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We all gathered round on another day, when a whoop of excitement emerged from the next-door shop, where Professor Frend was working in a cellar. He had just found the lovely bronze statuette of Venus, now a proud exhibit in the Verulamium Museum

BELOW The Glacier Archaeology Program carries out archaeological fieldwork on the ice patches and glaciers of Norway (RIGHT), which presents some unique challenges but produces some truly incredible finds, like this 1,300 year old wooden ski (BELOW RIGHT).

Norway: secrets of the ice

Over the last decade, 64 glaciers and ice patches in the Innlandet region have produced over 3,500 archaeological finds, from hunting tools and textiles to zoological material...

Forging Identities in the Prehistory of Old Europe: dividuals, individuals and communities, 7000-3000 BC

This solid 459-page work by John Chapman summarises his life-long work in the Balkans and, as he states in the preface, was first conceived as a synthesis of Balkan prehistory but subsequently developed along a specific research path focusing on…

Below The Barber Institute’s new exhibition, Miss Clara and the Celebrity Beast in Art 1500 1860, includes several depictions of the famous 18th century rhinoceros, such as this bronze sculpture.

Celebrity beasts

The statues of five elephants surrounding this part of the cemetery have led to the belief that these and other circus animals are buried here along with the human victims of the Hammond circus train disaster of 22 June 1918.

Visual Culture, Heritage and Identity: using rock art to reconnect past and present

Many researchers dealing with prehistoric and historic rock art tend to remain firmly entrenched within their respective comfort zones. Throughout much of the contemporary world, the application and use of rock art is a fundamental part of society; moreover, it…

Roman mosaic in Rutland

The mosaic, which measures 11m by almost 7m, once formed the floor of a dining or entertaining room within a large villa complex occupied during the late Roman period.

The pressure placed on academics to publish new books and papers has led to a dramatic increase in the number of works produced (LEFT), but has it also had a negative impact on their ability to address wider narratives? For example, perhaps Roman studies would benefit from more discussions of broader topics such as the nature of Roman urbanism (ABOVE).

Academic mass production

Every paper has to say something new. In the mass production of vehicle components, difference is defect. In the mass production of academic papers, difference is a requirement.

Cage cup

What is it? This cage cup, or vas diatretum, dates to the 4th century AD. The intricate, colourless glass bowl is 12.6cm tall and 15cm in diameter and has a flared rim. A Latin inscription in the central part of…

Above The bridge at Tinkuqchaka nearing completion in 2008. It was last renewed in 2014, bringing a long standing community

Connecting the Inca Empire: the art of maintaining Central Andean suspension bridges

Suspension bridges were crucial for the success of the Inca road network, but these remarkable structures needed to be regularly rebuilt. Can examining surviving examples of similar bridges reveal more about how Inca crossings were maintained, and the importance of such events for the local communities involved? Lidio Valdez takes us behind the scenes of a long-standing Andean tradition.

Return to the Interactive Past: the interplay of video games and histories

Return to the Interactive Past offers a fascinating introduction to some of the key topics surrounding the intersection of video games / interactive media and heritage. This book, a follow-on to the 2017 publication, The Interactive Past, explores the many…

Above DNA analysis is allowing archaeologists to answer fundamental questions about past relationships. Here, we see the remains of Peder Winstrup, a bishop who founded Lund University, being studied in 2013. A major surprise was that the bishop was not alone in his coffin, and DNA analysis has helped to explain why.

Reconnecting relationships: uncovering genealogy in archaeology

Examining ancient DNA is revolutionising our knowledge of the past. Being able to detect family relationships is revealing ever more about connections between people buried in cemeteries and even individual coffins. Caroline Arcini introduces three cases where DNA evidence has opened new windows into past lives.

Digging Deep: a journey into Southeast Asia’s past

Professor Charles Higham will be a familiar figure to CWA readers. Not only does he write a regular column for the magazine, but he is also a world authority on the archaeology of Southeast Asia. When COVID shut down international…

OPPOSITE King Edward III (r. 1327 1377). His 50 year reign saw England transformed into a major European military power.

Edward III, the Black Prince, and the Battle of Crécy

Graham Goodlad analyses the joint careers of the father and son who led England’s armies in the early campaigns of the Hundred Years War.

LEFT Julien Lorieux’s 1908 sculpture La Sainte Catherine depicts a lively cluster of ‘Catherinettes’ in Paris’ Square Montholon.

The patron saint of spinners and spinsters

In 1473, Robert Wodelarke marked the feast of St Catharine by founding a college of priests in Cambridge, commanding them to pray for their founder daily while completing their theological studies

London Clay: journeys in the deep city

London Clay is an impressionistic survey of London and its history, filtered through the prism of the underlying geological strata. It is at once personal and overarching, meandering from pre-Roman to Victorian, south London to north, via what Chivers (a…

Early Medieval Britain c.500-1000

Is there room for another general history of early medieval Britain? The answer is ‘yes, of course’ when it is as fresh and interesting as this one. Its USP is that it examines the history of the different peoples of…

Cornwall’s Military Heritage

Cornwall is a county with a long military history, and reminders of its past can be found scattered across the landscape, ranging from Iron Age hillforts to Cold War control centres. Surrounded by sea on three sides, Cornwall has been…

Right The discovery of the skeleton of Richard III underneath a car park in Leicester in 2012 drew international attention and led to three CA cover features.

Excavating Leicestershire and Rutland

The discovery, excavation, and analysis of the Richard III's remains in Leicester between 2012 and 2015 was one of the most famous archaeological projects of recent times, drawing global attention to the city.

