Personal adornment in early Egypt
Barbara Boczar explores the materials used to create objects for personal adornment in Egypt from the prehistoric to the Early Dynastic periods.
Neolithic
The Burpham Big Dig: Transforming the story of two Sussex villages
A recent series of excavations across Burpham and Wepham in West Sussex has revealed new – and sometimes surprising – insights into their origins and evolution. James Sainsbury reports.
Statements in stone: Investigating Neolithic architecture at the Ness of Brodgar
The Ness of Brodgar in Orkney is home to an unprecedented complex of 5,000-year-old buildings. Ongoing analysis is illuminating their form and function, as Carly Hilts reports.
Stonehenge: the story of an icon
This Stonehenge paperback will sell, probably deservedly, very well. Its text gives a suitable level of detail, while also reflecting current mainstream (and therefore English Heritage) views, and hence is correctly pitched for its audience – namely the interested bystander,…
No stone unturned: recent finds at Arthur’s Stone
When we last reported from Arthur’s Stone in 2023 (CA 404), it was thought of as an isolated Neolithic monumental site overlooking the Golden Valley in Herefordshire. Now, the Universities of Manchester and Cardiff team that is leading the project…
The Glozel controversy
Janice Kinory looks back on the curious case of the clay tablets from Glozel.
50 Stone Age Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme
This slim volume is the latest addition to the ‘50 Finds’ series produced by the Portable Antiquities Scheme in England and Wales (PAS). While most finds recorded by PAS are metal artefacts recovered by detectorists, more than 100,000 struck flints…
I’ll follow the sun: Examining a prehistoric ‘prototype’ for Stonehenge’s solstice alignment
In mid-May, the day before CA 437’s print deadline, we joined a press conference to hear about an exciting discovery associated with Stonehenge. Keen to keep to our commitment to bringing you ‘current’ archaeology, we included a brief summary of the key findings in last month’s issue – here is a fuller account of the research that was described by Phil Harding, Matt Leivers, and Fabio Silva.
Prehistoric timber circle uncovered near Belfast
Another prehistoric circle was recently uncovered during a community archaeology project, this time near the Giant’s Ring, just outside Belfast. The investigation, led by archaeologists from Queen’s University Belfast, was sparked by a re-examination of aerial photographs taken in the…
Prehistoric ‘circle’ identified on Machrie Moor
A geophysical survey on Machrie Moor, on the western side of the Isle of Arran (a small island off the west coast of Scotland), has revealed the outline of what may be a previously unknown, near-circular prehistoric monument, adding to…
A Stonehenge ‘prototype’
Analysis of two votive offering vessels from Pompeii is enhancing our understanding of Roman domestic rituals.
Scotland’s first warriors: Interpreting evidence of conflict from the Neolithic to the coming of the Romans
Interpersonal violence has been a fact of human existence for much of our long history – but how far is this reflected in the archaeological record? With a major new exhibition now open at the National Museum of Scotland, Matthew G Knight and Hannah Boddy examine traces of past conflicts spanning 4,000 years, and consider how to present these stories to modern audiences.
Observing the Ouse: Excavating the deep history of the Cambridgeshire Fens
The Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) has been excavating sites along the banks of the River Great Ouse since 1994, keeping one step ahead of sand- and gravel-quarrying that is steadily transforming the landscape from solid ground to a series of lakes that will eventually form a large nature reserve. Chris Catling reports on the latest volume to emerge from this project, which brings together a series of excavations exploring a c.5km length of the river at the point where it enters the Fen marshlands near Earith in Cambridgeshire.
Grand designs: Exploring the largest ever prehistoric reconstruction at Stonehenge
A huge replica of a Neolithic hall, based on archaeological evidence excavated at Durrington Walls, has opened at Stonehenge. Carly Hilts reports.
‘Prototype’ for Stonehenge’s solar alignment found
Excavations at Bulford have revealed the remains of a 5,000-year-old structure suggesting that the solstice was celebrated on Salisbury Plain centuries earlier than thought. CA reports.
Archaeological landscape revealed near Newark-on-Trent
Archaeological investigations in advance of the A46 Newark Bypass scheme in Nottinghamshire have revealed a landscape scattered with features spanning six millennia. Archaeological Management Solutions (AMS) was contracted on behalf of National Highways to examine more than 23 acres (9.6ha)…
Forging Scotland’s story: Why a 245-year-old society is racing against time to raise £1.5 million
As the oldest antiquarian organisation in Scotland, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland has been deeply involved in documenting the nation’s past for almost 250 years. Deborah Roe is our guide to this rich history, and to ambitious plans for the Society’s future.
