An Egyptian mission excavating at Kom el-Khilgan in Dakahlia Governorate has uncovered an ancient necropolis with evidence of use from the Predynastic Period through to the Graeco-Roman era. The earliest burials appear to be Maadi-Buto culture (c.4000-3500 BC), and are…
It is a much-cited refrain that the only way to understand Scottish hillforts properly will be to excavate them fully, reliant as we have been, for the most part, on very limited interventions. The total excavation, then, of Broxy Kennels…
Restoration work at the Priory House in Dunstable – a Grade II-listed building that was originally part of the grounds of Dunstable Priory, founded by Henry I in 1132 – is carefully unpicking its evolution over the decades. The project,…
Excavation reports often have a long gestation, and the publication of the City of Hereford Archaeology Unit’s 1993 excavations on the site of Hereford Cathedral’s new Mappa Mundi museum has been eagerly awaited. Yet any frustration at the delay quickly…
Temperance traditions The interesting article about the Temperance movement (CA 434) reminded me of the Cornwall temperance connection at the Padstow ’Obby ’Oss festival, which takes places every May Day. The original Oss has always emerged from the Golden Lion…
The Lower Pecos Canyonlands, in south-west Texas and northern Mexico, are home to an extensive collection of rock paintings in what is known as the Pecos River style. These multicoloured murals cover the walls and ceilings of more than 100…
First excavated in the 1970s and now mostly eroded into the sea, the settlement of Buckquoy in Orkney has frequently been used as an example of how the Pictish-Viking transition occurred in the Northern Isles. New radio-carbon dating of artefacts…
For my third and final column on the Palaeolithic, I will clamber into some of the most famous caves in the country. Even better – as I will outline at the end of this selection – the majority are open to the public, offering unparalleled opportunities to visit these stunning prehistoric sites.
Excavations at Drumburgh, 10 miles (16km) from Carlisle, have unearthed a section of Hadrian’s Wall – the best-preserved part of the frontier fortification to be revealed west of the city. At the instigation of the landowners, who wanted to learn…
Excavations by an Egyptian archaeological mission at the site of Tell el-Kharouba in North Sinai have discovered a large military fortress dating to the New Kingdom period, c.1550-1070 BC. Initial archaeological work has revealed part of the fortification’s southern wall,…
Culture vultures A new study, recently published in Ecology (), reveals that the nests of bearded vultures can contain objects dating back hundreds of years. Examination of more than 50 historical bearded vulture nests in southern Spain, where the species…
Recent research at the Karnak temple complex near Luxor, Egypt, is offering new insights into the site’s origins and the development of the surrounding landscape over its 3,000 years of use. The famous religious site has been subject to excavations…
REVIEW BY ROB IXER This is a peculiar hybrid of a book. It is a pretty good generalised account of British ‘historical geology’, namely a description of the occurrence of all the rocks given in stratigraphical order from the earliest…
What was life like in Britain 3,000 years ago? How did people live together, find their food and materials, and organise their domestic rituals and day-to-day activities? The Bronze Age to Early Iron Age settlement of Cladh Hallan in the Outer Hebrides has provided answers, as well as new questions, as Mike Parker Pearson, Jacqui Mulville, Helen Smith, and Peter Marshall explain.
Excavations at Old Park, on the eastern outskirts of Canterbury in Kent, have revealed further evidence of occupation of the site by ancient hominin species. These new discoveries have dated the earliest lithic layers to between 712,000-621,000 years ago –…
A remarkable site containing Palaeolithic stone tools was found in modern rainforest near Anyama, Côte d’Ivoire, in the 1980s. The chronology of these deposits remained unclear, but could modern dating techniques help to fill in this blank? Matthew Symonds learnt from Eslem Ben Arous, James Blinkhorn, and Eleanor Scerri what happened when a field team returned to Anyama.
As part of my ongoing mini-series on the towns of Roman Britain, I will focus in this column on Roman Lincoln (Lindum), which was founded as a legionary fortress during the reign of Nero (AD 54-68), and subsequently developed into a colonia (a settlement for retired soldiers) after AD 86 during the reign of Domitian (AD 81-96).
