A ‘lost’ Anglo-Saxon monastery discovered in Berkshire
During the excavation, the team uncovered some of the layout of the monastery, showing that it was organised into a series of zones that were demarcated by ditched boundaries.
settlement
‘A roof o’er their heads’: exploring the archaeology of Achtriachtan township in Glencoe
The Highland valley of Glencoe is notorious as the location of a brutal 1692 massacre, but until recently little was known about what remained of the settlement that existed at this time. Now, though, archaeological fieldwork by the National Trust for Scotland has shed new light on 17th- and 18th-century remains within the glen, as Derek Alexander reports.
Road to the past: exploring the prehistoric heart of Galloway
The construction of a new bypass on the A75 near Dunragit has uncovered a wealth of archaeological finds, illuminating around 8,000 years of human activity within a rich and complex historic landscape on the south-west coast of Scotland. With the project’s findings now published in full, Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts surveys some of the key discoveries.
Excavating East Sussex
Perhaps Sussex’s most famous ‘site’ of all featured in CA 286, when the Time Team examined rival theories of the location of the AD 1066 Battle of Hastings.
The Maltese Archipelago at the Dawn of History
This, the third volume to tackle the legacy data from Malta (Tanasi et al. 2011; 2015), effectively lays the groundwork from which to launch renewed archaeological investigations. Its reinterpretation of past excavations highlights the fragile nature of the archaeological remains…
The Lost City of Norchia
Upper Palaeolithic flints, Eneolithic tombs, and remains of a Bronze Age semicircular hut, as well as a tomb with a Villanovan shield, show that the place evolved over time, before being bafflingly abandoned in the earlier Iron Age.
Medieval village uncovered near Netherton
Underneath the foundation level was an eclectic assemblage of artefacts, including a whetstone of fine-grained sandstone, a spindle whorl made of cannel coal, a possible gaming piece or counter crafted from a sherd of green glaze pottery, two 17th-century coins, and an iron dagger.
Further fingerprints found at the Ness of Brodgar
'The analysis has much wider implications in the study of Neolithic ceramics, but we will need many more fingerprint examples before any firm conclusions can be drawn.’
Excavating Surrey
The county is one that historically suffers from being overlooked: its proximity, and partial absorption, into Greater London risks obscuring its significance.
A Neolithic to Late Roman Landscape on the North-east Yorkshire Coast: excavations at Street House, Loftus, 2004-2017
Lying 2km from Loftus in North Yorkshire, Street House is home to a diverse span of archaeological evidence reflecting more than 4,500 years of activity. Stephen Sherlock has been excavating at the site since 2004, and these investigations have uncovered…
Polynesia Quiz
The ‘Polynesian Triangle’ is an area of the Pacific which has Hawaii at its northern corner. Which island is at its south-eastern corner?
The wider Wall: a decade of discoveries and debates
Excavation and survey along Hadrian’s Wall are casting doubt on old certainties, and setting new questions for the future. But how are our views of the monument changing, and why? Current World Archaeology's Matthew Symonds reports.
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.
Enigmatic Roman building complex discovered at Scarborough
Current theories suggest that it could be a villa or
possibly a religious sanctuary, but it probably will not be until post-excavation analysis is complete that a more definitive idea of the site’s use will be determined.
Neolithic salt production at Street House?
Many of these characteristics bear a close resemblance to other salt-production sites in Britain from the Bronze and Iron Ages, and are features in common with known Neolithic salterns from the Continent.
Huge quernstone unearthed in Orkney reveals Early Neolithic site
The settlement is centuries older than the Stone Age site of Skara Brae.
Unique Roman villa unearthed in Yorkshire
This is the first Roman villa of this style to be discovered in Britain, and possibly in the entire former Roman Empire.
Anglo-Saxon feasting finds?
Scientific analysis of some enigmatic burnt features found in several Anglo-Saxon settlements across the east of England has provided new insight into early medieval cooking practices.
Roman phallic find along the A14
Post-excavation analysis of the many finds discovered on Highways England’s A14 Cambridge-to-Huntingdon improvement scheme (see CA 339) has revealed a rare Roman millstone carved with a prominent phallus.
Conservation reveals new details of Wimpole figurine
The recent conservation of a small figurine thought to represent the Celtic god Cernunnos has revealed new details that call the identification into question.
