing to a close, Rob Collins and Jane Harrison explore some of its key findings.

CA 390 Letters – August

Your views on issues raised in Current Archaeology.

The Past

This week: Roman frontiers

The Roman Empire was at its height when Hadrian came to power in AD 117, its territory encircling the Mediterranean, and reaching from Britain in the north as far as Egypt in the south.

Backs against the Wall, AD 117-113

In the early years of Hadrian’s reign, the military situation in Britain was in danger of spiralling out of control. The emperor hit on a radical solution, as Matthew Symonds describes.

Above The site of Burnswark hillfort is well known for its impressive Roman remains, but it has also recently formed the focus of a study exploring indigenous settlements in the Roman frontier zone.

On the edge of empire: exploring indigenous experiences on the Roman frontier

An investigation stretching from Durham to the southern Scottish Highlands is illuminating the lives of communities who lived under Roman occupation, and on the fringes of imperial influence. The first phase of this work has already identified more than 130 previously unknown settlements, as Carly Hilts reports.

Right The ‘scandalous trough of Lund’, with its design of dancing women.

From scandalous sculptures to Selfridges

The objectionable trough has survived, though the figures are so eroded that you need advanced powers of imagination to see anything erotic or outrageous in these maenads – female followers of the wine god, Dionysus.

RIGHT When did Hadrian’s ambitious frontier fortifications begin, and was there any kind of dedication ceremony to commemorate the construction? This coin depicting the emperor was minted in AD 129/130.

Commemorating Hadrian’s Wall: searching for signs of a 2nd-century celebration

This year marks the 1,900th anniversary of the visit of the emperor Hadrian to Britain where, according to his biographer writing more than 200 years after the event, ‘he put many things to right and was the first to build a wall 80 miles long to separate the Romans and the barbarians’. In 2022, the anniversary is being marked by events across Britain – but was there a ceremony in AD 122 to mark the building of Hadrian’s Wall? David Breeze, Christof Flügel, Erik Graafstal, and Andreas Thiel explore the possibilities.

Exhibitions, events, and heritage from home in Spring and Summer 2022

There are lots of great heritage-related opportunities to get out and about this spring, with conferences to attend, exhibitions to visit, and excavations to sign up for. Or, if you’d prefer, there are still many archaeology-, history-, and heritage-related resources and activities to enjoy at home, whether you’re looking for a virtual tour of an ancient Egyptian pyramid, a podcast about transatlantic shipwrecks, or online games designed for children. Amy Brunskill has put together a summary of some of the options available.

The Past

This week: Elusive Sculptures

Very often, the stories we tell about archaeology are of objects being dug up, excavated, or otherwise unearthed. Sometimes, however, little actual digging is required, because the object being searched for has been there all along – right in front of the eye, hiding in plain sight, just waiting to be discovered.

Artistic obscurity: analysing Britain’s most elusive Roman sculptures

Research in the hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall has revealed remarkable examples of Romano-British artistry hidden in plain sight. Ian Haynes and Lindsay Allason-Jones explore some of the key examples identified by the Elusive Sculptures project, and how these carvings have evaded archaeological attention in the past.

A trick of the light: the Great North Museum

Glowing in vivid technicolour against a pitch-black backdrop, the stone blocks pictured here are part of a group of seven Roman altars that have been reimagined in colour using only projected light – all as part of a new, immersive…

Great Sites of the Ancient World

This gloriously illustrated volume takes readers on a tour of 100 archaeological sites around the world. While many of the selections are familiar entries in lists of great sites – such as the Giza plateau, Machu Picchu, and Hadrian’s Wall…