UK

Skin in the game: Examining the lives of Britain’s oldest church doors

Tree-ring dating has enabled the identification of some very ancient church doors, which are still in situ and in use after nearly 1,000 years. Several were once covered with leather claimed to have been made from the skin of unfortunate Vikings, flayed as a warning to all would-be raiders. Despite this dubious lore, they and similar doors provide us with significant insights into woodworking tools and techniques, as well as ornamental ironwork in the 11th and 12th centuries, as Chris Catling reports.

Places of Worship Renewal Fund

Organisations in the heritage sector welcomed January’s news that the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport was going to invest £1.5 billion in capital funding for the arts, cultural, and heritage sectors in England (the other three home nations have yet to say whether they will be making similar investments)

CA 433 Letters – March

Pleased about potin coins I was so amused when I saw the ‘pastry potin’ coins on the ‘Letters’ page in CA 432. I remember David Holman some years ago showing a group of members of the Isle of Thanet Archaeological…

Silver beyond Empire: Offering a new perspective on the late Roman to early medieval transition

Over the last 15 years, international research focused on a series of silver hoards and other finds from the late Roman and early medieval periods has shed new light
on how this metal was used and viewed during a period of great cultural change.
Dr Alice Blackwell, Dr Fraser Hunter, Dr Andreas Rau, and Dr Martin Goldberg report.

Current Archaeology’s March Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home

There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there are various resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.

England’s Saxon Shore forts: Excavating the CA archive

The Saxon Shore (litus Saxonicum) was a military command consisting of fortifications built on both sides of the English Channel, which were established in the late 3rd century AD to defend Britain against the incursion of Saxon raiders. Its nine English forts are mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum, a document that details the administrative organisation of the late Roman Empire.

Home on the range: Examining a late Roman villa estate at Milton, Cambridgeshire

The discovery of an extensive and long-lived late Roman agricultural landscape near Cambridge has added illuminating details to our understanding of a region that appears to have been home to numerous villa estates. With the project now published in full, Francis M Morris, who recently completed the post-excavation analysis for Archaeological Research Services Ltd, is our guide to the key findings.

The last piece of the puzzle: Withington Roman Villa mosaics, Corinium Museum

For the first time in more than 200 years, colourful fragments of the ‘Orpheus’ mosaic excavated at Withington Roman Villa in 1812 have been reunited in a new display at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, thanks to long-term loans from…

The Carpenters’ Fellowship

Timber-framing is gaining momentum as a mainstream construction technique for new buildings in the UK because of its environmental benefits. Timber substantially reduces the carbon emissions and high energy costs associated with steel and concrete structures, and the use of…

Museum news

The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.

Uncovering Roman Carlisle: Where worlds met and Gladiators of Britain at Tullie, Carlisle

Two new exhibitions shed vivid light on different aspects of life within the most northerly Roman town on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.

Samurai

A new exhibition at the British Museum traces the story of Japan’s famous warriors from the medieval period to the present day, separating history from myth and exploring how their image has evolved over the last 1,000 years. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.

Domination: the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity

Through her TV work and writing, Professor Alice Roberts is a powerful and effective advocate for archaeology in the public realm. In Domination, she extends her coverage to explore Christianity in Late Antiquity, unpicking the intimate connection between the spread of…

Common Ground in Scottish Archaeology: contributions in honour of Anna Ritchie

Few people have made such a profound impact on the understanding of Scotland’s prehistoric and early medieval past as Anna Ritchie. In 2022, the Scottish Society for Northern Studies and the Pictish Arts Society jointly hosted a conference to celebrate…

Archaeology of Britain’s Oldest Church Doors

For lovers of church archaeology, anything by Warwick Rodwell is a must. His new book covers two subjects: medieval ecclesiastical doors – the Westminster example is pre-Conquest and the Hadstock one a few years later – and the allegedly human…

Neolithic Timber Halls and a Bronze Age Settlement with Hoard at Carnoustie, Angus

The timber halls ex-cavated at Carnoustie between 2016 and 2017 are some of the most significant Neolithic discoveries in Scotland in recent decades, particularly considering that the bigger of the two halls is the largest of its period yet discovered…

The Archaeology of the Stonehenge Visitor Centre

This book draws together diverse excavations; geophysical, augering, and fieldwalking surveys; and other investigations carried out between 1991 and 2009 to help determine a location and explore design options for the Stonehenge Visitor Centre that opened in 2013 (see CA…

Neolithic Impressed and Related Wares in Britain and Ireland

This volume comprises 11 regional or national papers and a synthesis of lipid analysis results. Several contributors note that Impressed Wares have been a ‘Cinderella’ among Neolithic pottery traditions. They echo Isobel Smith’s 1974 characterisation of Peterborough Ware (the Impressed…

A rock and a hard place: Sarsen study sheds new light on the construction of Stonehenge

How did the builders of Stonehenge manage to work with sarsen – a notoriously hard material – to create the Neolithic monument’s towering trilithons? Carly Hilts spoke to Phil Harding of Wessex Archaeology about his recent research exploring whether flint-knapping techniques might hold the key.

