Pioneering research in the Francis Crick Institute’s Ancient Genomics Lab is boosting our understanding of past populations, people, and pathogens. Carly Hilts spoke to Tom Booth and Kat Nilsson and explored a new exhibition sharing some of these findings.
The discovery of a 1,400-year-old die-stamp in Kent, bearing imagery strikingly similar to one of the motifs on the Sutton Hoo helmet, raises intriguing questions about whether elite armour like this – often interpreted as a Scandinavian import – could have been made in Anglo-Saxon England. Carly Hilts reports.
Aberdeenshire is known for its Pictish symbol stones, but until recently evidence for Pictish settlements in the region was sparse and our understanding of Pictish sites even more tenuous. This has now changed dramatically, in large part due to a…
Archaeological investigations near Cirencester in Gloucestershire have revealed the remains of what may have been a major religious, or ‘votive’, centre dating to the late Iron Age (c.100 BC-AD 43). The first clues to the site’s existence came in 2020,…
An absorbing new exhibition at Oriel Môn in Llangefni highlights Anglesey’s long and varied archaeological heritage. Carly Hilts visited the displays.
Ongoing conservation efforts on the Peebles Hoard – a collection of rare Bronze Age artefacts dating to c.1000-800 BC (see CA 417 and CA 418) – have revealed new details about its composition. The hoard was discovered by a metal-detectorist…
This artefact was discovered by a metal-detectorist near Corringham, Lincolnshire, earlier this year. It has been identified as one of the spherical knops from an Iron Age openwork toggle or possibly a fragment from a horse harness, and is believed…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
Excavations on Islay, in the Inner Hebrides, have uncovered the archaeological remains of an early medieval metalworking workshop. Finds of flint had been emerging from the plough soil for some time, hinting at the area’s archaeological potential, but this was…
Excavations ahead of a new housing development in Banbury, Oxfordshire, have uncovered a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon cemetery of more than 50 burials, many of them richly furnished. These findings were recently announced by Border Archaeology, who excavated the 8,300m2 Calthorpe…
A rare Iron Age belt-hook and comb are among the artefacts recovered by University of Bradford archaeologists and students during this summer’s excavations at the Knowe of Swandro on Rousay, Orkney. The team have been investigating the site since 2017…
A recent excavation by Wessex Archaeology for Sheffield City Council has uncovered long-buried traces of Sheffield Castle, as well as glimpses of the city’s influential industrial past. Carly Hilts spoke to Ashley Tuck on site to learn more.
The University of York’s Department of Archaeology has uncovered a large timber hall in Skipsea, dating to the early medieval period, among other finds of ‘national significance’. Measuring 6m wide and 16m long, the hall is a rare find, thought…
Scholars have long puzzled over the function of the enigmatic golden objects discovered in the tombs of the Napatan kings and queens. Peter Lacovara believes he has solved the mystery.
A collaborative exhibition explores the Iron Age people of the Iberian Peninsula. Amy Brunskill spoke to curator Laurent Gorgerat to find out more.
REVIEW BY DEREK ALEXANDER Eilean Donan Castle is indeed a Scottish icon, featuring on many calendars and in movies – Highlander for one. You can’t fail to notice it if you are driving to the Isle of Skye, as it…
The hillfort of Dinas Powys, located about 9km south-west of Cardiff, was first excavated by Leslie Alcock in the 1950s. While the excavation and its subsequent report were pioneering for their time and led to Dinas Powys being widely considered…
REVIEW BY CH In the 4th century AD, a modest defended farmstead was established close to what is now Roscommon, in the Irish county of the same name, and over the next 1,000 years it evolved into a much more…
This unusual object was recently found in a garden near Boldre in the New Forest. While its function was a bit of a mystery when the finder first brought it to the Finds Liaison Officer to be recorded, it was…
There are many great ways to get involved with archaeology and heritage this summer, including new exhibitions, events, activities, and more. Or, if you would prefer to get your history fix at home, there is a wide variety of resources available online, from new apps and digital exhibitions to virtual heritage site tours, podcasts, games, and more. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Many metalworkers and ceramicists in Renaissance Europe seemingly had no qualms about killing a lizard – or other animal – for their art. Pamela Smith investigates the intriguing practice of life-casting that turned nature into art, and why artisan authors recorded practical knowledge in words.
Royal sites revealed Lying more than 275 miles apart, Rendlesham and Yeavering belong to a handful of sites named as a vicus regius or ‘royal settlement’ by the Anglo-Saxon cleric Bede. Later this month, both are set to showcase their…
Excavations at Rendlesham in eastern England have unearthed the remains of a high-status early medieval settlement, including a royal hall built for the first kings of East Anglia.
A second summer of excavation at Rendlesham, four miles from Sutton Hoo, has uncovered further evidence of a high-status settlement that thrived from the late 5th to the early 8th century. Carly Hilts spoke to Faye Minter and Professor Christopher Scull to find out more.
The team has unearthed evidence of settlements ranging in date from the Neolithic to the medieval period, though most features relate to the Bronze and Iron Age (c.1500 BC-AD 100).
Review by Simon Esmonde Cleary. Excavations in 2012-2013 on the north-eastern edge of Bristol revealed an area of landscape with evidence of human activity from the Neolithic to the recent past, but the most-plentiful evidence – which was excavated in…
Archaeologists also found three pieces of late Neolithic or Bronze Age rock art bearing cup marks and spiral designs
The team also found the remains of a high-status, middle-aged woman who had been laid to rest in a lead-lined coffin.
Excavations in advance of HS2 construction in Northamptonshire have uncovered the remains of a previously unknown Iron Age village that grew into a flourishing Roman trading settlement. Carly Hilts spoke to James West to find out more.
The larger of the two hoards comprises fragments of seven socketed axes, a piece of sword-blade, two ingots, and six casting jets
Twenty years ago, one of the richest Bell Beaker burials ever found in Europe was discovered close to Stonehenge. At that time, DNA analysis was not sufficiently advanced to learn more about the individual, dubbed ‘the Amesbury Archer’ – but the intervening decades have seen significant scientific advances that have shed illuminating light on this enigmatic figure, as well as his relationship to a younger man buried nearby. Andrew Fitzpatrick, Jacqueline McKinley, Alistair Barclay, Ian Armit, Iñigo Olalde, and David Reich report on what has been revealed.
The rapid suburban expansion of Inverness in recent decades has led to a patchwork of prehistoric sites being discovered through developer-funded excavations. In 2005, however, Headland Archaeology hit the motherlode at Culduthel. They had discovered a multi-period prehistoric site whose…
During the excavation, the team uncovered some of the layout of the monastery, showing that it was organised into a series of zones that were demarcated by ditched boundaries.
In a warning of what might occur again in the future, a paper in the journal Nature blames climate change for interpersonal violence among Nile Valley dwellers in the Late Pleistocene.
Underneath the foundation level was an eclectic assemblage of artefacts, including a whetstone of fine-grained sandstone, a spindle whorl made of cannel coal, a possible gaming piece or counter crafted from a sherd of green glaze pottery, two 17th-century coins, and an iron dagger.
Although a little heavy on detail, this is a thorough study of the subject which presents, in a chronological fashion, the archaeological evidence for (mostly copper and bronze) metalworking from sites across the British Isles. The evidence is examined critically,…