Eroding evidence of prehistoric Orkney
A massive incised rock has recently been discovered at the northern end of the Bay of Skaill in Orkney.
Illuminating St Kilda’s Iron Age inhabitants
A newly published report from GUARD Archaeology has revealed evidence for the Iron Age inhabitation of St Kilda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and isolated archipelago located 64km west of the Outer Hebrides.
The Follo Line Project: Exploring medieval Oslo
Since 2013, the largest infrastructure project in modern Norwegian history has granted a team of more than 40 archaeologists an extraordinary glimpse of medieval Oslo. One of the biggest questions they aimed to answer is what the medieval town really looked like. Thomas Wrigglesworth shares some of their discoveries.
Worcester Magistrates Court: excavation of Romano-British homes and industry at Castle Street
Worcester, like many historic cities, has had its share of undistinguished 20th-century development. As this has come up for redevelopment, it has afforded numerous opportunities for archaeological investigations, which have revealed the city’s Roman origins. Roman Worcester developed on the…
Life, Death, and Rubbish Disposal in Roman Norton, North Yorkshire: excavations at Brooklyn House, 2015-2016
Detailing excavations at Brooklyn House in Norton-on-Derwent, carried out by JB Archaeological Services between 2015 and 2016, this comprehensive site report sheds new light on this area of Roman Britain. Lying north-west of York, the modern town of Norton is…
Landscape and Settlement in the Vale of York: archaeological excavations at Heslington East, York, 2003-2013
York is well-known for the archaeology of its Roman, Anglian, Viking, and medieval periods of occupation, but the prehistoric and Roman archaeology of its rural hinterland is much less visible, despite an increasing number of development-led excavations. The projected expansion…
Excavating the CA Archive: Black Country
From Birmingham's industrial heritage to a Roman riding school: Joe Flatman explores half a century of reports from the West Midlands
Evidence of Roman reprisals in Essex?
A recently revealed Iron Age settlement in Cressing, near Braintree in Essex, appears to have been almost completely destroyed during the second half of the 1st century AD. Dating to around the time of the Boudican uprising of AD 60/61,…
The Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings
There has been much debate about what to call the people of medieval Scandinavia now known widely as ‘Vikings’. The term stems from the Old Norse vikingr, used to describe someone who went on seafaring expeditions, but this was not…
A Biography of Power: research and excavations at the Iron Age oppidum of Bagendon, Gloucestershire (1979-2017)
Bagendon has long been the poor relation of British late Iron Age oppida, lurking on the distribution’s western fringe. Its extensive, intermittent ramparts have long been known, but only in the 1950s did limited excavations reveal its character. Tom Moore’s…
Excavating the CA archive: Yorkshire 2
From Captain Cook's Cottage to Romans in the East Riding: Joe Flatman explores half a century of reports from Yorkshire
Prehistoric settlement uncovered in Aberdeenshire
Evidence for an extensive settlement, possibly dating to either the Bronze Age or Iron Age, has been uncovered on the outskirts of Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire, on a site overlooking the North Sea. It is the first major prehistoric site…
Medieval Irish Warriors
It was as aggressors that the Irish first made their impact on European history. The quasi-legendary Irish warlord Cormac mac Airt, from the 3rd century AD, not only subdued almost all of Ireland, he also launched destructive attacks on Roman Britain. Another who did so, the following century, was Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Old Oswestry Hillfort and its Landscape: ancient past, uncertain future
Sharing elements with a standard regional study of a hillfort in geographical context, this series of papers is distinctly wider in scope. It is neither underpinned by recent excavation, nor by reassessment in detail of the 1930s interventions. Instead, ten…
The Chadwell St Mary Ringwork: a late Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon settlement in southern Essex
This volume in the British Archaeological Reports series presents the results of excavations by Archaeological Solutions Ltd in advance of gravel-quarrying on a hilltop next to the Thames Estuary in Essex, just to the south-west of the Mucking ridge, where…
Roundhouse revealed at Bamburgh Castle
Excavations within the West Ward of Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland have revealed the partial foundations of what appears to have been a substantial roundhouse. Based on its stratigraphy, it is thought to be late Romano-British, but could potentially be earlier…