Churches have long been a key feature of Britain’s urban and rural landscapes, and many are of great historical significance in addition to their religious meaning. In this article, Chiz Harward outlines some of the features (and challenges) particular to carrying out archaeological work within parish churches.
The medieval Eaglais na h-Aoidhe (St Columba’s Church) stands on the coastline at Aiginis on the Isle of Lewis. In 2015, coastal erosion threatened to undermine parts of the Scheduled church and graveyard site and revealed deeply stratified midden layers.…
A community excavation within Moira Demesne – a public park in Northern Ireland – has revealed finds spanning from prehistory through to the 18th century. Once the location of a fine country house called Moira Castle, the excavation is being…
A ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey conducted on the open spaces of Lincoln Castle has revealed a series of archaeological features, including previously unknown structures that probably pre-date the Norman castle and which add to our overall understanding of the evolution…
Last month’s visit to Chester/Deva got me thinking about the other great urban sites of Roman Britain. I have previously visited Silchester/Calleva (CA 337, April 2018), Wroxeter/Viroconium (CA 338, May 2018), and London (CA 416, November 2024), but what about other Roman towns and cities?
REVIEW BY RP This volume compiles the findings of excavations carried out by Wardell Armstrong at Botchergate, a main street to the south-east of Carlisle’s city centre. There, works undertaken ahead of the construction of a new municipal building revealed…
Roman Chester – Deva Victrix – is one of the unquestioned ‘great sites’ of Roman Britain. This was a major military centre from its late 1st-century AD origins through to its abandonment in the late 4th/early 5th centuries AD, and significant parts of the town survive beneath the medieval and modern city.
The discovery of a rare enamelled brooch at an Iron Age settlement site in Curragh, South Ayrshire, has revealed interesting insights into how the Britons of south-west Scotland and the Roman army interacted in the late 2nd century AD. The…
Excavations close to Exeter Cathedral have uncovered echoes of the city’s medieval and Roman past. Archaeologists from Devon-based AC Archaeology were excavating in Cathedral Close ahead of the installation of a replacement substation and associated infrastructure by the National Grid,…
REVIEW BY LISA BRUNDLE The archaeologist Michael J Jones, having worked for 40 years in Lincoln, provides a unique personal account of archaeological discoveries in the former colonia city of Lindum prior to commercial development. For those of us who…
My ‘great site’ this month is one close to many people’s hearts. When I think of the locations that embody the best of Current Archaeology as a magazine and British archaeology as a community, I consistently alight on Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex. This site has it all – great coverage in the magazine, enthusiastic public engagement, stunning finds, and charismatic custodians.
When it was excavated in the 1960s, Fishbourne Roman Palace generated an archive that, for the time, was incredibly structured and detailed. However, by today’s standards, little attention was given to distribution of artefacts across the site, or relative locations…
A section of Watling Street – one of the most important roads in Roman Britain, running from Dover (Dubris) to Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) via London and St Albans – has been uncovered during excavations in Southwark. Traces of the route,…
Celebrating the work of the British pioneer of Egyptian prehistory.
Excavations at Carlisle Cricket Club are uncovering the remains of the largest Roman building ever found on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Frank Giecco to find out more.
Excavations at Oxford University’s Oriel College have helped to confirm the limits of the city’s Anglo-Saxon defences. Oxford first appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in AD 911 It was a burh, a fortified settlement, and while this entry does not…
Dating analysis of a monument on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall has revealed that it may be 4,000 years older than previously imagined. King Arthur’s Hall – comprising 56 standing stones set within a rectangular bank of earth and stone measuring…
Recent excavations in Huttons Ambo in North Yorkshire have uncovered two previously unknown medieval buildings as well as hints of an Iron Age or Roman settlement. In the 1950s, excavations within the parish – which shares its name with a…
REVIEW BY RP The site of Regis House (encompassing 41-46 King William Street and adjoining properties in EC4, London) was extensively excavated between 1994 and 1996 by the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS, now MOLA). This new report by…