Crossing to Inis Cealtra
Firsts. I first went to Inis Cealtra – Holy Island in County Clare – with my first girlfriend, Leigh, in 1973. From County Antrim, a northerner, she had an esprit de vie that I always associate, like the constant drizzle,…
monastic archaeology
Piety and plague: Exploring evidence for life and death in Cambridge’s Augustinian friary
Excavations in central Cambridge have uncovered traces of one of the medieval town’s many religious communities, including remains of the friary itself, and of the people who were buried in its bounds. Craig Cessford reports.
First residue analysis of a medieval stone cresset conducted
As most cressets from Britain do not have any evidence of residue on them, it had previously been thought that they may have been used to hold ceramic lamps
Friary floor tiles revealed in Gloucester
The latest discovery – an extensive floor surface made up of glazed green and white tiles – is thought to represent the northern part of the friary’s cloister.
Sussex: tracing the origins of a 175-year-old archaeology society
Founded in 1846, Sussex Archaeological Society is one of the UK’s oldest county-based archaeology societies – but how did it begin? Carly Hilts spoke to Emma O’Connor to learn more about the birth of the organisation, as well as an exhibition marking its 175th birthday.
Glass roots: examining the archaeology of glassmaking in England
Today, glass is a commodity so ubiquitous and cheap that we take it for granted, but it wasn’t always so. A new book by David Dungworth traces the rise of glass from small-scale manufacturing in the medieval period to the major industrial production of the 20th century. Chris Catling reports.