Digging into Paris’ past
Excavations on the Île de la Cité are uncovering thousands of years of Parisian history. Amy Brunskill spoke to Julien Avinain and Lucie Altenburg to find out more.
urban archaeology
The Archaeology of Leicester in 20 Digs
This is the latest in the ‘…in 20 Digs’ series. Gavin Speed has been involved in Leicester’s archaeology for more than 20 years, and he has produced a well-illustrated account of 20 key sites in Leicester (with a bonus 21st…
Unearthing the present: Why archaeologists should study the contemporary world
‘There’s no time like the present’, as the adage goes – and those who specialise in Contemporary Archaeology certainly agree. John Schofield explores how applying archaeological techniques to the material remains of our own times can illuminate current issues, as well as improving our understanding of the past.
CA 438 Letters – August
Archaeology has been ‘solved’! (or, how we shed some light on dark earth…) It was great to see Cotswold Archaeology’s research into the function of burnt mounds included in ‘Sherds’ (CA 435). Chris Catling suggested that we should now turn…
Full of faith: New insights into the medieval parish churches of Norwich
Norwich today has more medieval churches than any other city north of the Alps. The Brooke Commission concluded in 1970 that only six were required for parish worship and that either alternative uses should be found for the rest or they should be demolished. Fortunately, 31 remain, with half a dozen continuing to be used as churches and 18 in the care of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust. A newly published and sumptuously illustrated interdisciplinary study shows us what these churches can tell us about the city’s past and its people, as Chris Catling reports.
Roman Britain in Twenty Towns: a visitor’s guide
The idea of a guidebook is an ancient one – Pausanias’ Guide to Greece is perhaps the first – but these days the idea of wandering around sites clutching a book conveying detailed information might be thought to be superfluous…
Living among ruins
Most CWA readers will have visited some ruined cities for one reason or another; the majority of us will have let ourselves be fascinated by imagining how life in the past might have been, and how much or how little it would have resembled the modern equivalent, with its venues for leisure and work; for sleep and entertainment; for labour and exploitation; for aesthetically pleasing and artistic expressions
Urban exploration: Revealing Roman and medieval York through ground-penetrating radar
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been used to great effect to map underlying archaeology on open-area sites, but how well does it perform in urban environments? John Creighton, Thomas Matthews Boehmer, Martin Millett, and Lieven Verdonck describe the trials and triumphs of recent surveys in York’s historic centre.
All’s well that ends well: Sheffield Castle
A team from Wessex Archaeology – working with FlyThru, a commercial drone company – have recently conducted a survey of a medieval well, once a vital source of water for Sheffield Castle’s Norman motte. The well was discovered during Wessex…
The Parish Churches of Medieval Norwich: city, community, and architecture
I visited Norwich as a teenager several times in the 1970s while my brother was at the School of Art there. Even then, the city was ‘known’ for having a church for every week of the year, and a pub…
Amarna (Part 2)
Continuing his ‘Travels in an Antique Land’, Karl Harris presents the second part of his visitor’s guide to Amarna.
Urban villa and baths in Alexandria
An Egyptian team working in the northern area of Alexandria has uncovered the remains of a residential villa and circular public baths. The villa, dating to the Roman Period, had mosaic floors in a variety of styles, reflecting the diversity…
UK news in brief
Community Archaeology reveals 19th-century house A recent community excavation in Belfast has revealed the remains of a 19th-century house and the partial layout of the Victorian streets in the area. Run by Community Archaeology Programme Northern Ireland (CAPNI) – an…
Picturing Pompeii
A 19th-century photograph sheds light on a forgotten part of Pompeii, as Janice Kinory describes.
Amarna (Part I)
Continuing his ‘Travels in an Antique Land’, Karl Harris presents the first part of his visitor’s guide to Amarna.
Urbicide: killing the city
The narrative about the rise and fall of civilisations and their infrastructures is still omnipresent in scholarship about past cities. It is a story that sells well.
Basilica built by father of Western architecture
A basilica built by the pioneering Roman architect Vitruvius has been rediscovered in the city of Fano, in the Le Marche region of Italy. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was born in Fanum Fortunae (modern-day Fano) in the 1st century BC and…
Exploring ancient graffiti
The walls of Pompeii are littered with messages left behind by the city’s inhabitants two millennia ago. Recent research is shedding new light on one of the richest concentrations of these ancient inscriptions.
