The UK’s first crematorium
Sherds was intrigued to encounter two interesting items recently that have to do with the treatment of human remains. (Anyone who is grieving or has suffered a recent bereavement might like to skip over these reports.)
social history
Cornwall Museum & Art Gallery, Truro
Cornwall Museum & Art Gallery in Truro is undergoing a major transformation. Carly Hilts visited the recently refurbished ‘Heart of Cornwall’ archaeology displays.
Holst Victorian House
Gustavus Theodore von Holst was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, just over 150 years ago, on 21 September 1874. (He changed his name to plain Gustav Holst because of anti-German feeling during the First World War.) His birthplace is now a…
Retro Zoomers
Looking for signs of hope that heritage and culture will be safe in the hands of future generations, Sherds spotted a number of media reports recently that claimed to know the minds of young people. Recent surveys have stated that Zoomers (Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012) are currently into churchgoing, barn dancing, and buying telescopes.
Seventy years of tiddlywinks
Sherds adopts a very broad definition of ‘heritage’, so no apologies for beginning this month’s column by drawing attention to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of tiddlywinks as a competitive university-based sport.
The Carriage Foundation
Almost every TV costume drama begins with the sound of horses’ hooves and the rumble of carriage wheels as members of the cast arrive at some stately home or other, ready for the story to unfold. And no royal or…
Researchers turn to AI to investigate lives of Civil War sailors
A new research project is using artificial intelligence to uncover the stories of Union sailors, or ‘bluejackets’, during the American Civil War. The study is the result of a collaboration between the universities of Sheffield and Northumbria. It aims to…
War of Words – ‘A chip on his shoulder’
With Marc DeSantis
Novel words
Dictionary publishers like to end the year by announcing the new words that that they have added to the lexicon based on the frequency with which they have appeared in print during the preceding 12 months. Not all of these words are new, and this year’s crop consists mainly of familiar words that have undergone shifts in meaning.
Murder in Anglo-Saxon England: Justice, wergild, revenge
REVIEW BY RP The early medieval period is often thought of as a hotbed of violence. It is perhaps, then, a surprise to learn that only around 90 reported murders exist from five centuries of Anglo-Saxon England. Annie Whitehead’s book…
Scenting the past at Nothe Fort
Visitors to Nothe Fort in Weymouth will be able to share the olfactory experiences of the soldiers who once manned the Victorian coastal defences, during a special event featuring historically inspired smells in early March. Interactive demonstrations of evocative odours…
The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra
REVIEW BY SARAH GRIFFITHS This latest narrative by Toby Wilkinson is written in his usual engaging style, drawing on the usual Greek and Roman sources, but also some 50 archives of papyri unearthed in Egypt. The three centuries between Alexander…
Medieval Women: In Their Own Words
A new exhibition at the British Library shines vivid light on female deeds and desires between 1100 and 1500, as Carly Hilts reports.
Scraps of memory: Illuminating the imaginative worlds of Sutton House’s 17th-century schoolgirls
A handful of tiny paper items discovered at Sutton House in Hackney offer a unique insight into the interests of the girls who were educated there in the 17th century. Carly Hilts spoke to Nathalie Cohen, Isabella Rosner, Kate Simpson, and Abigail Winslow to find out more.
Northwold Manor Reborn: Architecture, archaeology and restoration of a derelict Norfolk house
REVIEW BY WILL FLETCHER This is a charming book. It features the conservation of a fine Grade II*-listed English vernacular building, situated in rural Norfolk. In total, the 13 chapters and appendices describe the building, its history, the former occupants,…
Under cover of darkness: Murders in blackout London
REVIEW BY CALUM HENDERSON Lionel Watson was already married with four children when he murdered Phyllis Crocker, a woman he had met the previous year at the Hoover Factory in west London, in May 1941. He lied to eighbours that…
Current Research in Egyptology: Working Women
Jessica Coughtrey asks what ancient skeletons can tell us about the role of women in the ancient Egyptian workforce.
Current Research in Egyptology: Beyond ethnicity
Marwan Kilani reconsiders our ideas about collective identities in New Kingdom sources.
The Archaeology of Pharaonic Egypt: Society and Culture, 2700-1700 BC
REVIEW BY ANNA GARNETT For those undertaking formal or informal study of Egyptian archaeology, a number of key textbooks focusing on the social lives of the ancient Egyptian people will always be on the reading list – Barry Kemp’s seminal…
The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Lord Lisvane, former Clerk to the House of Commons and Chairman of the Royal College of Organists, sparked a lively correspondence in The Times earlier this year when he asked whether he was alone in deploring the popularity of ‘All…
Crusader criminals: The other side of soldiering
The Crusades are known for spectacular military engagements. But they also saw all manner of crimes committed beyond the battlefield. In a new book, Steve Tibble uncovers some dark secrets.
Napoleonic-era graffiti found at Dover Castle
This image shows a castle door, which was etched with some macabre graffiti by English soldiers during the Napoleonic era. The simple wooden plank door, from the top of a remote tower in Dover Castle, was rediscovered years ago, but…
War Classics – The Reason Why
Nick Spenceley recalls one of the great works of military history
CA 412 Letters – June
Your thoughts on issues raised by CA.
The other Pompeii: Common lives in the shadow of Vesuvius
An exhibition at Pompeii explores the less glamorous side of life in the ancient city.
Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A new history of the Ancient Near East
REVIEW BY ECKART FRAHM Mesopotamian history, Amanda Podany argues in the introduction to her new book, ‘is more of a weathered mosaic than a grand narrative’. What she provides in her long but never boring account, which covers events and…
French love letters from the Seven Years War opened 265 years later
More than a hundred letters that were sent to imprisoned French sailors during the Seven Years War have been opened for the first time. The messages were seized by the British Royal Navy during the conflict, which took place between…
British Sauna Society
The British Sauna Society (BSS) qualifies for inclusion in our ‘Odd Socs’ column by virtue of its support for the bid to secure listed status for Britain’s oldest sauna, a wooden hut in Kent that is (in the words of…
Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches
REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE One of the major issues in Egyptology is how prone we are to repeat assertions that were made – often provisionally – more than a century ago. Thus the lazy explanation of ancient Egyptian society as…
CA 405 Letters – November
Your thoughts on issues raised by CA.
A Woman’s Will: The changing lives of British women, told through the things they have left behind
REVIEW BY AB A hive of bees, ‘nine pair of bedde stockes’ (bed socks), ‘my worst petticoat’, and the famous Sutton Hoo treasure: these are just some of the objects left to friends, relatives, and institutions by Britain’s women over…
The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome: The history of a dangerous idea
REVIEW BY ANDREW SELKIRK Edward J Watts, Professor of History at San Diego University, is not a fan of politicians who claim that society is rotten and only they can make it better. This claim, however, is nothing new: the…
Current Archaeology’s July Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home
There are many great ways to get involved with archaeology and heritage this summer, including new exhibitions, events, activities, and more. Or, if you would prefer to get your history fix at home, there is a wide variety of resources available online, from new apps and digital exhibitions to virtual heritage site tours, podcasts, games, and more. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Saints or Sinners? Scandals among the servants of God
Roger Forshaw explores the transgressions of the ancient Egyptian priesthood.
On the origins of ‘woke’
Most of us would guess that this was a word of recent coinage, but it first occurred in the lyrics of a 1938 song by the blues singer Lead Belly
Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East
Review by Diana Bentley The ancient Near East has not always attracted the popular attention it deserves, especially in comparison with other cultures of the surrounding area, like Greece, Rome, and Egypt. This latest work by Amanda H Podany, Professor…