New dating of Buckquoy dispels Viking story

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…

Science Notes: Towards solving the secrets of syphilis

Apart from the Black Death, there is not another historical disease that piques public interest quite like syphilis. The question of whether the bacterium responsible was brought to Europe from the New World following the voyage of Christopher Columbus, or…

Finds Tray: Stirrup mount

This is an early medieval stirrup mount made of copper alloy, which was found late last year by a metal-detectorist near Wick St Lawrence in northern Somerset. It would have once been affixed to the top of a triangular stirrup,…

New timeline for the drowning of Doggerland

Analysis of a sediment core from Doggerland – the prehistoric landscape that once connected Britain to mainland Europe – has provided the clearest chronology yet for when this area became submerged beneath the North Sea, showing that the process of…

Tracing historical children’s burial grounds in Ireland

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland did not permit the burial in consecrated ground of stillborn babies and infants who died before they could be baptised (a rule that ended with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s). Instead,…

Elite Anglo-Saxon centre uncovered near Skipsea Castle

Excavations near Skipsea Castle in East Yorkshire have uncovered a series of high-status early medieval buildings, suggesting this site may have been a ‘lordly centre’. The project, which is led by Dr Elaine Jamieson and Dr Jim Leary from the…

Bronze Age brought to life at Harden Quarry

Excavations at Harden Quarry, an active hard-rock quarry that is operated by Tarmac at Biddlestone in the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland National Park, has revealed a near complete view of Bronze Age life in this area: where people lived, where…

Millennia of transport, trade, and travel along the A66

Excavations along the A66 in Cumbria are revealing how this area formed a vital corridor for transport, travel, and trade over millennia. After an initial evaluation in 2022-2024 and ahead of proposed upgrades to the route, Oxford Cotswold Archaeology (OCA,…

World News

Monumental finds in Mexico Excavations at Aguada Fénix in Tabasco, south-east Mexico, have revealed a large complex that was constructed c.3,000 years ago, making it possibly the oldest Mayan monument ever discovered. The site was first identified during a LiDAR…

The Roman altars at the National Museums Collection Centre, Edinburgh. Photo © Duncan McGlynn (2)

UK news in brief

Tudor Heart saved for the nation The British Museum’s campaign to raise £3.5 million to acquire a heart shaped pendant bearing imagery associated with the court of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon has achieved its goal. Discovered by a…

‘By yon bonnie banks’: Exploring the archaeology of Ben Lomond

Ben Lomond is one of Scotland’s most famous mountains, lying on the edge of the Highland boundary fault, with its shouldered profile dominating the skyline of the Central Belt and the Trossachs. Over the last three decades, National Trust for Scotland staff have been unpicking the archaeological and historical stories preserved within this landscape, bringing them to the attention of the public once more. Derek Alexander and Alasdair Eckersall report.

The history of the ‘Hill of Goats’: Revisiting Brian Hope-Taylor’s famous Yeavering excavations

More than 70 years ago, Brian Hope-Taylor led excavations at Yeavering in Northu mberland – investigations that have gone down in archaeological history, both for his skill in recording and analysing the scant remains of the royal palace of Edwin of Northumbria, and for illuminating a previously unlit period in early medieval history. Roger Miket’s new book Ad Gefrin traces the story of Hope-Taylor’s life and work, and recounts the latest thinking on the sites that he excavated. Chris Catling reports.

Current Archaeology Live! 2026

In partnership with: Current Archaeology Live! 2026 is coming up quickly, and tickets are selling fast. The conference, held in partnership with University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, will be on Saturday 28 February, at the UCL Institute of Education,…

Current Archaeology’s February Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home

There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there is a variety of resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.

Around the rugged rocks: Examining new rock-art discoveries in the Peak District National Park

Recent rock-art surveys in the Peak District National Park have documented more than 40 decorated panels dating to the Bronze Age, as well as two animal carvings that may be even older. Anna Clark and George Nash report.

Adapting ceremonies and festivals

Diarmaid MacCulloch, the eminently readable author of numerous books on ecclesiastical history, gave his bestselling work on the history of Christianity the provocative subtitle ‘The first three thousand years’, making the point that there is much in Christian ritual and iconography that is drawn from pre-Christian practice.

Hawai‘i: a kingdom crossing oceans

A new exhibition at the British Museum explores Hawai‘ian history and culture, as well as the archipelago’s complex but enduring relationship with the United Kingdom. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.