rural archaeology

The salt sellers

My first experience of fieldwork in Southeast Asia found me in Roi et province of Northeast Thailand. It was a total accident that led me to this spot. The mighty Mekong River was then in the early stages of being seriously affected by the construction of hydro dams on its tributaries.

Roman villas in Limburg: The rise and fall of a prosperous farming community

Around 20 Roman villas have been excavated in the Limburg region of the Netherlands. The heyday for this work came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when a succession of sites was investigated with antiquarian zeal. Now fresh research in the field, archives, and find stores is shedding intriguing new light on these villa estates and their inhabitants, as Jasper de Bruin told Matthew Symonds.

Finds tray – Medieval ampulla

This is a medieval ampulla, probably dating to c.1350-1500, that was recently found near Titchmarch in Northamptonshire. It is made of lead and has a bulbous body that tapers into an inverted trapezoidal upper portion with an integrated handle on…

OPPOSITE Overlooking the remains of an Anarchy period smithy excavated by Headland Archaeology. Once a vital asset to Cheveley’s 12th century villagers, today its outline is preserved through foundation trenches and post holes.

Iron in the time of Anarchy: investigating a smithy site forged in 12th-century civil war

When Headland Archaeology excavated a site in Cheveley, Cambridgeshire, there was every expectation that the medieval village would yield archaeological remains. What was found far exceeded the team’s anticipation, though, as they unearthed the remains of a 12th-century smithy surrounded by both the objects and waste material that it had produced. It was the site’s date, and that of its abandonment, which proved the most compelling part of the story, however, suggesting a connection to a dark period in the history of the Fens. Julie Franklin reveals more.