landscape archaeology

Where to build a monument: mapping megaliths on Easter Island

A new study proposes links between the locations of Easter Island’s famous ahu and moai and freshwater sources. Robert J DiNapoli discusses the results and their implications.

Right The Viking round fortress at Trelleborg, in western Zealand, was excavated in the 1930s when it was threatened with redevelopment as a motor racing circuit. Today, it is one of Europe’s iconic archaeological monuments. What lessons do Denmark’s approaches to site presentation hold for Tuscany?

Denmark’s Viking fortresses: a Tuscan challenge

Richard Hodges explores the Viking fortresses at Trelleborg and Borgring.

Left Analysis of early Neolithic houses such as the structures at the Knap of Howar has shed vivid new light on Orkney’s Neolithic period.

A tale of two Neolithics? Investigating the evolution of house societies in Orkney

For decades, the accepted view of the Orcadian Neolithic was one of two cultural packages with a sharp break in the middle. New research has revealed a much more complex and nuanced picture, however. Carly Hilts spoke to Colin Richards to find out more.

Keeping the family together: Canada Farm’s Bronze Age burials

Just how quickly did Bronze Age people bury their dead? New work by Lauren Bailey, Martin Green, and Martin J Smith at Canada Farm suggests that they went to some lengths to display the deceased prior to their finally entering the earth.

Above Excavations under way on Carn Menyn. Outcropping high on the Preseli Ridge, the bluestones used in the construction of Stonehenge were quarried from this region. A decade of survey in the area has identified a range of tantalising parallels between the Stonehenge and Preseli landscapes.

Stonehenge and Preseli: exploring the meaning of the bluestones

Why were the bluestones used in Stonehenge transported more than 200km from Preseli in Wales? The survey of the eastern Preseli Hills and investigation of selected sites by Timothy Darvill and Geoff Wainwright have exposed some uncanny parallels with the Stonehenge landscape. Could these help explain the meaning of the famous stone circle?

Above An aerial view of the Hellenistic theatre at Butrint.

Butrint: finding a timeless oasis

Shortly after the end of the Cold War, exactly a decade before CWA was launched, Richard Hodges walked through the ruins at Butrint. Here, he looks back over 20 years of discovery and excavation at this ancient city that sits on the idyllic shores of the Ionian Sea.

Keeping your eye on the GOAL

In his final column, Mick leaves us with some tips on how to unpick the evolution of a local parish on the ground. What could you discover in your neighbourhood?

Left Today aerial photography is seen as an indispensable archaeological tool, but it was not always so. Here the mid 1st century AD Roman fortlet at Old Burrow, Devon, is positioned to allow a wide vantage over the Bristol Channel. It was photographed on 12 February 2008.

The past from the air: the origins of aerial photography

Today we take it for granted that aerial photographs are an essential tool for understanding the historic environment, but for the pioneers of aerial photography it was a struggle to gain acceptance, as Chris Catling, who has been reading Martyn Barber’s new book, A History of Aerial Photography and Archaeology, now relates.

Time Team geophysics: from pits to palaces

Time Team’s geophysics crew have covered a lot of ground, and their data represents an unparalleled archaeological archive of sites from rural retreats to Royal palaces. Lisa Westcott talks with John Gater about the science behind the scenes.