Ancestry and architecture in Neolithic Scotland
Since the early days of archaeology, people have been analysing the architecture of burial monuments, seeking connections between them to understand better how ancient populations were related. The advent of modern ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis added a new way of…
New perspectives on a Neolithic crannog: Documenting a 5,000-year-old construction on the Isle of Lewis
The Outer Hebrides are home to over 170 crannogs (small, human-made islands), some of which are proving to be much earlier in date than suspected. Recently published research centred on Loch Bhorgastail has shed detailed light on the make-up of one such site, and has also pioneered an innovative new approach to documenting its above- and underwater remains. CA reports.
Worthing Museum
Worthing Museum recently reopened following a year-long transformation. Carly Hilts visited its new-look archaeology galleries with their curator James Sainsbury.
CA 435 Letters – May
Medical memories The article on Temperance (CA 434) was very interesting, but one important establishment was missed: the National Temperance Hospital on Hampstead Road, purpose-built in the late 19th century. When I was nursing there in the early 1970s, we…
Neolithic trackway uncovered in Somerset
Excavations at Honeygar Farm, a nature reserve that forms part of the Somerset Wildlife Trust, have uncovered the remains of a 6,000-year-old wooden trackway that would have been used during the early Neolithic period to allow people to cross the…
World news
Prehistoric cultural exchange in Germany Excavations at Eilsleben in northern Germany have revealed a fortified settlement site, dating to c.5375 BC, that may have been founded by some of the first farmers to arrive in this part of Europe. The…
Sizewell C, the story so far: Who did what, where, when – and why?
Oxford Cotswold Archaeology’s ongoing excavations on the site of the planned Sizewell C power station in Suffolk have uncovered a vast array of features and finds spanning 6,000 years of history. Project Manager Richard Mortimer guides us through some of the most significant discoveries to-date.
Building community: Göbeklitepe, Taş Tepeler, and life 12,000 years ago
An exhibition at the James Simon Gallery – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin explores the art and architecture of the first settled cultures in south-eastern Turkey.
A world of discoveries
The 6th Shanghai Archaeological Forum has just drawn to a close, and it is time to reflect on its many highlights. This year, the field trip was scheduled on the first day, and we were given the choice of visiting freshly uncovered shipwrecks and the new Shanghai Museum, or to take the bus south to visit two key sites: Jingtoushan and Hemudu.
Early Neolithic Cultural exchange
Archaeological work at Eilsleben, in northern Germany, has uncovered unexpected evidence of connections between the early farmers living at this site and the pre-existing hunter-gatherer communities of the region. Eilsleben was discovered in the 1970s and has since undergone extensive…
Neolithic Impressed and Related Wares in Britain and Ireland
This volume comprises 11 regional or national papers and a synthesis of lipid analysis results. Several contributors note that Impressed Wares have been a ‘Cinderella’ among Neolithic pottery traditions. They echo Isobel Smith’s 1974 characterisation of Peterborough Ware (the Impressed…
A rock and a hard place: Sarsen study sheds new light on the construction of Stonehenge
How did the builders of Stonehenge manage to work with sarsen – a notoriously hard material – to create the Neolithic monument’s towering trilithons? Carly Hilts spoke to Phil Harding of Wessex Archaeology about his recent research exploring whether flint-knapping techniques might hold the key.
Current Archaeology’s February 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 of some of the options available.
Around the rugged rocks: Examining new rock-art discoveries in the Peak District National Park
Recent rock-art surveys in the Peak District National Park have documented more than 40 decorated panels dating to the Bronze Age, as well as two animal carvings that may be even older. Anna Clark and George Nash report.
Bronze Age barrow excavated near Sanquhar
A Bronze Age barrow containing the cremated remains of eight individuals, who appear to have all been buried at the same time, has been found in the Nithsdale hills, south of Sanquhar, in Dumfries and Galloway. The discovery was made…
World News
Mesolithic structures identified off the coast of France A series of 11 submerged structures has been found off the coast of France, near Île de Sein in Brittany. They are believed to date to the Mesolithic period and were first…
UK news in brief
Funding for Devon Roman villa The SHARE project (Saving Halberton’s Ancient Roman Environment), which is being led by archaeologists from the University of Exeter in partnership with Devon County Council, Tiverton Archaeology Group, and the Sampford Peverell Society, has been…
A dog and a dagger
Archaeologists from Swedish National Historical Museums have uncovered an unusual and remarkably well-preserved dog burial believed to date to c.5,000 years ago at a site in Logsjömossen, near Järna, south-west of Stockholm. Excavations revealed the remains of a large male…
The Neolithic in Jersey
REVIEW BY KK This book synthesises what is currently known about the Neolithic in Jersey, highlighting the fact that while our knowledge for some areas of the island and for some phases of the Neolithic is fairly extensive, for other…