Left The wall paintings on the south wall of the south aisle at St Cadoc’s church, Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan, with the magnificent St George in the centre and Death and the Gallant to the left. Higher up is the princess rescued by St George and her royal parents peering anxiously from the battlements of their palace. To the right is the Virgin blessing the scene beneath the shield of the probable sponsor (the Bawdrip family, of nearby Fonmon Castle), and beyond are depictions of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Lost and found: wall paintings and rood-screens in Welsh churches

In response to the Black Lives Matter protests of June 2020, influential voices within the Anglican church called for the removal of every monument and stained-glass window commemorating people connected with slavery and empire. Ideologically motivated change on such a scale might seem unprecedented, but it has happened time and again throughout history, not least in the 16th and 17th centuries when wall paintings were obliterated and rood-lofts demolished. New discoveries remind us what we have lost, as Chris Catling reports.

Opposite The first or bottom panel of the mosaic, showing Achilles (on the left) and Hector duelling on chariots. Achilles, the victor, appears larger than his opponent, whose horses are also smaller. Lines can be seen under the horses’ front feet, added to indicate movement, ULAS’ John Thomas said.

Greek myth in Roman Rutland: unearthing scenes from the Trojan War

An intricate Roman mosaic depicting the triumph of the Greek warrior Achilles over Hector of Troy, recently unearthed in Rutland, has been hailed as the region’s most stunning archaeological discovery to-date. Hazel Blair spoke to John Thomas, Anthony Beeson, David Neal, and Peter Kruschwitz to find out more about the meaning behind its motifs.

Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: cultures and connections

Associated with the 2019 British Library exhibition Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: art, word, war, these 14 short essays demonstrate the specialised scholarship that lies behind the choice and description of items in such an exhibition. The contents of each closely focused chapter…

Culduthel: an Iron Age craftworking centre in north-east Scotland

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…

The Wall ‘warrior’ in context: exploring African identities in Roman Britain

Recent analysis of a 1st-century lead figurine at Wall Roman site in Staffordshire, depicting a man from sub-Saharan Africa, has shed new light on perceptions of identity in Roman Britain. Carly Hilts spoke to Cameron Moffett to find out more.

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…

ABOVE A single church can yield no end of treasures. In this case, the church of St Mary, in Chilham, Kent, has the remarkable English Renaissance tomb of Margaret Palmer (d. 1619) made from the local grey Bethersden marble, polished then etched with rose and honeysuckle blossoms and vine leaves in shallow relief. Nearby is the monument to Arthur and Edmund Hardy (d. 1858, presumably of a childhood illness), whose family owned Chilham Castle from 1861 to 1918, sculpted by Alexander Munro, with its unique depiction of a bat and shuttlecock. In the opposite (southern) aisle is the monument to Lady Mary Digges (d. 1631), with alabaster figures of Justice, Temperance, Prudence, and Fortitude (shown here) carved by Nicholas Stone.

Church Crawlers Anonymous

This ‘society’ consists of an informal Facebook group with some 1,600 members. Anyone who shares the group’s passion for exploring places of worship and contributing photographs that inspire others to enjoy visiting such places can join. Perhaps more people would…

The Middle Ages: a graphic history

Spanning roughly 1,100 years, this lively book is billed as ‘a romp across continents and kingdoms’, and it does not disappoint. Historian Eleanor Janega unpicks complex topics with verve, irreverent humour, and a scattering of pop-culture references, all accompanied by…

Left A volunteer team of veterans head to the site, led by Richard Osgood, Senior Archaeologist for the MOD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and co founder of Operation Nightingale, during the excavations at Dunch Hill.

An experiment in earthen walls: Operation Nightingale, Butser Ancient Farm, and the Dunch Hill roundhouse

The excavation of a Bronze Age roundhouse on Salisbury Plain has fed into a new reconstruction at Butser Ancient Farm, using experimental archaeology to interpret its ephemeral outline. Trevor Creighton, Richard Osgood, and Rachel Pope explain.

A painter’s paradise: the life of John Craxton

The artist John Craxton had a close relationship with archaeology. It began in his early years in England, where he encountered excavations of Roman mosaics, medieval churches, and an idiosyncratic museum. But, above all, it was the art of Greece that he longed for, as Ian Collins explains.

Domitian: dominus et deus

Are bad Roman emperors really that different from good Roman emperors? Nathalie de Haan and Eric M Moormann look at the case of Domitian, an accomplished military man and prolific builder who emulated Augustus but was reviled as a new Nero.

The Eurasian Steppe: People, Movement, ideas

The Eurasian Steppe: People, Movement, Ideas is an ambitious scholarly volume tracing the origins of the European identity in the Eurasian steppe, the vast expanse of land that stretches from Hungary through to the Ural Mountains and China. Covering a…

Words of wisdom: ‘Give to him who gives’

For the man who gives willingly, even if he gives much, rejoices in the gift and feels glad in his heart. The man who takes for himself, observing no sense of shame, even if it involves a small amount, hardens the heart.

BELOW The iconic pylon (gateway) of Luxor temple marked the transition of the processional way associated with the Opet festival and the beginning of the temple.

Luxor temple: where kings become gods

After coronation, the new pharaoh would head to the temple at Luxor to assume the royal ka that flowed from the gods Horus and Re all the way down Egypt’s line of rulers. Nigel Fletcher-Jones takes us on a procession through this all-important site, developed by kings strengthening their claims to divine ka.