Current Archaeology 435
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An enduring landscape: Uncovering 8,000 years of life and death on the Cotswold Edge
Recent excavations at Milestone Ground on the eastern edge of Broadway have revealed one of the most intriguing archaeological landscapes yet found in Worcestershire. Beneath quiet pasture lay evidence of human activity stretching back 8,000 years, including Mesolithic flint tools, Bronze Age burials, hundreds of Iron Age storage pits, a Roman farmstead, and the largest late Roman cemetery known in the county. Constance Mitchell reports.
Llanbedrgoch: Exploring a unique early medieval trading centre on Anglesey
Ninth-century Carolingian coins from the reigns of Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald are not the sort of objects you would expect to find on a remote farm on the Isle of Anglesey, so, when metal-detectorists began reporting these and other exceptional artefacts from the early medieval period, the National Museum of Wales (now Amgueddfa Cymru) sent Mark Redknap, then Curator of Medieval and Later Archaeology, to investigate. Between 1994 and 2012, Mark led ten seasons of fieldwork on the site, revealing the remains of a trading settlement with a form unparalleled in Wales. With the full report recently published, Chris Catling describes its key findings.
Rebuilt Romano-Celtic temple unveiled in Kent
It is 70m from where archaeological remains thought to represent a 1st-century AD temple were discovered
Time Team survey Sutton Hoo
The results will be shared in spring, in a new episode of Time Team that will air on the ‘Time Team Official’ YouTube Channel.
Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: cultures and connections
Associated with the 2019 British Library exhibition Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: art, word, war, these 14 short essays demonstrate the specialised scholarship that lies behind the choice and description of items in such an
Events, exhibitions, and heritage from home in Spring 2022
At the time of writing, many new archaeology- and history-related events are being scheduled around the UK. We have put together another selection of some of the upcoming ‘in-person’ activities and resources you can take advantage of, but there are also still lots of ways to get your archaeology fix from home, ranging from new online museums to TV shows that go behind the scenes at heritage sites. Amy Brunskill has gathered some of the highlights.
The world of Stonehenge
In February, the UK’s first major exhibition focusing on the story of Stonehenge will open at the British Museum. Carly Hilts went to a preview of the upcoming blockbuster to find out more.
Culduthel: an Iron Age craftworking centre in north-east Scotland
The rapid suburban expansion of Inverness in recent decades has led to a patchwork of prehistoric sites being discovered through developer-funded excavations. In 2005, however, Headland Archaeology hit the motherlode at Culduthel.
Burghead Pictish fort digitised in 3D
The fort sits on a sand dune and is thought to have been occupied as early as the 6th century AD
The Middle Ages: a graphic history
Spanning roughly 1,100 years, this lively book is billed as ‘a romp across continents and kingdoms’, and it does not disappoint. Historian Eleanor Janega unpicks complex topics with verve, irreverent humour, and
Using neutrons to analyse human skeletal remains
These results could be used to distinguish between skeletal remains that have been cremated, and those that may have been heated as part of ritualistic defleshing practices
Finds tray – Harold II
Coins of Harold II Godwinson (r. 1066), killed at the Battle of Hastings, are not common – the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme has recorded only 28 such single finds in 24
World news in brief: underwater finds in Egypt, Mayan connections, and Pleistocene New Guinea
A look at the latest archaeology stories from across the globe, including a 4th century galley sunk off Egypt, evidence of social links between Mayan cities, and a study of Late Pleistocene husbandry.
New discoveries at Pen Dinas Iron Age hillfort
Geophysical survey revealed previously unrecorded outer defences at the site
Cladh Hallan: exploring the roundhouse way of life in South Uist
Located in the Outer Hebrides, the prehistoric settlement of Cladh Hallan is best known for the Bronze Age mummies found buried beneath its roundhouses. As well as these insights into how the dead were treated, though, the dwellings have yielded illuminating insights into the world of the living, as Mike Parker Pearson, Jacqui Mulville, Helen Smith, and Peter Marshall explain.
Time Team investigate Sutton Hoo
The investigations at this historic site will feature in a new series of Time Team – which last aired seven years ago.
Bridge Over Troubled Water: the Roman finds from the River Tees at in context
The earliest recorded find from Piercebridge, the Roman crossing over the River Tees, was a stash of silver coins found in 1792. It was a hint of what would subsequently emerge when
Landscapes Revealed: geophysical survey in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Area 2002-2011
Over the past 50 years or so, archaeologists have managed to hone their focus on several areas of Europe that show clear advances in social and ritual development: areas such as the
Museums, exhibitions, and events in December 2021
There is a great selection of new exhibitions and events taking place at museums and heritage sites around the UK in the coming months, whether you’re interested in how the Romans exercised or the history of Rapa Nui. There are also plenty of ways to enjoy history, archaeology, and heritage at home as the days get shorter and the weather gets colder. Here, Amy Brunskill has put together some of the highlights on offer.
Excavating Lincolnshire
The concentration of artefacts was so rich that it led prehistorian Mike Parker Pearson to compare Fiskerton to La Tène, the 19th-century Swiss lakeside excavation that had a profound influence on our understanding of Iron Age Europe.