Winchester: city of kings
REVIEW BY SIMON ROFFEY Winchester: city of kings presents an authoritative exploration of one of England’s most historic cities, and one that has been the subject of extensive archaeological research. Consequently, this book traces the evolution of Winchester from its…
Excavating the hidden history of the Houses of Parliament
Archaeological investigations in and around the Houses of Parliament have uncovered remains spanning the last 6,000 years, highlighting the site’s importance not just in modern history, but during the medieval period and stretching as far back as the Mesolithic. The…
CA 331 – news in brief
Digitising Irish towns New technology developed at the University of Bradford has created digital twins of two historic walled towns on the island of Ireland: Kilmallock in Co. Limerick, Ireland (RIGHT), and Derry/Londonderry in Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. This new…
CA 431 Letters – January
Memories of Gallowgate Reading your news article ‘Evidence of Glasgow’s medieval expansion uncovered at Gallowgate’ (CA 429) reminded me of previous work carried out in the area as part of the Youth Opportunities Scheme in the late 1970s and early…
Rediscovering west London’s lost landscapes: Six millennia of change and continuity at Sipson Farm
Today, Heathrow is Europe’s busiest airport – but the underlying and surrounding river terraces have long been a rich hunting ground for archaeologists, concealing a palimpsest of buried landscapes. Since the late 1960s, they have seen dozens of excavations ahead of quarrying and development. Robert Cowie reports on one such project.
No plague at Amarna
A new study published in the American Journal of Archaeology casts doubt on the theory that Akhenaten’s city Akhetaten (Amarna) was abandoned due to plague. The researchers drew on textual, archaeological, and bioarchaeological data from Amarna, and compared this to…
Living and Dying in a Lancashire Cotton Town
REVIEW BY REBECCA GOWLAND The town of Blackburn in Lancashire was a key player in Britain’s industrial cotton boom, which saw a quadrupling of its inhabitants during the first half of the 19th century. This volume presents the results of…
A life less wealthy: The ordinary lives of Nabataean Petra
Petra is renowned for its extraordinary tomb architecture, but little is known about the builders of these mausolea. George H Nash, Genevieve von Petzinger, Lina Alrabab’h, and James Nash examine this funerary landscape and the traces of those who made it possible.
Corinth’s greatest treasure
In the first of a two-part piece, Richard Hodges visits Corinth for a conversation with its legendary excavator Charles K Williams.
In the Seine
An exhibition in Paris explores the history of the city through the objects recovered from the river at its heart.
Evidence of Glasgow’s medieval expansion uncovered at Gallowgate
Recent excavations at Spoutmouth in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow have revealed evidence of the city’s medieval expansion. The site was a car park for years, and will be redeveloped as social housing. It lies on the edge of medieval…
Leicester Market’s secrets uncovered
Ongoing excavations at Leicester’s market are uncovering new details about the city, stretching from its role as an important Roman settlement through to the post-medieval period. Redevelopment of the marketplace began in July of this year, and the University of…
The people of St Peter’s: Encountering a community from 19th-century Blackburn
Recently published research from one of the largest cemetery excavations of its type outside London has shed vivid light on the experiences of almost 2,000 men, women, and children who lived and died in Lancashire around 200 years ago. Carly Hilts spoke to Julie Franklin to learn more.
Jewry Wall Museum: A real Roman experience, Leicester
Closed since 2017 for a major refurbishment, Leicester’s Jewry Wall Museum has recently reopened with new interactive displays shedding vivid light on the city’s Roman past. Carly Hilts reports.
If walls could talk: Reconstructing Roman London’s fashionable frescos
Recent excavations in Southwark have uncovered one of the largest collections of painted Roman wall plaster ever found in London. Carly Hilts spoke to Han Li about ongoing efforts to piece this 2,000-year-old jigsaw puzzle back together.
Tell Nabasha
The remains of large multistorey tower houses have been discovered at the ancient Delta city of Imet (modern-day Tell Nabasha) in the eastern Delta by an Egyptian–British team from the Universities of Sadat City (Cairo) and Manchester. Such buildings, which…
Roman towns and cities: Lincoln – Excavating the CA archive
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).
Producers, Traders, and Consumers in Urban Societies in Southern Britain and Europe: post-excavation and museum studies presented to Professor Mark Brisbane
REVIEW BY ANNE THOM This book was written to honour Professor Mark Brisbane with up-to- date and historical analysis of archaeological records, sites, and museum studies that have interested him across his long career. As is the case with many…