The view from Vienna
Last year, in Vienna, we visited the salt mines at Hallstatt and the site beside the Danube where the Venus of Willendorf was discovered.
reconstruction
CWA 138 crossword, and answers to crossword #137
Across 7 Daughter of King Minos and wife of Theseus in Greek mythology (7)9 Legendary island where King Arthur was taken after his final battle (6)10 Roman poet whose major works include the Eclogues and the Georgics (6)11 Welsh island,…
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.
Testing times: Examining insights from experimental archaeology
What have archaeological experiments revealed about how stone axes were sourced, made, and used thousands of years ago? James Dilley highlights some of the key findings.
Reconstructing a megalithic tomb
The Haldensleben Forest in Saxony-Alhalt, Germany, is home to a large concentration of Neolithic megalithic tombs. One of these monuments, known as the Küsterberg tomb, was the subject of excavations between 2010 and 2013, and was revealed to be in…
Ancient Egypt Letters 150
Your opportunity to comment on articles in the magazine or on any Egyptological subject that interests you. Email the Editor peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com with your thoughts.
CA Letters 424 – June
Correction: A 64m-Long Roman Building in Sussex? Well, not quite! I’m afraid the structure mentioned on p.22 of CA 423 in ‘A Roman landscape revealed’ suffered from the curse of metric measurements, i.e. the missing decimal point. It should have…
Building the past: Reconstructing a late Neolithic house from Wyke Down
The newest archaeological reconstruction to be unveiled at Butser Ancient Farm is a late Neolithic house, based on a structure whose 5,000-year-old footprint was excavated in Dorset. CA visited the launch event to learn more.
Digitising Doggerland
Until around 8,000 years ago, Britain and the European mainland were connected by a land bridge that today is known as Doggerland. Although now submerged beneath the North Sea, this lost landscape has been recreated in an interactive simulation by…
Commanding the coast: Pendinas hillfort, Cardigan Bay
Pendinas hillfort is a well-situated pre-Roman defended village, commanding a prominent hill on the west coast of Cardigan Bay. The Iron Age hillfort developed over several centuries, eventually encompassing both the steeper south summit and the lower north summit. Everything…
Caithness Broch Project moves forward
The Caithness Broch Project (CBP), a charity aiming to build a replica of an Iron Age broch, has finally found – after an extensive search – the perfect location for their ‘Big Broch Build’ in an area north of Latheron,…
Drawing Dinas Dinlle: Caernarfon, Gwynedd
Based on three years of excavations at Dinas Dinlle – carried out by archaeologists from Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, CHERISH, the National Trust, and Cadw (see CA 356 and 394) – new reconstruction drawings by Wessex Archaeology are bringing the site…
La Hougue Bie, Jersey Island story
An elevated medieval chapel may be the most noticeable thing in this picture of the beautiful La Hougue Bie near Grouville in Jersey, but the vast mound that this stone structure crowns has much older origins.
Bringing Glencoe back to life with a replica turf house
The new house was erected by a team of skilled craftspeople using traditional materials, tools, and building techniques.
This week: Butser Ancient Farm
'Through a series of spectacular experiments, the archaeologist Peter Reynolds... told us more about Iron Age buildings and agriculture than most of the excavations of that period put together,' said The Guardian in its 2001 obituary of the first director of Butser Ancient Farm, the pioneering archaeological open-air museum nestling in the South Downs, which is now celebrating its 50th birthday.
Butser Ancient Farm at 50: celebrating half a century of experimental archaeology
With Butser Ancient Farm marking its 50th birthday this year, Trevor Creighton reflects on the past and present of this pioneering experimental archaeological site, and shares the memories of some of the people who have been involved with its work.
German civilians gather around a British tank, Hamburg station, May 1945
This photograph, showing soldiers lounging on their tank and citizens going about their daily business, was taken outside Hamburg railway station in May 1945.
Butser Ancient Farm launches latest reconstruction
The structure is based on archaeological remains discovered close by at Church Down, Chalton.
Building an Iron Age broch in Caithness
The building will also incorporate triangular doorway lintels, staircases, and internal cells, as well as outbuildings, including wheelhouses, blockhouses, and ‘wags’.
Rebuilt Romano-Celtic temple unveiled in Kent
It is 70m from where archaeological remains thought to represent a 1st-century AD temple were discovered
Experimental ‘Bronze Age roundhouse’ unveiled
The new roundhouse was built almost entirely by 33 volunteers from Operation Nightingale, a charity assisting the recovery of wounded and traumatised military personnel and veterans through archaeology.
Aftermath: life in the fallout of the Third Reich, 1945-1955
The defeated German soldiers who returned from the Second World War were so broken by the conflict that a specific term for them emerged. Heimkehrer were, according to Harald Jähner, battered survivors who returned to a society which they no…
This week: experimental archaeology
The word 'experimental' can be confusing, or even alarming. It suggests an area of activity in which people are pushing at boundaries, or acting somehow without official approval. Attached to the word 'archaeology', however, it simply denotes a field of academic study that uses controlled experiments to provide a better understanding of the past.
Reimagining the past: experiments in construction at Butser Ancient Farm
Butser Ancient Farm is an experimental archaeology centre nestled in the Hampshire South Downs. Its staff specialise in exploring the past by engaging with ancient tools and building techniques, and we reported on the unveiling of their latest creation, a reconstructed Neolithic house, in CA 375. Now Butser archaeologist Claire Walton takes us behind the scenes to describe the research that went into its design – and the ups and downs of the construction process.
Sailing ahead: the latest news from the Sutton Hoo Ship’s Company
A project working to reconstruct the famous Anglo-Saxon ship excavated at Sutton Hoo in 1939 continues apace. Philip Leech brings us up to date on the latest progress.
Back at Butser Ancient Farm: reconstructing the past and safeguarding its future
In mid-April, CA travelled to Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire – our first site visit of 2021! – to catch up with what’s new at the recently reopened experimental archaeology centre. The site has just unveiled an immersive reconstructed Neolithic house, as well as an innovative new online offering to share the team’s research more widely. Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts reports.
Like a rolling stone: experimental archaeology at Stonehenge
Was the communal effort of constructing Stonehenge as important to its builders as the finished monument’s purpose? And what was it like to move one of its mighty monoliths? CA spoke to Susan Greaney, Julian Richards, and Luke Winter – and travelled to the Stonehenge Visitor Centre for some hands-on experience.
London Mithraeum: reimagining the famous Roman temple
On 14 November, London’s Temple of Mithras – now known as the ‘London Mithraeum’ – reopened to the public as the first new interpretation of a Roman ruin in the capital for nearly 20 years. Sophie Jackson, the lead archaeologist on the project, reports on the temple’s 63-year journey from its initial discovery in 1954 to its recent reconstruction and installation on the site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters.
Butser: back to the Neolithic
A new horizon has opened up at Butser Ancient Farm, the famed experimental archaeology site. A Neolithic enclosure now joins the farm’s recreated Iron Age and Roman dwellings. Tiffany Francis brings us up to date.
Building Morgawr: seafaring Bronze Age-style
What did the fragmentary Bronze Age boats found around Britain look like when complete, and what were they like to handle? The best way to find out, Robert Van de Noort told Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts, is to build one yourself.